Fellowship Programme for Policy Researchers from the Western Balkans Region

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Written by Balkan Fund Thursday, 18 February 2010 17:22

Fellowship Programme for Policy Researchers from the Western Balkans Region

Envisioning Europe

European Fund for the Balkans in cooperation with the Open Society Institute Think Tank Fund

1. Background:

Fellowship Programme for Policy Researchers from the Western Balkans Region aims to contribute to further capacity building and professional development of policy researchers from the region of Western Balkans allowing them to build networks across Europe through paid visits to other policy research institutions and think-tanks in the EU and other countries of the Western Balkans (WB). This programme is developed by widening the existing support to networking with an opportunity for creating links to EU and WB based think-tanks and policy organisations.

The programme is a joint undertaking of the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) and the Think Tank Fund (TTF) of the Open Society Institute based in Budapest. The administration of the programme is carried out by the European Fund for the Balkans.

2. The programme

Each Fellowship should last 6 months with residential stay up to 3 months in one of the think tanks in European Union member states or policy centers in the Western Balkans. The programme seeks up to 10 talented and dedicated young researchers which must be residents of one of the countries of Western Balkans

The goals of the programme are the following:

to equip junior researchers with tools necessary for effective influencing of the policy-making processes and developing innovative and quality policy products;
to contribute to institutional development of think tanks by broadening their professional networks, improving the junior employee skills and increasing their motivation for better participation and generation of new ideas;
to enrich portfolios and networks of think tanks by bringing in researchers with different backgrounds.

At the host organisation, fellows are expected to engage in ongoing policy research projects and develop a concrete policy product.* Final product is to be delivered at the end of Fellowship programme. While at the host institutions fellows' work is to be guided by senior policy analysts.

*Policy product refers to:

research study or survey (fellows are expected to formulate clear tangible outcomes at the end of the study/ survey);
policy papers, briefs, or newsletters;
organised event or conference (fellow should contribute to thematic development of an event organised within the fellowship term);
any other policy-related product or activity that benefits both the visiting fellow and the hosting organisation (e.g. designing and hosting policy blogs).

Applicants’ Profile

Applicants are required to be permanent residents in one of the countries of Western Balkans.
Applicants must be full-time employees at a think tank, policy center or NGO with strong research component in one of the Western Balkans countries for at least one year at the time of application and plan to stay for at least one more year. This requirement will depend on the the sending organisation's Human Resource policy.
Applicants should be between 24 and 35 years of age at the time of application.
Applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English.

As part of the call for applications, fellows will be offered a non-exhaustive list of think tanks from which they can choose a host organisation in the EU member state and Western Balkans. Fellows are solely responsible for choosing and contacting the organisation of their desired placement. For advice or reccomendation concerning/refering to host organisation applicants can consult the European Fund for the Balkans at the contacts given in the guidlines. Prior to submitting their fellowship application, applicants should directly contact an organisation(s) of interest from the list to develop ideas for the Fellowship that would be mutually beneficial to them.

3. Terms of the Award

European Fund for the Balkans and Think Tank Fund total awards will not exceed 5,000 Euros per Fellowship. Co-funding from the involved organisations is a plus.

These funds are to cover:

Travel expenses (one return ticket, visa fees and visa related expenses, travel or medical insurance) and reasonable accommodation and living costs.

Alternatively:

The European Fund for the Balkans and Think Tank Fund will co-fund the fellows’ supervision and support by senior policy analysts at hosting organisations (up to 30 hours per month).
Regular monthly salary is maintained by the sending organisation during the full period of the Fellowship. If requested and justified, the programmeould provide for compensation up to 50% of the full salary.

4. How To Apply

To be considered for the Fellowship, applicants should submit the following documents in English (as .doc or .pdf attachments to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ):

• Motivation/cover letter

This letter should describe the applicant's interest in the Fellowship, objectives of the fellow, his/her skills and qualifications and the value he/she aspires to contribute both to the hosting and sponsoring organisations.
The letter should also include a brief action plan with clear evaluation indicators for the proposed work and a draft budget in EUR (budget template is available for download below).

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)

The CV should include academic and professional background, a detailed description of the applicant's current job, and a list of recent policy projects in which the applicant has been involved.

• Support letter from a sending organisation, written in the name of the Executive Director /or President.

This letter should describe the rationale, the expected outcomes and the value of the Fellowship to the sending organisation.
The letter should be accompanied by a committal statement that the sending organisation will cover the salary costs during the Fellowship period.

