Fellowship Programme for Policy Researchers from the Western Balkans Region

Venues: A host organisation in the EU member state and Western Balkans
Period: February 2011 - June 2011
Application deadline: November 30, 2010

Brief description: 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.

• 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.

To be considered for the Fellowship, applicants should submit the following documents in English (as .doc or .pdf attachments to policy@balkanfund.org):
• 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.

European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) 
address: Resavska 35
11000 Belgrade, Serbia
tel.: 00381.011.30.33.662
website: http://balkanfund.org/