General Questions

Unfortunately this fellowship is only available for professionals living and working in the Kashmir Valley. The goal of the fellowship is to bring expertise and build the human resource of the Kashmiri People. Our limited resources do not allow to support applicants outside of this region.
No, the Scholars are selected based on their pre-application projects. We also arrange for Scholars to complete the program in a timeline matching the needs and availability of host institutions, which we must respect.
You must purchase your own travel health insurance. The Fellowship program will not provide reimbursement for that purchase.
Unfortunately we select multiple scholars and they visit the United States as a group. The goal of the program is to create a team and develop a working relationship between scholars from different institutions and regions. The presence of a family member or a friend during this period does not allow the scholar to focus and work in partnership with other scholars. Due to strict policy, if this happens we will inform the embassy and also discontinue the scholarship and remove the person from the program.
Please look at our useful information section for travel for details.
Any gifts for the board or foundation members is not allowed. This is strictly enforced and is disrespectful. We do suggest bringing a gift from Kashmir, especially handicrafts (reasonable monetary cost) for your mentor, to be presented at the end of your rotation.
The program does not reimburse your flight expenses from and to Kashmir. All other expenses (stay, food and cost of program) are paid by the Scholars Program.
We advise looking at the weather reports on the internet and contacting the program before your travel to plan appropriate attire. The Scholarship requires you to dress formally for the official period of the Scholarship.
The Guru Charitable Foundation, A Registered 501(C)3 Non-Profit Organization - EIN 26-1322564. ©2019