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PhD Fellowship

Call for Applications

2025-2026 PhD Fellowship in

Child and Youth Rights

The Child and Youth Rights Program (ChYRP)
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Minerva Center for Human Rights is accepting applications for Doctoral Fellowships in 2025-2026

ChYRP aims to promote research, pedagogy, and dissemination of knowledge in the field of child rights (aged 0-18). ChYRP uses the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as the blueprint for the program agenda and fosters interdisciplinary scholarship with a preference for rights-respecting methodologies. Each year ChYRP emphasizes a different right outlined in the CRC. For the 2025-26 academic year, the program will give preference to studies related to the principle “the best interest of the child” (Article 3, CRC).

Terms of the Fellowship:

  1. The Fellowship will be at the Child and Youth Rights Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Minerva Center for Human Rights, Faculty of law.

  2. The grant is at the annual sum of 112,000 NIS (including tuition fees1 and monthly living stipend) and may continue for up to three years.

  3. Once admitted to the program, Fellows may apply for additional funding for participation in local and international conferences or for other research-related activities.

Requirements:

1. The Fellowships are open to researchers from all disciplines related to issues of child and youth rights, including: law, social work, medicine, criminology, education, and sociology.

  1. Candidates may be either doctorate students already enrolled at any department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, or individuals who have completed their post-graduate thesis no earlier than October 2021 and no later than June 2025, and plan to begin their doctoral studies in October 2025.

  2. Successful recipients must present a letter of acceptance from the relevant department and supervisor by October 2025.

  3. The Applicant’s research plan must address current themes and challenges in the fields of child rights, and should be guided by the CRC, preferably on the best interest of the child principle.

  1. Candidates interested in researching children in Israel may also consider topics such as children living in the periphery, children of asylum-seekers, Palestinian children in Israel or the OPT, immigrants, LGBTQI, children from ultra-orthodox communities, and children with special needs.

  2. The research plan may involve any one or several methodologies, including legal-doctrinal, theoretical, comparative, quantitative, qualitative, action research, and experimental, with emphasis on child participation in research.

  3. Fellows are expected to take part and contribute to the activities of ChYRP and the Minerva Center throughout their PhD studies, including weekly seminars and meetings.

1 Excluding voluntary payments.

8. Fellows are expected to publish their research outputs in leading academic venues (in English), either as part of their dissertation, in the case of a dissertation by publications, or immediately after the completion of the dissertation manuscript.

Application instructions:

Applications should include:

  1. Research plan (up to three pages) describing the intended research topic, the importance and relevance of the research question to the field of children’s rights, the methodology, and relevant theoretical frameworks.

  2. Summary of the Applicant’s Master's thesis (up to one page).

  3. Curriculum vitae, including list of publications.

  4. Two recommendation letters, including one from the thesis supervisor. A letter from the current or

designated PhD supervisor is recommended.

  1. A one-page research plan summary written in accessible language (English, Hebrew, or Arabic) for young

    readers (ages 12-18), explaining your research topic and its importance for children's rights. ChYRP’s youth advisory boards will review these summaries and provide their input as part of the selection process.

  2. All documents should be formed into one PDF file.

  3. Please submit applications (and questions) to the Child and Youth Rights Program via email:

    chyrp@mail.huji.ac.il

Deadline for applications: February 28th, 2025

Interviews of select candidates will be held in March. Final decisions - by the end of March.