Posts Tagged ‘researcher’

Right Livelihood is looking for a full-time Head of Research

January 17, 2025

Right Livelihood is looking for a full-time Head of Research. The role will be based at one of our offices in Stockholm or Geneva and will lead the selection and research of new Laureates for the Right Livelihood Award.

About Right Livelihood

For over 40 years, Right Livelihood has honoured courageous people solving global problems, creating a community of change-makers committed to peace, justice, and sustainability. By recognising the actions of brave visionaries and building a continuous relationship with these change-makers, Right Livelihood boosts urgent and transformational societal change. With offices in Stockholm and Geneva, Right Livelihood has 20 staff and an annual budget of EUR 4 million. Every year, an international jury chooses the new Laureates: to date, 198 Laureates from 77 countries have been awarded for their impactful contributions. Read more about our approach.

Purpose of the role

You will oversee all aspects of the research and selection of new Laureates for the Right Livelihood Award, taking a leading role in implementing our strategic outlook, as well as developing and managing the research team. In this position, you will be collaborating with colleagues in the entire Right Livelihood team and communicating with nominees for the Award as well as external experts and other contacts. It is expected that you stay on top of global developments related to the work. It is your responsibility to ensure high quality in the research and present accurate, comprehensive, and timely research findings about the candidates. 

The Head of Research will report to the Deputy Director and lead the work of the research team, which currently has two staff members. 

Main responsibilities

  • Lead and develop the annual selection process of Laureates towards the goals defined in the organisational strategy and operational plan.
  • Provide leadership to the research team, manage and guide the research work, and be responsible for the research budget.
  • Coordinate and conduct investigative research about nominees for the Award, both remote and on-site, and lead the writing of the report presented to the jury, including all relevant research findings.
  • Ensure high-quality research to allow the jury to assess nominations from multiple perspectives.
  • In coordination with colleagues, make sure that our work is informed by current trends in global affairs and civil society movements.

Required experience and qualifications

  • Professional experience in leadership roles
  • Professional experience in conducting investigative research in fields such as activism and social transformation 
  • Experience with conducting interviews with a wide range of people, e.g. victims of environmental or human rights violations, both on-site or online
  • Full professional proficiency in English, including experience with research report writing

Terms of employment

This position will be located preferably at our head office in Stockholm or at our Geneva office. Regular international travel is expected in this role. This is a permanent full-time position with a probationary period.

Right Livelihood is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We therefore strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds, identities and abilities to help us create a diverse, balanced and inclusive working environment.

Starting date

By agreement, preferably April 2025.

How to apply

We use a competency-based process for this recruitment. Therefore, you will not be asked to attach a letter of motivation to your application. Instead, we will ask you to complete the online application form accessed through the link below, attach your CV and submit a work sample. Instructions for the work sample are outlined here and in the application form.

go to application form

If you have further questions about the position or the application process, please contact us at jobs@rightlivelihood.org.

The deadline for applications is February 12, 2025 (EOD).

Come work with us: We’re looking for a Head of Research

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Relief for threatened scholars: the Philipp Schwartz Initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

May 10, 2017
Some support structures suffer from a lack of general knowledge. Here is one that I came across recently.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), in conjunction with the Scholars at Risk (SAR) Germany Section, convened the 3rd Workshop on the Philipp Schwartz Initiative (PSI) in Berlin, bringing together SAR staff, Philipp Schwartz Fellows, representatives of universities and research institutions in Germany supporting threatened scholars, and representatives from partner organizations.

As a part of AvH and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and other private funders, the PSI provides universities and research institutions in Germany with the means to host at-risk foreign researchers with two-year, fully funded fellowships. Since the summer of 2016, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has invited applications to the PSI on behalf of scholars regardless of country of origin, current location, or academic field, as long as a demonstrable threat can be confirmed. The PSI is currently sponsoring more than 60 researchers, 34 of whom are SAR scholars. This number will undoubtedly grow, as the PSI has recently confirmed funding for an additional 30 grants.  Applications in the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative cannot be submitted at this time. Applicants in the 3rd round will be informed of the outcome by 30 June 2017.

For more information about the important work being done, visit the Philipp Schwartz Initiative’s homepage and consult the most recent issue of AvH’s magazine, Humboldt Kosmos.

Who can apply?  Please note that researchers cannot apply on an individual basis only through host institutions in Germany.

Research-performing institutions in Germany in the following categories may apply:

  • public and state-recognised universities, including universities of applied sciences (“Fachhochschulen”)
  • Max Planck Institutes, Helmholtz Institutes, Leibniz Institutes, Fraunhofer Institutes
  • Federal and State Research Institutes
  • other research-performing institutions that can convincingly demonstrate their research focus and infrastructures

Successful applicants will be able to grant a Philipp Schwartz Fellowship to a threatened researcher. In detail:

  • institutions that were successful in the 1st or 2nd call for applications (no submission of support concepts in 3rd call; only nomination of researcher)
  • institutions that applied but were not successful in the 1st or 2nd call for applications
  • institutions that have not applied for Philipp Schwartz funding before

Who is eligible for a Philipp Schwartz fellowship?

Threatened researchers from any academic field and any country of origin who

  • have completed their doctorate or a comparable academic degree (PhD, CSc or equivalent)
  • have not been resident outside their own country for more than three years; researchers who hold German university entrance qualifications (“Bildungsinländer”) are not eligible
  • possess the language skills required to successfully conduct their research projects
  • possess academic qualifications (e.g. publications)
  • possess potential to be integrated into the (research-related) job market
  • who have not yet been funded in the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative
  • persons that have access to residence in safe countries due to multiple citizenship and German citizens are not eligible for nomination
  • multiple nominations of one person by several institutions are not permitted

The Humboldt Foundation imposes no restrictions with regard to country of origin or current location if the threat can be confirmed in accordance with the programme guidelines.

What does the funding include?

  • fellowship funds including subsidies of 3,500 EUR/month for up to 24 months
  • a one-off lump sum of 12,000 EUR for the host institution

How can a threat to a researcher be confirmed in the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative?

In the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, a pertinent threat of researchers who are demonstrably threatened in their countries can be confirmed in two ways:

  • by way of a residence status in the context of an asylum-granting procedure that confirms a recognised threat
  • by way of a credible threat assessment from a third party, such as the Scholars at Risk Network, the Scholar Rescue Fund, or the Council for At-Risk Academics

 

Source: Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation – The Philipp Schwartz Initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supported by the Federal Foreign Office

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