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The University of Central Asia (UCA), through its Mountain Societies Research Institute (MSRI), is offering fellowships to strengthen the capacity of researchers from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz  Republic to conduct original research that is  focused on learning from and informing sustainable development in mountain areas. This includes mountain societies in the Tien Shan, Pamir, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges. The topics of research projects supported by the Fellowship include four interconnected themes related to mountain economies:Environmental change and natural resource governance  associated with land degradation, climate change, biodiversity loss, and natural hazards;On-farm livelihoods such as agro-pastoralism and all aspects of food security;Off-farm livelihoods such as small and medium-sized enterprise development,  mountain tourism, and labor migration;The economic, social and environmental impacts of large-scale. mountain development relevant to mountain societies. This includes hydroelectric development, mineral extraction, landscape-scale conservation, and other large development initiatives.For more information...