The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) is pleased to offer a competitive fellowship for U-M graduate students.
The WCEE Master’s Fellowship will be awarded to an outstanding incoming student in the Masters in International and Regional Studies Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies (MIRS-REEES) specialization at the University of Michigan for the 2025-27 academic years. The fellowship will cover two years of tuition and provide a $30,000 stipend for each year. All MIRS-REEES applicants will be considered for this award, and a separate application is not necessary. Awardees will be notified by April 2025.
Preference will be given to international students, and in particular, students from Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
Please contact the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia for additional information at weiseraward@umich.edu.
2025-2027 Fellow
Baktygul Chynybaeva (Kyrgyzstan) is a seasoned journalist with over 20 years of experience reporting on human rights, health, and climate change in Central Asia. Before joining U-M, she worked as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Central Newsroom in Prague. Her investigative work on human rights and healthcare services in the country led to tangible policy changes in Kyrgyzstan. A 2024–2025 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at U-M, she is fluent in five languages and passionate about connecting local narratives with global scholarship to support democratic resilience and media freedom.
2024-2026 Fellow (Inaugural)
Ayaulym Saduakas (Kazakhstan) studies how authoritarian regimes deploy propaganda, disinformation, and surveillance to shape public policy and suppress dissent. Her work focuses on the intersection of state control and civic resistance, with a regional emphasis on post-Soviet states. In Summer 2025, Ayaulym worked on a research project at the University of Michigan’s Center for Global Health Equity, examining gender equity, healthcare delivery, and the social stigma surrounding HIV in Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
