The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII)

"The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII – formerly the American Association for Research in Baghdad, AARB), has been established to promote scholarly research on and in Iraq, ancient Mesopotamia. The Institute, a consortium of American universities and museums, intends to establish a multidisciplinary American scholarly research center in Iraq when conditions permit. TAARII raises funds for graduate and post-graduate fellowships for Americans to work on Iraq in as broad a range of disciplines as permitted by the Iraqi authorities. It also has a fellowship program for Iraqi academics to aid them in carrying out research there. TAARII will initiate its own research projects and will foster joint projects between American and Iraqi academics. Like similar American overseas research centers, TAARII has as its primary focus the humanities and social sciences, as well as closely related natural sciences, but it will facilitate legitimate research in any legitimate academic field."