PRIO Student Scholarships 2009/2010

Deadline: 12:00 (noon), 17 November 2008.

The International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) regularly announces student scholarships for master’s degree students who have completed their coursework and are in the process of writing their theses.

Scholarships are granted for a period of six to twelve months. For successful applicants, PRIO offers a monthly stipend of NOK 3,500. Students may be in residence at their home university or at PRIO’s offices in Hausmanns gate 7 in Oslo. Students in residence at PRIO will be given access to institute facilities – library services, photocopiers, etc. Each student will be assigned a supervisor from among PRIO’s staff and encouraged to take part in the institute’s scholarly activities. Students will be expected to present their on-going work at internal seminars.

We encourage applications from students whose theses focus on themes within the fields of our research programmes. A short description of each of the research programmes at PRIO and the Centre for the Study of Civil War is included below. More information is available at our website www.prio.no.

The Security Programme (SP) comprises interdisciplinary research projects focusing on the ways in which individuals, groups, states, and international organizations respond to a range of security challenges. While retaining its traditional policy perspectives, the programme aims to develop new fields of research based on both the changing security reality and an evolving universe of theories and methodological approaches to security and insecurity. Important focual points in this field include human security and questions surrounding terrorist threat and appropriate and legitimate responses to it.

Programme Leader: J. Peter Burgess

The Ethics, Norms and Identities (ENI) comprises two broad and interrelated strands of research. First, research within the programme addresses normative dimensions of armed conflict and peacebuilding. Second, the programme addresses how different identities influence, and are influenced by, the dynamics of conflict and peace. Identities examined include those of gender, ethnicity and religion. Questions of identities are central to PRIO’s research on international migration, much of which is located within the ENI programme. Research projects in the programme are characterized by qualitative methodologies and analyses of various forms: textual and discourse analysis, fieldwork, interviews and participatory observation in a variety of conflict settings. This diversity in analytical approach reflects the fact that researchers within the programme come from a variety of different disciplines, including philosophy, human geography, political science,
psychology, international law and international relations.

Programme Leader: Gregory Reichberg

The Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding (CRPB) programme has key competence on a number of countries and regions that have been, and continue to be, sites of conflict resolution and peacemaking efforts. These include Afghanistan, Cyprus, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Israel/Palestine and the wider Middle East. Core research areas of the CRPB programme are mobilization and causes of conflict, small arms proliferation, peace initiatives, disarmament and reintegration of fighters, and mine action. The programme is defined in broad terms, with a focus not only on ending wars, but also on efforts to decrease violence. CRPB undertakes research, training and education, policy development and dialogue projects, rooting all engagements in solid research competence. The aim is to develop synergies that bridge theory, applied knowledge and practice. CRPB researchers are engaged in dialogue with policy-makers and practitioners, as well as in public debate.

Programme Leader: Åshild Kolås

The Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW) is a long-term, multidisciplinary initiative that aims to examine why civil wars break out, how they are sustained, and what it takes to end them. Civil war is the dominant form of armed conflict. CSCW aims to clarify the ways in which actors respond to civil war, in all its phases from onset to post conflict, whether as primary participants, general citizenry, or intervening powers. The centre is organized into eight working groups, and its methodological toolkit includes game theory, micro- and macroeconomics, quantitative statistical analysis, comparative case studies and historical source criticism. The work of all the groups, and of the centre as a whole, has an iterative dynamic, going from theory-building to empirical case materials and back.

CSCW Director: Scott Gates

For further information about the process please send your enquiries to recruiting@prio.no.

Applications for scholarships starting in the first half of 2009 should be written in English and include:

Completed application form (DOWNLOAD FROM LINK ABOVE)
Thesis description, including a draft contents/chapters list and suggestions for a suitable literature list (max 10 pp. for all three)
Time schedule for the thesis
A recommendation from the your adviser (if one has already been appointed) or from another scholar familiar with your work
Curriculum vitae
Copies of certificates of university exams
Applications should be received at PRIO, preferably by e-mail (recruiting@prio.no), by 12:00 noon on 17 November 2008.

When sending your application to us by e-mail, please scan and send all documents as one PDF (including certificates). Your university’s IT department should be able to help you with this. Applications e-mailed to us should only be sent to recruiting@prio.no

Please note that if you insist on sending us your application (or any other supporting documents) by regular post, or you wish to hand deliver your application, then please ensure all documents are printed on loose un-bound (i.e. no staples, paper-clips or binders) standard A4 paper (this is because the application will have to be copied). Hard copies must be received on the deadline date before the PRIO reception closes at 16:00!

PRIO’s postal address is: PO Box 9229 Grønland, NO-0134 Oslo.

PRIO’s visiting address is: Hausmanns gate 7, NO-0186 OSLO, Norway.

If you have not received an e-mail confirming that we have received your application within two working-days of the delivery estimate, please contact PRIO immediately.

Source: www.prio.no/About/Vacancies/?item=6