The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia at the University of Michigan is pleased to welcome five Weiser Professional Development Fellows during the Winter 2013 semester.

Tamunia Chincharauli is assistant professor at the University of Georgia and program manager at the Georgia Peace Corps office in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her career in public issues and policy began when, as an undergraduate student, she founded an NGO to help Georgian youth. Professor Chincharauli received her M.A. in Public Policy and Administration at the University of Georgia in 2007 and her M.Sc. in Policy Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 2008. She also completed a certificate program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Professor Chincharauli will spend three weeks at U-M in March 2013, where she will work on a project entitled, “Values and Ethics for Georgian Policy Makers.” Her host advisor is John Ciorciari, assistant professor of public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Diana Cucos is associate professor of law at the Moldova University of European Studies and senior researcher at the Institute of History, State and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, where she specializes in international law and human rights issues. She has participated in and organized a number of conferences and workshops relating to human rights, migration, gender, and local governance. In 2010-11 she was a Leverhulme Trust Visiting Fellow at Edge Hill University (UK). Professor Cucos will visit U-M for four weeks in March–April 2013 to complete research on a project entitled, “Post-Codification Diplomatic Protection: A Distinctive Source of Human Rights Protection,” in cooperation with Bruno Simma, professor of law at the U-M Law School and former judge at the at the International Court of Justice.

Martin Grancay is assistant professor of international relations at the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, where he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in 2007 and 2011, respectively. Professor Grancay teaches courses on international trade theory, and he also serves as managing editor of the university’s Journal of International Relations (Medzinárodné vztahy). His graduate academic work was twice distinguished with national awards; he also studied abroad in both Spain and China. He collaborates on research projects with colleagues around the world, and recently participated in a teacher exchange in Iceland. Professor Grancay will spend three weeks at U-M in March 2013 working on a project entitled, “Comparative Advantage and the Volatility of Territorial Structure of Exports,” in collaboration with his U-M host advisor, Alan Deardorff, John W. Sweetland Professor of International Economics.

Zabikhulla Saipov is a senior lecturer at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy and at the Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He earned his Master of International Affairs degree in 2003 at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Dr. Saipov completed his doctorate in political science in 2010 at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent. Dr. Saipov curates the blog Central Asia in the Strategies of Global & Regional Powers at www.scoop.it/t/centralnaja-azija-v-strategii. During his three-week stay at U-M in March 2013, Dr. Saipov will collaborate with his host advisor, Pauline Jones Luong, professor of political science and director of the Islamic Studies Program, on a critique of U.S. strategic approaches in Central Asia.

Kristine Soghikyan is head of the writing skills section and senior instructor in the English communication program at Yerevan State Linguistic University in Armenia, where she received her doctorate in philology in 2008. In addition to teaching courses in English language and communications theory, Professor Soghikyan leads the pedagogical and organizational administration of the academic program for undergraduates in her department. To supplement her work in this latter capacity, Professor Soghikyan will spend four weeks at U-M in April 2013 working on a plan for “Maximizing Higher Education Administration Efficiency in Armenia.” Her U-M host advisor is Michael Bastedo, associate professor of education and director of the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE).

Complete information about the program is available on our Visiting Fellows page. Applications for the 2014 program will be available in May.