Apply for our 2025-26 Wider Europe and Central Asia Fellowship
Are you a changemaker working to build a fairer, more sustainable, and inclusive future? If so, our new Wider Europe and Central Asia Fellowship could support your work.
Our 2025-26 Wider Europe and Central Asia fellowship programme is for exceptional professionals from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
This year, we’re looking for emerging leaders who are passionate about climate action and environmental sustainability.
You could be working in the public, private or non-profit sectors in areas including the media, politics, social enterprise, business, finance, science and the arts. If your work has a climate and sustainability focus, we’d love to hear from you.
About the programme
During our six-month fellowship programme, you’ll gain insights into the values, ways of working and challenges faced by people and institutions in the UK. You’ll also have a chance to connect with counterparts and learn from each other’s work.
The programme comprises a series of online workshops and a short residential programme in the UK. It runs from October 2025 until February 2026, with the residential programme taking place in the UK at the end of January 2026.
Uniting brilliant minds
We asked some of the Fellows who took part in our 2024-25 Wider Europe and Central Asia fellowship programme about their experiences.
Nonna Babayan works at the American University of Armenia, coordinating research on the energy transition and sustainable development. She is promoting biogas to support Armenia’s transition to renewable energy.
She says: “It was interesting for me to study the best practices, incentives and support mechanisms used to promote biogas in the UK and meet representatives from the Scottish Government and business.
“The John Smith Trust Fellowship is a unique platform for uniting brilliant minds from Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Eastern Europe. We live in the same region and share common borders, but often we’re unaware of each other’s problems. The fellowship helps us understand our similarities and differences while keeping our identities.”
Opening doors
Gular Pashayeva is a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and its first-ever woman board member. She is committed to improving corporate governance and women’s representation in Azerbaijan’s finance sector.
Gular says: “The John Smith Trust programme helped me make my ideas more precise. It opens a lot of doors and is a unique opportunity to have one-to-one meetings with people in very high-level positions, as well as training in leadership skills. Everything is covered in one programme and very much focused towards your own goals.”
Insights and learning
Myktybek Osmonaliev is a public-private dialogue specialist at the Kyrgyz Republic’s Investment Council, supporting small and medium enterprises.
Myktybek says: “There were a lot of insights. I met with the Federation of Small Businesses and learned how they support their businesses and communicate with government agencies. I also visited the London Chamber of Commerce and learned how they do advocacy.
“I encourage others to apply, especially people who come from regional areas in Central Asia, outside the capital cities, so more future leaders can have access to this wonderful programme.”