You are a PhD student or a full-time faculty member who is interested into addressing root causes and advancing systemic changes? You are eager to initiate and take part in critical debates respecting diverse opinions? Then the Civil Society Scholar Awards (CSSA) are for you!
The CSSA support international academic mobility to enable doctoral students and university faculty to access resources that enrich socially-engaged research and critical scholarship in their home country or region.
Civil Society Scholars are selected on the basis of their outstanding contributions to research or other engagement with local communities, to furthering debates on challenging societal questions, to furthering open society values in their home regions, and to strengthening critical scholarship and academic networks within their fields. More information about the CSSA and application process will be available in January 2020.
CSSA is a scholarship program of the Open Society Foundations. The OSF believe that the solutions to the national, regional, and global challenges people face demand the free exchange of ideas and thought, and that everyone should have a voice in shaping the policies that affect them. The Open Society Foundations therefore work to build vibrant and inclusive societies, grounded in respect for human rights and the rule of law, whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.
An Open Society is a society based on the recognition that nobody has a monopoly on the truth, that different people have different views and interests, and that there is a need for institutions to protect the rights of all people to allow them to live together in peace. The term “open society” was popularized by the philosopher Karl Popper in his 1945 book Open Society and Its Enemies. 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 a respect for minorities and minority opinions.
Belgrade Open School acts as a focal points of the CSSA and provides academic counseling to all the interest candidates in crafting their applications