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Istanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University and Stiftung Mercator invite academics and professionals with an interest in Turkey to apply for a fellowship program that aims to strengthen academic, political and social ties between Turkey and Germany, as well as between Turkey and Europe. The program is based on the premise that the acquisition of knowledge and the exchange of people and ideas are preconditions for meeting the challenges of an increasingly globalized world in the 21st century.Mercator-IPC Fellows work at Istanbul Policy Center (IPC), an independent policy research institute with global outreach located in the center of Istanbul. IPC’s mission is to foster academic research and its application to policy making. The Center is firmly committed to providing decision makers, opinion leaders, academics and the general public with innovative and objective analyses of key domestic and foreign policy issues.IPC offers the Mercator-IPC Fellows access to a broad network of academics, civil society activists and decision makers as well as a unique platform for sound academic research to shape hands-on policy work. Likewise, fellows profit from Sabancı University’s exceptional intellectual capital and vast reserves of scientific knowledge.Mercator-IPC Fellowships are available to outstanding academics and professionals who work in one of three thematic areas:| EU/German-Turkish relations| Climate change| EducationIn the 2014/15 round, at least six Mercator-IPC Fellowships are available for outstanding young academics and professionals who have significant prior work experience. The fellows will be expected to work on academic or practical projects at IPC. A Master’s degree (or equivalent) is required for this position, but a PhD degree is strongly preferred. Applicants without a PhD degree will only be accepted if their work experience and expertise meet the program requirements to the jury’s satisfaction. Projects which focus on the German-Turkish nexus are likewise preferred. Applicants cannot apply for fellowships to fund their PhD dissertations.The 2014/15 fellowships begin September 1, 2014 and the deadline for applications is April 1, 2014.Please send your applications or further questions by email to the Program Coordinator, Mr. Daniel Grütjen (see below for contact details). Feel free to share this information with your friends, colleagues and students. For full details, see the Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program guidelines at: http://ipc.sabanciuniv.edu/en/about_fellowship/.