• Support letter from a host organisation in the name of the Executive Director/or President /or Department Head.

This letter should explain the interest and benefits of the Fellowship to the host organisations.
The letter should be accompanied with bio(s) of assigned mentor(s) and job description for the visiting fellow.
The letter should also include a committal statement that the host organisation will secure supervision from a senior policy analyst (mentor) up to 30 hours/a month; and will render necessary support to the fellow in obtaining a visa. A brief mentorship plan should also be attached.

5. Reporting Requirements

At a host organisation, fellows are expected to engage in ongoing policy research projects and develop concrete policy products (see description on page 1). Throughout the programme, fellows' work is to be guided by senior policy analysts. Upon completion of the Fellowship, the European Fund for the Balkans expects a final report from both a fellow and his mentor.

6. Timeframe of the programme:

Launch of the programme and the Call for Applications: February 17, 2010.
Deadline for applications: March 30, 2010
Selection of applicants: 15 April 2010.
Duration of the residental stay at host institutions: May - September 2010.
Duration of Fellowship: May-November 2010

About the Think Tank Fund Open Society Institute

Established in 2005, the Think Tank Fund of the Open Society Institute supports independent policy centers that strengthen democratic processes in their countries by identifying and analysing policy options, consulting with the government and advocating their recommendations, involving stakeholders outside government circles in policy debates, and making their findings widely available to the public. The Think Tank Fund fosters institutions that carry out non-partisan policy relevant research and promote inclusive policy change. ‘Inclusive policy change’ refers to a policymaking process that is open, transparent, and responsive to the public interest. The Think Tank Fund pursues this mission through two distinct grantmaking programs in support of independent, multi thematic policy centers active in various social, economic and political areas. In Western Balkans, The Fund provides multi-year core and institutional grants that build capacity for high quality policy research and advocacyof local policy research organizations.

About the European Fund for the Balkans

The European Fund for the Balkans is a joint initiative of European foundations designed to undertake and support initiatives aimed at bringing the Western Balkans closer to the European Union through grant-giving and operational programmes and, as such, is focused on individuals and organisations from Western Balkan countries.

As a direct follow-up to the International Commission on the Balkans (2004-2006), the Fund embodies the "member-state building strategy" with the development of functioning state administrations and constituency-building as its main priorities.

The European Fund for the Balkans is established in June 2007 as a multi-year joint initiative of European Foundations including the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the King Baudouin Foundation, the Compagnia di San Paolo and the ERSTE Foundation.

The Fund is designed to undertake and support initiatives aimed at bringing the Western Balkans closer to the European Union through grant-making and operational programmes and as such is focused on individuals and organisations from the Western Balkans region.

As a direct follow-up to the International Commission on the Balkans (2004-2006), the Fund embodies the “member-state building strategy” which includes the development of functioning state administrations and constituency-building as main priorities.

More specifically, the Fund’s objectives are: to encourage broader and stronger commitment to the European integration of the Western Balkan countries and societies; to strengthen the efforts undertaken by a range of stakeholders in this process with a view also to developing effective policies and practices in the region and in the EU and to support the process of member-state building as envisaged by the International Commission on the Balkans, in particular by building constituencies in the societies of Southeast Europe who will be offered an opportunity to experience and learn about Europe.

Last Updated ( Monday, 25 July 2011 22:47 )

Overview

The political elite in the Western Balkan countries should clearly comprehend what member-state building means in practice. Parties – journalists, civil society representatives, academics, interest groups – that shape policy debates have a responsibility to constructively contribute to meeting these challenges.

A broad and shared understanding of the ''europeanisation'' process is paramount for the overcoming competing and conflicting agendas which frequently generate difficulties in building and sustaining reform coalitions. Therefore, the countries of this region should develop strategies, plans and priorities which are followed up by genuine domestic debates, and exercise ownership for achieving sustainable institution building and actual transformation.

The ownership of the European integration process cannot be gained by the countries and societies of the Western Balkans without a clear vision or a realistic and result-oriented understanding of the challenges, costs and opportunities of the genuine EU member state building. It also requires the integrated efforts of all layers of society to adopt European values.

The Fund will provide support through programmes focused on individual and collaborative research and policy development projects as well as media outreach initiatives, with a view to
Supporting inclusive and evidence-based research and policy-making	Strengthening the think tank capacity in the Balkans or in the EU regarding Balkan issues	Bringing EU integration into public perception	Linking emerging policy institutes from the Balkans with the EU-based think tanks	Stimulating regional exchanges and transfer of know-how within the wider region

Background

12 think tanks from the Western Balkans are financially supported to perform research on the proposed topic, different for each programme year. In addition the programme provides capacity building in the form of seminars offered to the members of the chosen think tanks.

