Current NSP Mission Statement

The Network Scholarship Programs fund the participation of students, scholars, and professionals from Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, the Middle East, South Asia, Indonesia and Burma in rigorous, competitive academic programs outside of their home countries. The goals of these programs are: to revitalize and reform the teaching of the social sciences and humanities at higher education institutions; to provide professional training in fields unavailable or underrepresented at institutions in the countries served; and to assist outstanding students from a range of backgrounds to pursue their studies in alternative academic and cultural environments. NSP bridges the gap between local needs and local potential by giving students and scholars the time and space to develop their critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and international awareness. These programs represent a long-term response to ongoing social and political transformations in the countries served.

Program enhancements encourage cross-cultural tolerance, interdisciplinary dialog, and professional networks. In practice these are summer academic programs, pre-departure orientations, mid-year conferences and professional internships.

All scholarship programs are funded on a cost-shared basis, meaning that NSP negotiates with government agencies, private donors, and universities to cover the full fellowship costs. Each program has its own financial arrangements. For example, the UK schemes generally operate on a third-third-third cost share, with each third covered by OSI, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the university, respectively. The Soros Supplementary Grants Program puts the cost-share burden on the student, in that applicants must have arranged some cost-sharing of their study prior to applying for our support.

Scholarship programs traditionally focus on post-graduate study in the humanities and social sciences, favoring individuals positioned to raise the quality of instruction in higher education institutions in their home country. These programs fall into a category called ASSET: Advanced Study Scholarships & Educational Training. Doctoral support and faculty development programs are the primary components of the ASSET category.

Additionally, professional degree programs in law, social work, education, and other social sciences build applied expertise with an eye to generating policy reform in specific issue areas. This cluster of programs are called BEST: Building Expertise through Scholarships and Training. Masters degree programs linked to professional internships are the core activities of this cluster.

Program Descriptions: ASSET Track

DAAD-OSI Program: (approx. 45 awards). A joint scholarship program in Germany for Central Asian, Caucasian, Ukrainian, Moldovan and Belarusian students with awards for doctoral study and faculty exchange in the social sciences and humanities. There are 14 German universities participating in this exchange.

Program Descriptions: BEST Track

CNOUS-OSI Program: (15 awards) A joint program between NSP and the French Government offering scholarships to students in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to pursue Masters degrees in the social sciences and humanities in France.
DAAD-OSI Program: (approx. 60 awards) A joint scholarship program in Germany for Central Asian, Caucasian, Ukrainian, Moldovan and Belarusian to pursue Masters level study in the social sciences and humanities.
OSI/Chevening Scholarships: (290+ awards). UK Scholarship programs include one-year Masters level awards (200+) and short term research stays (90), generally in the social sciences and humanities, for students and scholars to study in the United Kingdom. Awards are supported by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, NSP, and participating universities, and are on offer to students in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Middle East, the Newly Independent States, and South Asia.

Additional NSP Initiatives

Alumni Grants Program offers grants to NSP alumni to further expand the knowledge gained during their fellowship and to make a positive contribution in their home country. All grant proposals must be related to the Open Society Institute's mission of encouraging alternative approaches to complex and often controversial issues. Collaborative projects across countries and with host universities are welcome.
Keeping everyone connected is one of the NSP's goals. All grantees, alumni, and partner organization colleagues are invited to join the OSI Networker, a web portal which serves to keep the NSP community linked to each other and to OSI. Over 1200 alumni have posted profiles to the site. Currently we are working on improving the access by integrating the Networker into KARL ( OSI's intranet) before pursuing more users. Ultimately the site will feature employment, research, OSI news, university links, and open access journals in addition to scholarship program announcements and chat rooms and much more.

Summary of Activities in 2006

The UK programs (OSI/FCO Chevening Programs) remained the most time-consuming and complex scheme at NSP-Budapest/OSF-London. The competition for the UK Programs has resulted in estimated 144 awards. Though, the number of applications have been decreasing slightly over the last three years (2575 in 2003-04, 1840 in 2004-05 and 1814 in 2006-2007), it appears that the overall interest in the programs remains strong.

The UK Programs scholarship awards include some vital enhancement components. The most interesting examples are:
- Hansard Society Internship Program which provides up to 9 successful applicants with a program that combines rigorous academic courses with the practical experience of political internships;
- HR GGP Internship Program offered by Human Rights and Governance Grants Program in cooperation and cost-shared with/by NSP. The program offers a unique opportunity for up to ten successful applicants to go on 12 months internships at various organizations at the end of their scholarship period. The host organizations included Access to Information Bulgaria, European Human Rights Advocacy Center (UK), Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland), Interights, Memorial St. Petersburg (Russia), Mental Disability Advocacy Center.

The SSGP program was re-assessed and the HESB concluded that SSGP had finally exhausted its current resources and would no longer be offered to new grantees. However, the competition was open to students who were funded in 2004 and 2005. These re-applicants were to remain eligible for the competition until they complete their current program, provided they demonstrate their academic progress.

CNOUS grants were offered to students from Tajikistan for the first time, together with finalists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, making it a total of 14 grantees for the 2006-07 academic year.

DAAD-OSI joint scholarship scheme has considerably grown to include first successful applicants from Moldova and Ukraine. Those two countries were added to the scheme with an overall 44 awards between them.
One of the most interesting developments of this program was introduction of regional alumni meetings. By the initiative of the DAAD the program held the first alumni meeting in Bishkek at the American University Central Asia. The alumni could not only talk about their experience, but also discuss current political, economical and cultural issues with German professors.

Alumni Grant Program generated 38 proposals, 29 of them we reviewed during final selection. Sixteen countries were represented, with a variety of projects ranging from Civil Society Trainings in Burma to National Security and Anti-Corruption in Central Asia. NSP requested feedback from National Foundation directors, Regional Managers, and other partners whose work is relevant to OSI's efforts in the region.

Erasmus Mundus seminars for the advising centers

In the fall of 2005 NSP received an EU grant within the framework of the Erasmus Mundus Program, Action 4, to run training seminars in 2006 for the advisers from Central Asia and Caucasus on European higher education issues and new developments relating to international students. The OSI's share was to amount to Euro 11,582 to match Euro 167,429 received from the EU. The partner organizations included Association for Academic Cooperation in Belgium, the DAAD from Germany, the British Council, Nuffic in the Netherlands, and CNOUS- the center for students' affairs in France .
The idea of the project was to provide the staff of the Educational Advising Centers in Central Asia and the Caucasus with information on the higher education systems in European countries and to empower the educational advisers in their profession to become multipliers of the knowledge gained. This was supposed to further benefit academic exchanges at large and provide more choices for the potential applicants in the target countries.

New Programs Proposed for 2007

Apart from the regular continuation with the scholarship programs, there are several new proposals for the year 2007.

1. Short Term Study Stays for Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine: In response to the increasingly constrained academic environments of these countries, especially for scholars in politically sensitive fields, this program will offer 3-6 month stays at 'western' institutions for scholars to pursue research and writing in peace. Awards will target academics in non-capitol cities, and in fields of study such as human rights, cultural studies, gender studies, and political science.

2. Masters Degrees plus Internships in European Studies (for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), in partnership with Maastricht University.

Please note that OSF London programs form part of the wider program operated by OSI. For further details please use the following link: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/scholarship