Civil Society Scholar Awards

The Civil Society Scholar Awards (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, and to strengthening critical scholarship and academic networks within their fields.

Eligibility Criteria

The awards are open to the following academic populations:

  • doctoral students of eligible fields studying at accredited universities inside or outside of their home country
  • full-time faculty members (must have a minimum of a master’s degree) teaching at universities in their home country

Candidates must be citizens of the following countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Kosovo, Laos, Libya, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar/Burma, Nepal, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, or Yemen.

  • Project duration: between two and 12 months
  • Project location: projects must take place outside of the country of the applicant’s current residence
  • Eligible dates: September 1, 2018–August 31, 2019
  • Maximum funding requests: $15,000

Any subject areas within the social sciences and humanities are eligible, but particularly those related to: law, justice, and governance; sustainable development and natural resource management; economic rights and empowerment of the poor; public health, social work and community development; new media law and policy; inclusive education; post-conflict studies; and human rights.

The program does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability, pregnancy and maternity or marriage and/or civil partnership.