In 2010, for the first time, OSI-Armenia invited research proposals for Policy Fellowship Initiative to enable members of the public policy community to pursue projects that will stimulate and deepen public debate about the most critical problems in this country. The fellowships are intended primarily for individuals aiming to undertake independent policy-oriented research and produce critical thinking on fundamental policy challenges that will potentially enrich public understanding of those challenges and breed inventive solutions. This Initiative aims to enhance the research capacity and policy formulation skills of individuals from the academic, business, government, and media communities.
The Fellowship seeks for proactive people able to challenge conventional wisdom, advocate for their policy research findings, with a strong determination to communicate results of their work to broader audiences. The Foundation will work to integrate Fellows into the individual and organizational networks of partners and grantees with a special emphasis on collaboration between former and current Fellows so that to contribute to the exchange of policy research experience, methodology and bring the desired policy change though combined efforts. It is expected that the fellows will produce policy papers within the constraints of the 10,000 word limit with concrete recommendations in their respective areas. Depending on the chosen topic/topics fellows may also produce a variety of work products, including publications such as books, reports, shorter formatted series of articles, expert roundups, interactives and innovative public-education projects.