Christof Heyns Human Rights Scholarship for PhD Students 2022 – University of Pretoria

We are glad to notify you that applications are being accepted for the first Christof Heyns Human Rights Scholarship. Applications are open to current and prospective doctoral candidates at the University of Pretoria pursuing a doctorate in human rights. The scholarship is valid for studies beginning in 2022.

About Christof Heyns Human Rights Scholarship

The Scholarship was established to carry on Prof. Heyns’ legacy of expanding human rights scholarships and providing opportunities for deserving but economically disadvantaged African students to pursue human rights-related postgraduate studies at UP.

The Scholarship was established to carry on Prof. Heyns’ legacy of expanding human rights scholarships and providing opportunities for deserving but economically disadvantaged African students to pursue human rights-related postgraduate studies at UP.

The Christof Heyns Human Rights Scholarship (the Scholarship) was established in memory of Christof Heyns, a renowned human rights scholar who was a professor of human rights law at the University of Pretoria (UP) until his untimely death in March 2021. Christof served as Director of the Centre for Human Rights from 1999 to 2006, Dean of the Faculty of Law from 2007 to 2010, and Co-Director of the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa at the University of Pretoria.

From 2010 to 2016, he served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, and from 2017 to 2020, he was a member of the UN Human Rights Committee. Throughout his career, Prof. Heyns pioneered and supported numerous human rights education initiatives, including providing opportunities for deserving students to pursue human rights education.

Scholarship worth:

The Scholarship is worth R180,000. It is available for up to three calendar years for doctoral studies. The Scholarship award is reviewed annually for continued funding based on the recipient’s satisfactory academic progress and the scholarship is available for one student.

Scholarship Type:

Masters

The requirements:

The Christof Heyns Human Rights Scholarship application requires the following documents.

• A letter of motivation, 
• At least two letters of support, with contact information for referees;
• Prospective doctoral students should submit a brief proposal of around 5 pages outlining the research problem, situating the proposed research within existing scholarship, the research question(s), and the proposed research method/methodology; 
• Currently registered doctoral students should submit a progress report from their supervisor, 
• Most recent academic results.

Eligible countries:

African countries and the scholarship is to be taken at the University of Pretoria, South Africa

Eligibility:

To be eligible for the scholarship you must;

• Meet all of the requirements for admission to UP’s doctoral program in human rights;
• Be a citizen of an African nation;
• Have a strong academic record from previous tertiary studies; and
• Demonstrate the need for financial assistance in order to achieve their academic goals

(If the Scholarship is awarded to a student who is not currently enrolled in doctoral studies at UP, the award will be conditional on the student successfully enrolling at UP.)

How to apply:

If you are interested in applying and you have the above mention required documents

Submit your applications to [email protected]

Application deadline:

The deadline for this application is on the 4th of October 2021

For more information visit the official website