The Research Support Scheme of the OSSF is a part of the Soros Foundations network which is aimed at supporting original, innovative research of individuals or groups of researchers in the social sciences and humanities interested in Issues affecting Central and Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia, Central Asia and Mongolia ("the region")

The subjects to be supported in 1999 are (information given in brackets relates to special, but not exclusive, priorities within the given areas):

ART AND ARCHITECTURE (Gender aspects in the arts; Comparative studies of the interest of the region; Interdisciplinary subjects based on archive research), ECONOMICS (Institutional and microeconomic foundations of macrostability and economic growth of countries in transition; Privatisation and corporate governance; Comparative studies), EDUCATION (Conflict between educating future citizen and/or labour market successful actors? What are the dominating trends?, HISTORY (Archive based and analytically innovative research into the history of the region especially with a comparative emphasis), HUMAN ECOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (Sustainable use of natural resources - land, water biodiversity, Development of protected areas and ecotourism), LAW (Legal foundations of market economies with special reference to commercial law, regulation and regional and international economic institutions; Criminal law; Enviromental law; Public law and human rights), LINGUISTICS (Case studies on language change in the region; Language and cognition - syntax, semantics-interfere Standardisation and microlanguages - dialects and language maintenance), LITERATURE (Ethnic identity and ethnic rivalry in the region - 18.-20. centuries; The image of Europe in the region - 17.-20. centuries; The interchange of ideas in literature and literary scholarship between East and West in the 20. century; Literature and literary scholarship on the borderline with other fields of art and knowledge), PHILOSOPHY (Theories of action in a time of change between social ideologies and new liberal utopies, what role should philosophy play in preparing the society of the future?), POLITICAL SCIENCE ("Civil societies between new political elites and administration towards a new citizenship), SOCIAL POLICY (The "Welfare Stare" and official security systems facing technological, economic and demographic changes e. g. qualifications changes and employment policies, health care and pension systems), SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (Family structure and relations; Interpersonal communications; Inter-group relations, Organisational development; Impact of media; Development of European identity; Psychosociological consultancy), SOCIOLOGY (Social participation and social exclusion; Changing social and institutional structures; Ethnic and national identities), URBAN AND POPULATION STUDIES (Local governments and local developement in cities; Urban restructuring - social, economic, space, Demography - migration, brain-drain; City promotion and competition, Post-socialist transformation of rural areas)

Priority will be given to researchers under 45 years of age and to multi-disciplinary and comparative projects.

There will be INDIVIDUAL GRANTS and GROUP GRANTS given for periods from six months to two years maximum. Priority in group grants will be given to groups of scholars coming from at least two countries, who aim to study a particular theme or common issue from a multinational comparative perspective.

The amount of each grant will range between US$100 to US$700 per month depending on the level of involvement (full-time or part time), qualifications, experience, local conditions and the particular situation of recipients. Under both types of support, additional legitimate research expenses (such as field research documentation, travel etc.) may be covered.

RSS grants are not designed to support extended periods of study undertaken in countries outside the region. Researchers resident outside the region are eligible only for limited support as members of group projects.

Further information and official application forms can be obtained free of charge from the RSS office, Bartolomejska 11, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic, or from the Soros Foundation office in the applicant`s country. They are also available via the Internet at http://rss.cz or on anonymous ftp at adress mail.rss.cz in directory (pub) applications.

THE DEADLINE FOR

SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION IS OCTOBER 19, 1998

All application materials must be presented in original plus two copies and must be in English.

The RSS Committee will notify applicants in June 1999.