Prestigious European research fellowship goes to WMU's Angelov
March 28, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- A Western Michigan University historian who is an expert on the Byzantine Empire has been awarded a prestigious Marie Curie Foundation Fellowship, an honor that is the European equivalent to a National Science Foundation award given in the United States.
Dr. Dimiter Angelov, assistant professor of history, will spend the next two years traveling to locations that house the archives of France, Germany and Austria, gathering research for a book about political thought during the Byzantine period between 1204 and 1350. WMU's Board of Trustees has approved a professional development leave for Angelov, so he can take advantage of the unique opportunity.
"It's very rare for historians to receive support from the Marie Curie Foundation, as most of its fellowships go toward scientists," says Dr. Marion Gray, chairperson of the Department of History.
Angelov believes there were two factors that prompted the organization to select his proposal to receive funding.
"The interdisciplinary aspect of a proposal close to political science seems to have interested the committee," he says, "but more importantly, it deals with an area hardly touched by modern historians."
Before traveling to complete his research, Angelov will serve as a research fellow for the Center for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
The Marie Curie Foundation is funded by the European Union and supports science research by funding post-doctoral candidates at European research institutions. In 2003 there were 3000 applicants for only a handful of fellowships.
Media contact: Matt Gerard, 269 387-8400, matthew.gerard@wmich.edu