Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund

The SYLFF fellowship program of the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research (TKFD) supports the education of outstanding students with leadership potential.

• Selection criteria

• Terms and conditions for awarding the fellowship at CU

• Procedures for nomination and selection of candidates

• Forms

• Program schedule

• University comittee

• Evaluation of results

• SYLFF Fellows 2024

• SYLFF Fellows

• Contact person

SYLFF provides a maximum of two years of financial support to students of PhD programmes in the social sciences or humanities for writing their dissertations. An important criterion for supporting specific research is its contribution to society.

SYLFF is a network of 16,000 exceptional students from 69 leading universities in 44 countries around the world. The supported applicants, SYLFF Fellows, are presented on the Sylff Association website.

The fellowship allows students not only to connect with other fellows, but also offers them opportunities to obtain additional funding through support programs.

Additional information is also available in the manual

Selection criteria

The applicant must primarily meet the following criteria:

• At the time of applying, students must be a full-time PhD student (maximum 3^rd year) at any of the participating CU faculties:

  • Faculty of Arts / Faculty of Social Sciences / Faculty of Humanities / Faculty of Law / Faculty of Education / Hussite Theological Faculty / Protestant Theological Faculty / Catholic Theological Faculty

• For the entire period of the fellowship, students must be enrolled in studies at Charles University.

As part of the selection of applicants, the following qualities will be evaluated:

Terms and conditions for awarding the fellowship at CU

• A total of two new fellowships are awarded every year.

• The fellowship is awarded for one year, and it can be extended by another year based on fulfilment of the individual curriculum.

• The amount of the fellowship is USD 12,500/year.

• If students receive or plan to apply for another scholarship/grant at the same time as the SYLFF fellowship, this must be stated in the application together with its amount and purpose. Covering the same expenses through multiple scholarships is not possible.

• Students must achieve the following during the fellowship:

  • Complete their dissertation or a substantial part thereof

  • Carry out a study visit abroad.

• The fellowship is not intended for students studying outside the standard period of study.

• Supported students are required to state in their dissertation that their work was made possible with the support of the SYLFF fellowship.

Procedures for nomination and selection of candidates

Announcement of call for applications:

The Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Mobility at CU announces the call to the participating faculties in a letter to the vice-deans for international affairs (see schedule).

Announcement of selection procedure by the faculties:

The faculties announce the selection procedure on their web pages and in other accessible media.

Application process:

Applicants complete the application, provide all supporting documents (see form), and submit everything to the international relations office of their faculty by the deadline published on the faculty web pages. The individual faculties communicate with the applicants.

Submitting documents to the Rectorate’s International Relations Office:

Faculties submit information to the International Relations Office for a maximum of two of the best candidates in the faculty selection procedure together with all of their documents by the deadline set by the Rectorate’s International Office in the schedule. An overview of documents that need to be submitted to the Rectorate’s International Office is provided in the section Application Form.

Meeting of the SYLFF committee:

The nine-member University Committee meets on a date scheduled in advance (see schedule). The committee consists of the Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Mobility and eight representatives from the participating faculties. The committee will evaluate the applicants in preferential order.

Announcement of the results to applicants:

All applicants are informed of the results of the selection procedure by their faculty.

The winning candidates are nominated (see schedule) at the TKFD for final approval. They are then contacted directly by the TKFD, which also signs a contract with them.

Application form

SYLFF fellowship applicants

Applications must be submitted in English in pdf format and must contain the following documents:

• SYLFF Application Form

  (Applicants requesting an extension of the scholarship submit the SYLFF Extension Application Form)

• Applicant’s CV (max. two A4 pages)

• Motivation letter (max. one and a half A4 pages)

• Recommendation letter

  (Applicants requesting an extension of the scholarship submit a Recommendation Letter (Extension))

Successful applicants

• Provide their Bank Account Information for crediting the fellowship funds.

• During the fellowship, they are required to write an interim reports and a Final report relating to their activities.

Program schedule

University committee

Chair:

Prof. PhDr. Eva Voldřichová Beránková, Ph.D. - Vice-Rector for International Affairs (Rectorate)

Members:

Evaluation of results

Before the end of the first year, the university committee evaluates the fellow’s achievements in the form of an interview and confirms the continuation of their fellowship for the following year.

At the end of the two-year period, the university committee evaluates the results after presenting the final theses with a list of publications and other work from the students.

Frequently asked questions

Visit FAQ.

SYLFF Fellows

Michal Gladiš, Faculty of Humanities

Michal focuses on ethics and human values in technologies, biometrics enhanced by affective computing capabilities, and the impact of AI on human cognition, emotions, and behavior. In his dissertation, he explores the opportunities and risks associated with the use of AI assistants.

Filip Jelínek, Faculty of Law

Filip focuses on public law and constitutional theory. In his dissertation, he addresses the issue of state inactivity and its legal grasp. He is close to so-called positive constitutionalism, interested in the relationship between law and public policy, the concept of public interest, and also classical questions of constitutional, legal, and political theory.

Michaela Honelová, Faculty of Humanities

In her project, Michaela deals with the sociological understanding of anti-ageing aesthetic surgery in the Czech context. Her research interest is the so-called path that leads a woman to undergo anti-ageing surgery. With this work, she would like to contribute to the sociological debate about the functioning of power in medicine and society. Currently, in addition to anti-ageing, Michaela is also interested in the issue of gender in society.

Jana Soukupová, Faculty of Law

Jana specializes in IT law with a focus on data, virtual reality, and digital assets. As part of her dissertation, she examines digital assets and their impact on contemporary law and legal regulation. Specifically, Jana is interested in the legal nature of digital assets and the rights of users to this intangible property.

Ivana Hay, Faculty of Education

Ivana focuses on the education of deaf children in the area of art education. She is looking for ways to make museums and galleries accessible to deaf children and their teachers. Ivana also focuses on the question of whether deaf students have the opportunity to learn something about their own culture and art in art classes. Thanks to the SYLFF fellowship, she has had the opportunity to visit Poland and the United Kingdom to observe access and activities for deaf children and adults.

Lukáš Lev Červinka, Faculty of Law

Lukáš is interested in the socio-legal study of constitutions and (anti)establishment thinking.

His current research project focuses on the impact of anti-establishment parties on the constitutional systems of Italy and the Czech Republic.

Current information

Follow the SYLFF at the CU Facebook page.

Contact person

Natálie Klimecká, M.A.

International Relations Office

Rectorate of Charles University

Phone: 224 491 927

E-mail: