In cooperation with our partner organizations—the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the European Leadership Network (ELNET), the foreign affairs journal INTERNATIONALE POLITIK (IP) and Women in International Security (WIIS)—the German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation awards between 6 and 12 fellowship grants to the amount of €3,000 each to young people from Germany and Israel.
The Sylke Tempel Fellowship Program
In memory of Dr Sylke Tempel (1963-2017), the Board of Trustees of the German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation set up the Sylke-Tempel- Fellowship Program in 2018. It runs under the patronage of Sigmar Gabriel, former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Atlantik-Brücke.
The program aims to support and challenge young people at the beginning of their professional careers and to provide them an opportunity to become part of the public debate. To this end, our fellows work intensively on their chosen topics and submit an article or other media project in the framework of the fellowship. During the process, they meet with mentors and discuss their work with experts in closed workshops. Finally, the work is presented at a public conference and published.
Who Are We Looking For?
We are looking for young journalists, authors, bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and other media creatives as well as students from Israel and Germany, who work on the relations between Germany, Israel and the United States of America.
The Topic
In the US, a new administration has assumed office, in Germany and Israel elections will be held for the Bundestag and the Knesset respectively in 2021. Both in Israel, as well as in Germany and the US, people are facing an unknown future with worry. Not least due to the COVID-19 crisis the need for security is great. At the same time, the yearning for orientation is growing and brings identity politics into focus. We would like to critically address questions of identity and security politics:
Which social groups shape the discourse in and between the US, Germany and Israel? Which role do the demographic and regional conditions play? What does it mean for a democracy when people define themselves primarily or exclusively by their affiliation to a certain group? How can we establish social cohesion when single groups determine the discourse? How is the inner and outer security of democratic societies influenced when the defense of our “own” group becomes the priority? What do we mean when we speak of security? Which concepts of security predominate in Israel, Germany and the US? And what do potentially divergent security concepts mean for common global challenges?
These and related questions are the ones our fellows should research and work on in 2021.
The Program
The fellows are chosen in mid-March and will be asked to submit their finished contribution by August 31, 2021. The written contributions will be published by year’s end in a special edition of the INTERNATIONALE POLITIK in German and English.
You can choose freely where you work from. Travel expenses from Germany and Israel to participate in the program activities will be covered. In May and August, the fellows will discuss their works with mentors in online workshops. If the pandemic permits, the fellows will be invited to a joint trip in Israel in October. The project results will be presented at a conference in Berlin in December 2021.
In addition to the fellowship grant of €3,000, travel and accommodation costs for the trip in Israel and the conference in Berlin will be covered.
Your Application
In order to apply, please provide the following documents:
- CV
- Sylke Tempel was a passionate reader. In her memory, we are interested to know which literary work you recommend we read – and why.
- Letter of motivation
- Outline of the planned project (please refer to at least one aspect of the topic detailed above – max. 2 pages)
Please send us your application documents in German or English by February 28, 2021, by e-mail in one file to: fellowship@dizf.de.
If you have any questions regarding the application, please contact Maike Harel: harel@dizf.de.
For additional information about the fellowship program, previous fellows and publications published in the framework of the program please click here: