Fellowship Policy

1. Purpose and scope

This policy applies to every TIPCS fellowship track, to fellows, to the Academic Council, the Selection Committee, supervisors, partner institutions and the executive administration. It complements each call, which states the details of its own track, and the fellowship programme design dossier.

A fellowship is a structured research and practice arrangement. It is not employment. Recruitment of staff follows the recruitment policy.

2. Definitions

• Fellow: an adult (18 or over) selected for a fellowship track.
• Call: the public notice of a fellowship, with its eligibility, agenda, criteria, weights and timeline.
• Academic Council: the body chaired by a professor in a relevant discipline that sets research standards and reviews outputs. It does not select fellows or handle money.
• Selection Committee: the body that scores applications and recommends fellows.
• Co-tutorship agreement: a written agreement with an institution that hosts or co-supervises a fellow’s work.

3. Principles

• Think-do: research and practice reinforce each other.
• Merit and integrity: selection is by published criteria and is protected from outside influence.
• Independence and neutrality: TIPCS is non-partisan and respects Tunisian law.
• Openness: findings are published in Arabic, French and English, within ethics and data-protection limits.
• Honesty: TIPCS does not promise a job, a diploma or degree recognised by a state, a visa, admission to any institution, or a language level.

4. Rules and procedure

The Board supervises and approves the calendar of calls and the funding architecture. The executive administration manages the programme and signs agreements. Any spending needs three different signatures. The Academic Council sets standards but does not select fellows.

5. Roles and responsibilities

• The Board approves this policy and the funding architecture, and does not score applications.
• The executive administration runs calls, signs agreements and keeps records of selection and approvals in the access-controlled systems of TIPCS.
• The Academic Council validates research agendas and reviews outputs.
• Supervisors guide the fellow, flag risks and certify outputs.
• Selection Committee members declare conflicts, score fairly and keep deliberations confidential.

6. Rights and obligations of the fellow

Fellows have the right to clear terms, supervision, safe working conditions, respect for their dignity and a fair process in any dispute. They must deliver agreed outputs, follow the research ethics, safeguarding and data-protection rules, declare conflicts, cite sources honestly and avoid plagiarism and fabrication. Co-tutorship agreements with institutions set, in writing, who supervises, which institutional rules apply, how data and credit are shared and what happens if the arrangement ends. Expenses and funding are described in each call in general terms; this policy states no amounts, and any figure is [amount to be set by the Board with funders]. Funding depends on confirmed sources and does not create an employment relationship.

7. Legal framework

• Decree-Law 2011-88 on associations (24 September 2011): governance, accounting and transparency of funding.
• Organic Law 2004-63 of 27 July 2004 on personal data: applicants’ and research participants’ data.
• Loi n° 94-36 du 24 février 1994 on literary and artistic property: copyright in outputs and images.
• Code des obligations et des contrats: the fellowship agreement and co-tutorship agreements as contracts.
• Loi organique n° 2015-26 du 7 août 2015, as amended by loi organique n° 2019-9 du 23 janvier 2019: due diligence on funds and partners.
• Loi organique n° 2017-58 du 11 août 2017 and loi organique n° 2016-61 du 3 août 2016: protection from violence and trafficking.
• Constitution of 27 January 2014: right to education and freedom of association.

8. Data protection, research ethics and intellectual property

Personal data of applicants and fellows is handled under Organic Law 2004-63; the TIPCS declaration to the INPDP is in progress, and retention periods are [period to be fixed by the Board after the INPDP declaration]. Research follows the research ethics policy: informed consent, anonymisation where needed, ethics review before fieldwork with people. General terms on intellectual property: the fellow keeps authorship of their work and grants TIPCS a licence to publish it; TIPCS aims at open access in Arabic, French and English unless ethics, data protection or a partner’s rules prevent it; third-party rights are respected. Before publication every output goes through a review by the Academic Council for quality, ethics and safety, and TIPCS may ask for changes or delay where safety or law requires. Details are in the agreement.

Controller: Tunisian Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (TIPCS), registered office Avenue Mahmoud Bourguiba, Monastir 5000, Tunisia; contact Contact@tipcs.org. Under Organic Law 2004-63 you may ask to be informed about how your data is used, to access it, to have it corrected, to object to its processing and to have it deleted, within the limits of that law, by writing to Contact@tipcs.org. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you may complain to the National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data (INPDP), www.inpdp.nat.tn.

TIPCS does not request criminal-record or health data from candidates.

9. Safeguarding, field safety, non-discrimination and conflicts of interest

The safeguarding policy applies in full. Every fellow receives induction before any fieldwork, a risk assessment for each field activity, check-in routines, and a right to stop work that feels unsafe without penalty. Fieldwork with minors is not part of fellowships unless a separate safeguarded protocol is approved. Selection and treatment of fellows are without discrimination on grounds of sex, origin, religion, belief, disability or social background. Conflicts, including financial or family links with applicants, partners or research subjects, are declared in writing as set out in the conflicts of interest policy. Termination can follow a serious breach of safeguarding, ethics or integrity, non-delivery after a written warning, loss of funding, or the fellow’s resignation, after a fair hearing and with a written reason. TIPCS does not promise a job, diploma, visa or admission at the end of a fellowship.

10. Complaints and whistleblowing

Any applicant, fellow or partner may write to Contact@tipcs.org with the subject “CONFIDENTIAL – Concern”. Reports in good faith are protected under Law 2017-10 and the whistleblowing and complaints policy.

11. Review and version control

The Board reviews this policy every year. Each version carries a number and date, and earlier versions are archived.