The Open Society Institute’s (OSI) Open Society Fellowship Program is for individuals “who are developing solutions to pressing open society challenges.” It provides grants to individuals who seek innovative and unconventional approaches to address open society challenges and “enrich public understanding of those challenges and stimulate far-reaching and probing conversations within the Open Society Institute and in the world.”
Some of the examples where OSI has funded individuals exploring topics such as “the role of new media in authoritarian societies, the international response to genocide in Darfur, and the Liberian diaspora community in the United States.” Previous fellows “have also examined online activism in China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Central Asia, investigative journalism in Colombia, and the AIDS crisis in Russia and Africa.”
Journalists, activists, academics and practitioners from different fields can apply for this fellowship. The core areas of the fellowship are human rights, government transparency, the promotion of civil society and social inclusion. The fellowship guidelines have listed out some suggested topics (though not limited) where it could provide the grants:
- Global migration and the rights of displaced minorities
- Organized crime, corruption, and state failure
- The economic crisis and its effect on open societies
- Movement-building and state repression in societies affected by climate change
- The impact of new technologies on citizen access to information and justice
- The link between governance, transparency, and economic development.
Selected fellows are required to spend a portion of their time at any of the offices of OSI worldwide. Fellowships are awarded for a period of 12 months but it can also accept applications for longer or shorter periods than this. Both full-time and part-time fellowship requests can be made, but preference is given to full-time fellowships. Fellows based in the US can receive grants between $60,000 and $100,000. For fellows based in other countries, grants will depend upon the existing economic circumstances and costs of living in these countries. Only 10% of the applicants will be selected.
Applications to the fellowship have to be submitted online at the OSI website. They can also be submitted in hard-copy. Applications are accepted round the year but they are deadlines for consideration. The next deadline for receiving the applications is 7 September 2010. For more information, visit this link.
