Deadline: September 1, 2023
The European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) welcomes proposals for the Young Researchers’ Network initiative in the framework of the European Democracy Hub with the support of EPD’s Women and Youth in Democracy (WYDE) programme, supported by the European Union.
Making young people’s voices heard is necessary to make democratic systems sustainable and representative of all generations. To further understand youth issues with nuance and complexity, it is important to position young people as the best suited for political research participation as it most affects themselves and their peers.
To do so, the Young Researchers’ Network initiative will bring together a diverse group of international young scholars and democracy support practitioners to foster cross-regional and cross-disciplinary exchanges on the topic of youth participation in democracies across the world.
Selected researchers will follow a three-year programme, supported by the Youth Democracy Cohort. They will have the opportunity to exchange and learn from researchers and key people working on the topics of Youth Participation, Civic Engagement and Democracy. The programme foresees tutor support and regular meetings to check with participants how their research and data analysis is proceeding and if they need support from their peers. In addition to this, there will be online training sessions on research methodologies, data collection, and paper drafting, as well as recurring webinars on interesting topics for the young group of researchers.
12 Case Studies on Youth Political Participation
- The initiative will result in the publication of 12 case studies (3000 words) written by young researchers, to be collated into a flagship report on global youth political participation.
- The report will highlight policy implications and give recommendations for international development donors as well as youth policy decision-makers on improving youth participation through national and international policies.
Benefits
- Successful candidates will receive EUR 10,000 to support their part-time research on a country-specific case study and ad-hoc research assistance for the Young Researchers’ Network initiative over the three-year duration of the initiative. Members of the Young Researchers’ Network will be based remotely and will be invited to Brussels to present their research in 2024 and 2025.
Eligibility
- Open to PhD students, early-career academics and young professionals studying or working in an area related to youth in the field of development studies or democracy studies;
- Candidates should be currently undertaking or have been awarded a PhD or master’s degree from an internationally recognised university within the last three years;
- EPD will aim to have representation from all major world regions in the network and will take this into account when considering applications.
Application
Expressions of interest are to be submitted by email to [email protected] and must include:
- A filled-in application form (Word | PDF);
- An academic curriculum vitae, including the candidate’s publication record;
- A recommendation letter from their current or most recent university;
- An academic transcript from their current university or degree certificate from their most recent university.
For more information, visit Young Researchers’ Network.
