A Call for MA Scholarships

The Herzl Center of Israel Studies (HCIS) at Charles University announces a call for scholarships in the amount of 2,000 USD for students of Master’s degree programmes at Charles University with a focus on Israel.

Supported Topic Areas:

• Israel’s politics

• Israel’s society

• International relations

• Security

• History

• Culture

• Literature

The applicant may be a student enrolled in the Master’s degree programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University whose project falls within the above-defined topic areas. When awarding the scholarships, the applicant’s ongoing study results are also taken into account. The project schedule may not exceed the applicant’s duration of study.

Supported Types of Projects:

• Field research associated with a Master’s thesis or an academic article.

• Participation in educational activities in Israel (e.g. a study stay at academic workplace, language course).

• Stay in the library associated with research for a Master’s thesis or an academic article.

Applications (all materials must be submitted in English):

• Description of the project explaining how the stay in Israel will contribute to the academic development of the applicant, including the proposed budget (no more than 2 pages)

• Structured CV (no more than 2 pages)

• Letter of recommendation from the supervisor

Awarding of the scholarship may not be claimed. Applications are reviewed by members of the Herzl Center for Israel Studies Board.

Application Deadline:

• April 29, 2022

• The results will be announced during May 2022.

• Send your applications to the following email: irena.kalhousova@fsv.cuni.cz

• Put the following in the subject line of the email: HCIS: stipendiumMA

The Herzl Center of Israel Studies

Contact person:

Irena Kalhousová

The 2020 Herzl Center Travel Grant Recipients

Adam Suk

I am currently an MA student of German and Austrian Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague. I love to travel and discover new places and cultures. Therefore, I have developed a keen interest in Israel, mostly thanks to its remarkable history and its unique position in the world. I also wanted to connect this interest with my study specialization. Thus, I decided in my MA thesis to explore the development of German-Israeli relations after the German unification.

1) How do you plan to spend your time in Israel?

I would like to spend approximately 4-5 weeks in Israel. My primary focus will be on the collection of data for my MA thesis. Apart from that, I want to travel around Israel, especially to those places I have not yet visited, and to get to know better the people and the culture. If I have enough spare time, I would also like to start learning at the least the basics of Hebrew or Arabic.

2) How is your stay in Israel going to contribute to your academic research?

The stay will allow me to acquire a better perspective of topics I am going to discuss in my MA thesis. It also offers an opportunity to collect some unique data for my research. I would like to find some sources in local libraries and possibly to make a few interviews with people from the German Embassy in Tel Aviv and with Israeli politicians and diplomats who deal with the mutual relationship between Germany and Israel.

3) Will this be your first time visiting Israel?

No, I already visited Israel three years ago with my girlfriend. We stayed in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem and also traveled to the Dead Sea and to the south of Israel. We had a truly amazing time and can't wait to visit Israel again.

4) Did you watch Fauda? Did you like the series?

Yes, I actually started to watch Fauda a few weeks ago and so far have seen only the first season. I enjoyed it. It has a suspenseful plot and it shows several points of view, which makes it even more interesting for the non-Israeli and non-Palestinian audience.

Pavla Vavrečková

I am a law student at Charles University in Prague. Since the beginning of my studies, I have been interested in state security and humanitarian law. I got to explore my interest further during my exchange year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where I focused mainly on Terrorism & Antiterrorism. Currently, I am finishing up my law degree and I am writing my thesis on the principle of distinction in International Law with a focus on Israel and its military actions against terrorist groups.

1) How do you plan to spend your time in Israel?

I plan to take advantage of a research fellowship program offered by the Rothberg International School (at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem). This program allows international students to do research and to be supervised by an Israeli professor. It will enable me to broaden and deepen my research interest.

2) How is your stay in Israel going to contribute to your academic research?

I am writing my thesis on a relatively specific topic concerning Israel and its military practices. Therefore, I hope to get guidance from an Israeli professor who is a specialist in this particular field. I hope my stay in Israel will significantly elevate the level of my thesis and allow me to successfully graduate at the university here, in the Czech Republic.

3) Will this be your first time visiting Israel?

I was fortunate enough to already spend some time in Israel. I did an exchange year at the Law Faculty at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Furthermore, I have interned for three months at an Israeli NGO specializing in advocating for Israel in the field of international law.

4) Did you watch Fauda? Did you like the series?

I have seen the first season and I have really enjoyed it. However, I prefer to watch a series in the evening to unwind after the whole day. Being such an action movie, watching Fauda is definitely not the best way how to relax at the end of my day. 😊