Universities and Scholarly Infrastructure
Human Rights

Universities and Scholarly Infrastructure

Purpose
The Foundation believes that strong universities and intellectual freedom are indispensable preconditions for healthy democratic societies. The Foundation is committed to sustaining and advancing new generations of scholars and researchers whose efforts will contribute to resolving the social, environmental, economic, human rights, and security problems facing Russia.

Strategies
Through grants to universities and to help build other scholarly capacity, the Foundation supports:

• New independent universities and other institutions of higher education
• Centers of excellence in the sciences and social sciences at state universities
• Independent public policy institutes
• Journals and networking

Funding
The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for projects on these topics. The Foundation identifies and invites proposals from institutions and organizations engaged in building research and training capacity.

Questions about this grantmaking area can be e-mailed to Moscow.

Human Rights Grants

Purpose
Human rights are championed by a growing web of civic organizations around the world, a network made possible in large part by advances in information and communication technology and a trend toward greater democracy in many countries.  Following a decade of civil wars in which human rights abuses were ignored or sanctioned by state leaders, there is also a growing consensus that the world needs a justice system to protect the rights of all citizens, not just those with benevolent governments. These trends present opportunities to strengthen and expand the human rights movement, to embed the body of norms and standards laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights within national legal systems, to establish the International Criminal Court, and to reconsider the international community's responsibility for protection of civilians at risk of grave human rights violations.

Strategy
A limited number of grants are awarded to organizations engaged in research and practical work in the area of human rights. The Foundation is currently accepting letters of inquiry from organizations that provide training or resources for human rights organizations in Russia. Funding inquiries are invited from human rights organizations working in Moscow or one or more of the Foundation's 10 Russian focus regions of Krasnodar, Moscow oblast, Nizhnii Novgorod, Perm, Rostov, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Tatarstan, and Voronezh.

Funding
An organization wishing to approach the Foundation may submit a letter of inquiry informing the Foundation of the proposed project. The format for these letters can be found in the section How to Apply . Based on this information, the Foundation may invite proposals from prospective projects and organizations. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for Human Rights funding.

Questions about this grantmaking area can be e-mailed to Moscow.