PRESS RELEASE -

Oxford Internet Institute receives funds from the Ford Foundation to spearhead Visitor Programme for Civil Society Practitioners from the Global South

The Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford) is pleased to announce the launch of a Visitor Programme for Civil Society Practitioners from the Global South, and hereby invites applications. The launch of the Programme is made possible with seed funding from the Ford Foundation.

Springing from the recognition that non-governmental organizations and interest groups may lack the financial resources required to support the participation of their staff in academic visitor programmes, two civil society visitors will be supported for stays of up to six weeks at the Oxford Internet Institute from early 2008. This will provide the visitors with the time and resources to study or pursue research, as well as the opportunity to participate fully in the intellectual life of the Institute and the University.

The Ford Foundation has a significant track record of supporting civil society residency programmes in other fields, but this is the first such programme aimed at the emerging field of Internet studies.

It is hoped that the visitors will contribute to the Oxford Internet Institute’s research on the social impacts of the Internet, and that the Institute will in turn contribute to the visitors’ thinking about the use of the Internet in promoting and strengthening civic engagement of civil society actors. Research areas might concern (for example) freedom of expression, media reform, justice, and communications and information policy in the globalized context of the Internet, with a particular emphasis on work done in the public interest.

How to Apply

For application details, please see: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/microsites/cspp/ or email the Academic and Student Affairs Officer at: recruit@oii.ox.ac.uk

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Notes for Editors

The Oxford Internet Institute is a department within the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford. It is a leading world centre for the multidisciplinary study of the Internet and society, focusing on Internet-related research and teaching, and on informing policy-making and practice.

The Ford Foundation is a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. It aims to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement.