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.

The awards support activities such as fieldwork (data collection); research visits to libraries, archives, or universities; course/curriculum development; and international collaborations leading to peer-reviewed publication. 

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.

doctoral students of eligible fields studying at accredited universities inside or outside of their home country

full-time faculty members teaching at universities in their home country

 

Eligible countries: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 nine months 

 

Eligible dates: September 1, 2017–August 31, 2018

 

Maximum funding requests: $10,000 for doctoral students; $15,000 for faculty members

The awards support short-term, international academic projects, such as: fieldwork (data collection); research visits to libraries, archives, or universities; course/curriculum development; and international research collaborations leading to peer-reviewed publication. 

Requests for support for first-year tuition and fees only will be considered on the basis of a clearly demonstrated need from doctoral students who have gained admission to universities outside of their home country.

For more eligibility criteria, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions document in the Download Files section.

federal and/or state taxes

computer hardware, software or other computer-related equipment

automobile-related expenses

tuition/academic fees if the activity is not for the first year of a doctoral program

conference attendance which is not part of a larger research project

applications from more than one individual

 

Ineligible fields include: business administration, management training, computer science, finance/banking, marketing, engineering, hard sciences (physics, biology, chemistry, etc.), mathematics, medical sciences, or teaching English as a foreign language/language instruction.

Applicants with permanent resident status or dual citizenship in Australia, Canada, European Union, New Zealand, Nordic countries, or the United States are not eligible to apply.

Students or faculty currently enrolled in master’s degree programs are not eligible to apply.

Guidelines

Competition for the CSSA awards is merit-based. Selection will be made on the basis of proven academic excellence, a clear and justifiable need for international travel to complete the research project, and relevance of the project to the development of open society in the applicant’s home country. 

Selected grantees may be invited by CSSA to attend short-term trainings/summer school, and a participant conference during the grant period. Travel costs and accommodation for these events will be covered by CSSA.

Detailed guidelines on the conditions of these awards are available in the Download Files section.

Online Applications:Applicants are strongly advised to submit their application online.

Financial & Grants Management

Budget Preparation	Steps to be taken while Applying for Grants
Bank Reconciliation	Letter of Intent
AdvancesÂ	Capacity Building
Cost Effective Analysis	Concept Note
How to choosea Bank	Bank Accounts
Cash and Fund flowÂ	Asset RegisterÂ
Financial Statements	Cash and Acrual based AccountingÂ