INTERNATIONAL POLICY FELLOWSHIPS, 2002

All applications must be submitted online at http://www.osi.hu/ipf/apply.html by July 15, 2001

The Central European University Center for Policy Studies (CPS) is calling for proposals for its year 2002 International Policy Fellowships (IPF) program, which is affiliated with the CPS and the Open Society Institute-Budapest. Broadly speaking, an open society is characterized by a reliance on the rule of law, the existence of a democratically elected government, a diverse and vigorous civil society, and respect for minorities and minority opinions. Launched in late 1999, the CPS works with a broadening circle of policy analysts and institutions to promote the development of policy center networks throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Mongolia, as well as countries in South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The Center undertakes policy research and advocacy that furthers the open society mission and disseminates quality analyses in accessible formats.

The CPS International Policy Fellowships are intended to support the analytical policy research of open society leaders and to provide these Fellows with professional policy training. The program aims to improve the quality of analysis in countries where the Soros foundations work by ensuring that these leaders are able to conduct research in their home region while maintaining local affiliations and a high degree of mobility and intellectual freedom. Fellows participate in four training seminars in Budapest over the course of the fellowship year conducted by professors of public policy from around the world and gain vital skills including how to write professional policy documents, identify appropriate policy instruments, and effectively advocate policies-skills that are underdeveloped in countries where the Soros foundations work. Good policy analysis is characterized by elements including a reliance on well-researched data; comprehensive, non-ideological assessment of relevant factors and options; explicitly stated criteria for assessing options; consideration of the interests and groups affected; and the clear presentation of feasible recommendations for action as well as how these recommendations should be communicated and implemented.

Outstanding Fellows from Eastern Europe may be nominated to participate in additional training and research opportunities including a three-month International Junior Public Policy Scholar Fellowship in Washington, D.C. in affiliation with the Woodrow Wilson Center‘s East European Studies program. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the United States‘ official memorial to President Wilson, was established by congressional legislation in 1968. Meant to reflect and continue Woodrow Wilson‘s commitment to a deeper understanding of issues crucial to global peace and stability, the Center serves as an international, interdisciplinary, non-partisan scholarly institute which fosters scholarship in the humanities and social sciences and encourages dialogue between the academic and policy communities. East European Studies, housed at the Woodrow Wilson Center, provides a non-partisan forum for bringing historical and contemporary understanding of the former communist states of Eastern Europe and the Baltics to the nation‘s capital and throughout the country. For more details on the Wilson Center and its East European Studies program, please see further details in the online version of this announcement and visit the Center‘s website at www.wilsoncenter.org.

Applicants are encouraged to submit individual, practical and policy-oriented research proposals in the following subject areas. The product of each fellowship will be a detailed analysis of a major issue to be published in English and translated into other languages:

Fellowship Issue Areas

The Public Policy Process

The Impact of European Union Expansion on Non-Accession Countries

Policies to Promote Criminal Justice Reform and the Rule of Law

Conflict Prevention in Southeast Europe

The Role of Universities in Social Transformation

Primary and Secondary Education Reform Policy

Information Policy

Media Policy

Gender Policy

Roma Policy

Children‘s Services Policy

Cultural Policy

Urban Policy

Terms of the International Policy Fellowship Award

Fellows will be provided with a one-year stipend, expenses including travel, and needed communications equipment to work full-time on research of their design in one of the above areas. The amount of the award will vary depending on standards in the Fellow‘s country of residence and the budgetary needs of the proposal.

To Apply: Application Requirements and Procedures

All initial queries must be entered online via the Internet directly into the IPF application database found at http://www.osi.hu/ipf/apply.html. Those who have no possibility to access the Internet (including from public libraries, Internet centers, or national Soros foundations) should send an e-mail to fellows@osi.hu or call the IPF offices at (36 1) 327-3863 to discuss the best alternate application solution. Finalists will be interviewed at the expense of IPF. Successful applicants will be notified in November or December 2001 and no later than January 15, 2002. The fellowship research cycle will approximate the period from February 2002 to February 2003. Applications sent by mail, fax or e-mail will not be considered unless you received prior approval from IPF staff to use an alternative method of application.