Deadline: October 1, 2013
The Open Society Foundations is now accepting applications for the 2014 Think Tank Young Professional Development Program. The Think Thank is a 6 month program that intends to attract recent graduates of MA and PhD programs in the social sciences and humanities to selected think tanks in Central and Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, giving them an opportunity to gain first-hand policy research and advocacy experience at a renowned think tank in the region.
The program is designed to benefit both young returning professionals and their host organizations. It enables participating think tanks to recruit young researchers originally from the region who recently graduated from universities in the OECD countries, including the Central European University in Hungary. Depending on a research topic, individual programs at hosting organizations will last up to six months and start from December 2013.
The work of the young professionals will be guided by senior policy staff or the hosting think tank director who will be considered the mentor. The Think Tank Fund would encourage both the young professional and the hosting organization to use these six months to fundraise for other funds and, if possible, make the position permanent.
Benefits
With this new initiative, the Think Tank Fund aims to
- support up to fifteen individuals per year to assume posts in think tanks that are interested in such a possibility. The award cannot exceed 7,000 USD per paid position
- cover a gross compensation/salary for the paid position (at the level of the hosting organization’s pay for junior research staff), and other reasonable expenses that are essential for carrying out the work engagement.
- The award will not cover any administrative and mentorship costs incurred by the hosting think tank as these costs will be the contribution of the hosting organization to the program.
Requirements
- After the selection process, the Think Tank Fund expects accepted young professionals to assume a full-time position in one of the region’s think tanks (most likely in their home country, or a country where they would like to resume their career and are able to justify this decision) for a period of up to six months.
- These individuals will reside in the hosting organization’s country for the entire duration of the program, work full-time at the hosting think tank’s offices, and will become a part of the organization (this commitment resembles a full-time paid internship).
- Throughout this period, the young professionals are expected to engage in ongoing policy research projects and develop concrete policy products in agreement with the hosting organization.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible candidates must fulfill ALL of the following four requirements:
- Have graduated in the past three years with a PhD, LLM or MA degree in the social sciences and humanities from universities in the OECD countries.
- Be a citizen or permanent resident of the selected countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, South Caucasus and Central Asia listed above.
- Applicants should be between 23 and 35 years of age at the time of application.
- Applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English and the working language of the host organization.
For more information, click here.
