2020 re:constitution Fellowships “Exchange and Analysis on Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe”

Deadline: 24 May 2020

re:constitution invites applications for 20 fellowships for the upcoming academic year from October 2020 to July 2021. The programme aims to provide for a high-quality and flexible environment of exchange and debate among scholars, legal practitioners and journalists from across Europe. Fellows will pursue their own, topic-related projects and will become part of a European exchange network.

Democratic values are increasingly contested in the EU, but how to deal with and respond to these tendencies? In view of these developments, re:constitution promotes dialogue on democracy and the rule of law across Europe and its member states. The programme is intended to offer room for discussions and enable European scholars and professionals to share experiences and exchange ideas on this topic of paramount importance. re:constitution is a joint programme of the Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien and Democracy Reporting International, led by Christoph Möllers who is Professor of Public Law at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Permanent Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. The programme is funded by Stiftung Mercator.

re: constitution is a joint program of the Forum Transregional Studies and Democracy Reporting International, which is funded by the Mercator Foundation. The scientific direction is with Christoph Möllers, Professor of Public Law at the Humboldt University in Berlin and Permanent Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. A college of European lawyers advises and accompanies the program.

Benefits

Monthly stipend of €2.500 during the ‘stage’ (plus supplements, depending on personal circumstances).
Mobility period of six months, the so-called ‘stage’ at institutions of scholarship and practice of your choice in another EU country than your residential one; the ‘stage’ should be divided between a research institution and an institution of legal practice.

Eligibility Criteria

in the early stages of your career

as a SCHOLAR holding a PhD in
- Law/Legal Studies
- Political sciences, social sciences, philosophy or other neighbouring disciplines (focusing on legal issues and/or the rule of law in Europe)
PRACTITIONER
- Legal expert (i.e. judge or court employee, in NGOs,…)
- Government official
- Researcher working on questions on the rule of law and/or democracy in the EU
- Journalist reporting on the rule of law and/or democracy in the EU
Eligible for the fellowship are residents of the European Union or the United Kingdom, non-EU EEA countries or Switzerland.
*Your PhD project should have been completed no more than 10 years ago. Scholars who are still working on their project may be eligible if their PhD is close to completion. For practitioners, a PhD is not required.
Your motivation
- You are interested in current developments and challenges regarding democracy and the rule of law in Europe.
- You are looking for new ways to work on your own project within the context of democracy and the rule of law in Europe.
- You want to be part of a group of fellows to debate and learn from each other.
- You are keen to pursue new work opportunities at institutions in other EU countries.
- You want to engage in a multi-faceted exchange about questions on democracy and the rule of law in Europe with junior and senior experts from all over Europe, from different sectors and from across the political spectrum.