Jaipur: The Ford Foundation has invited applications for its International Fellowship Programme (IFP) for 2009.

"We have designed the programme especially to support candidates from groups which have historically lacked access to higher education", said Neera L. Handa, IFP Deputy Director.

Forty candidates will be selected following an intensive search and scrutiny process.

Candidates having a graduate or master's degree with 55 percent marks and presently residing in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are eligible for the fellowship.

Candidates must also have three years full-time working experience relevant to their proposed area of study.

An official from the Ford Foundation said, "The fellowships provide opportunities for advanced study to exceptional individuals who can use this education to become leaders in their respective fields, furthering development in their own countries and greater economic and social justice worldwide".

Since the program's first selections in 2001, over 3,300 Fellows have been selected from over 60,000 applications.