2009 SSRC-IDRF Fellow Omar Cheta recently spent twelve months in Cairo conducting archival research. He was born in Egypt, attended the American University in Cairo as an undergraduate, conducted pre-dissertation research in Cairo, and then went on to spend his IDRF tenure in Cairo as well.
From Our Fellows
The SSRC has been providing funding to researchers at all stages of their academic and professional careers for more than 90 years. Through a highly competitive and rigorous peer-review process, the SSRC has awarded over 15,000 fellowships and grants to support research around the globe. From Our Fellows focuses on emerging research in the social sciences, including intersections with the humanities and natural sciences, by recipients of SSRC funding. The SSRC’s fellowships, grants, and prizes improve conditions for social science knowledge production worldwide.

More Than a Political Revolution
by Samantha Iyer2010 SSRC-IDRF fellow Samantha Iyer was in Cairo when Egypt’s uprising broke out in mid-January. Her IDRF and Fulbright-sponsored dissertation research explores the intellectual and political economic history and pre-history of US international food aid to Egypt and India.

“Thank God for Mitch”: Development Lessons from Post-Mitch Honduras for Post-Earthquake Haiti
by Ryan AlanizRyan Alaniz is a 2009 International Dissertation Research Fellowship recipient and a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. In this Research Snapshot, he examines the international community’s efforts at post-disaster reconstruction in Honduras and Haiti, comparing the two nations and their respective challenges. The Research Snapshots series is an initiative aimed at highlighting important and innovative research by SSRC fellows who are currently conducting or who have recently returned from doing international research.
IDRF Book Exchange: In the Shadow of Melting Glaciers
by Mark Carey, Jessica O’Reilly, Sandra Moog and Emily YehIDRF fellows discuss Mark Carey's book In the Shadow of Melting Glaciers, based on his IDRF research and completed with support from the SSRC-IDRF Book Fellowship.

IDRF Photo Competition 2010
by IDRF ProgramThe International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) Photo Competition is offered every year to IDRF recipients. Prizes are awarded for the best single photo, the best self-portrait, and best photo essay following a vote by IDRF fellows and staff.

An Afghan-American Perspective from the Ground Up
by Wazhmah OsmanWritten by Wazhmah Osman, an Afghan-American graduate student and a 2009 International Dissertation Research Fellowship recipient, this Research Snapshot examines the international community’s efforts at nation-building in Afghanistan. The Research Snapshots essay series is an initiative aimed at highlighting important and innovative research by SSRC fellows who are currently conducting or who have recently returned from doing international research.