Objective

The programme seeks to foster inclusive and evidence-based policy making in the Western Balkans by initiating and supporting individual and collaborative research projects on the chosen annual programme topic, embedded in the regional seminar programme cycle.

Think and Link Regional Policy Programme

“THINK AND LINK” - Regional Policy Programme 2009/2010

“THINK AND LINK” - Regional Policy Programme 2010/2011

The eight month Programme is composed of the following activities:

Capacity Building Seminar	A chance for peer learning, networking experience and practical trainings for the researchers of the selected organisations	Timeframe: 2 DAYS
Research Phase	Research is carried out by the selected organisations based on their initial proposals	Timeframe: 6 MONTHS
Mentoring Phase	Provided by the independent policy experts, the offered assistance is of the crucial importance for the final design of the products and learning experience for the researchers involved in drafting the policy paper	Timeframe: 1 MONTH
Final Seminar	The Final Seminar serves as the dissemination platform for the results of the research undertaken by the selected organisation through a concrete presentation. It is also the meeting point for all the stakeholders involved in the open participatory policy debate with regards to the cost, benefits and challenges of the EU and the region	Timeframe: 2 DAYS

THINK AND LINK
Fill the crucial gap between the political and technical debate	Foster inclusive and evidence - based policy making in the region	Link emerging policy institutes from the Balkans with the EU - based think tanks	Build up research capacities and support constant learning

Overview

The EUROPEAN STORY FUND is a new and innovative initiative that has been set up by The European Fund for the Balkans* to support the costs of producing stories on relevant European themes by the journalists from throughout the Western Balkans, as well as the journalists based in Brussels, reporting on WB issues. The produced stories are then shared and broadcasted by multiple media houses/TV stations from throughout the Western Balkans.
The Fund provides small grants to contribute to the additional costs of making stories for broadcasting on European issues relevant to the countries of the Western Balkans including:

How are other Candidate/applicant countries in Western Balkans managing the EU integration processes. How does the negotiation process work?
How did new EU member states manage key aspects of the EU integration process before they became members? What has it meant for ordinary citizens? What are the cost and benefits of the EU; did EU membership pay off?
How do EU member states manage issues like public administration reform, the environment, regional economic development?

The rules of the Story Fund are intended to be as flexible as possible.

The stories have to cover issues of interest to audiences in the Western Balkans on the European agenda.
There is no restriction on the content – except the basic conventions of professional journalism. Stories have to be interesting and accessible to general audience.

They can be shown on news programmes, or on current affairs/magazine programmes covering EU/foreign affairs on public or private TV stations in the Western Balkans

Background

This initiative aims to improve the public understanding of the European accession process and debate on the EU integration in the Western Balkans. It establishes a flexible co-operative network of working TV journalists from throughout the region, regarded as the best in their field that share their ideas and know how as well as join their resources in the story production and sharing process.

The initiative was initially proposed by the journalists themselves coming from different countries of the Western Balkans. It is an example of locally driven regional co-operation.

* The European Story Fund is at present co-financed by the Balkan Trust for Democracy

Main Activities

1	2	3	4	5
Production of stories that improve public understanding of the European accession process and debate on the EU integration in the Western Balkans	Exchange of material within a growing network of journalists	Planning of joint interview bids and commissioning material from the freelance camera operators and journalists funded by the Story Fund	Shooting and sending via FTP short statements or interviews upon request from various journalists	Common work in requesting interviews with officials usually with less accessibility for the local media working on their own

Fellowship Programme for
Policy Researchers from the Western Balkans

Objective

Contribute to the further capacity building and professional development of policy researchers from the region of the Western Balkans allowing them to build networks across Europe through paid visits to the other policy research institutions and think – tanks in the EU and other countries of the Western Balkans.

The six month Programme is composed of the following activities:
Residential stay at Host Institution		Continuation of work at Home Institution
Opportunity for the Fellow to engage in the ongoing policy research projects and develop concrete policy products, guided by senior policy analysts from the host institution		After returning to home institution, the Fellow continues to work on the final report from both the mentor and the Fellow, which will be presented to the EFB at the end of the Fellowship
Timeframe: 3 MONTHS		Timeframe: 3 MONTHS

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