United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
and
International Non–governmental Association for Scientific Research, Information and Educational Programmes «Evolutio»
announce
contest for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students on the best research paper
on the issues of refugees, migration, tolerance and statelessness
The contest objective is to encourage scientific research of students, candidates for a master’s degree, postgraduate students on the problems of refugees and stateless persons, international organizations’ activities and international legal documents on protection of this category of persons.
The contest goals are to attract attention of young researchers to the problems of refugees and stateless persons; to disseminate the information on the governmental bodies’, non-governmental and international organizations’ activities to solve these problems; to improve the situation of refugees and stateless persons.
The contest is open for full-time students, candidates for a master's degree and postgraduate students of full-time course of study of higher educational and scientific institutions of the Republic of Belarus.
The participants shall submit the following documents to the International Non–governmental Association for Scientific Research, Information and Educational Programmes «Evolutio»:
a written work on the contest topic in Russian or Belarusian by mail: 220050, Minsk, PO Box 245, INA "Evolutio". There must be a label on the envelope which says "The contest of research works". Simultaneously, work should be sent by e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.;
a filled contest participant application form (download);
a certificate from the faculty dean’s office stating that he/she is a full-time student/candidate for a master's degree/postgraduate student of full-time course of study.
The work shall not exceed 15 pages with a list of literature (pages size — A4, 12 pt font, Times New Roman, 2.5 cm each margin, line space sesquialteral, page numbering at the bottom of a page on center). The title sheet shall indicate the name of the work, the surname, name and patronymic name of student/candidate for a master's degree/post-graduate student, the university, the faculty and the course. The author signs the title page of the work.
The work must be carried out individually. The work must have independent nature. In the introduction relevance of the work should be settled down, objective and goals should be stated, brief review of analyzed literature should be given. In the main part it’s necessary to cover the paper’s topic in accordance with stated objective and goals. In the conclusion implications should be given, if possible theoretic and practical recommendations of the author to resolve this problem may be proposed. Footnotes and literature design should conform to requirements of the design of scientific papers.
The following research directions are proposed:
- Reforming and modernising the refugee protection system in today's world;
- The role of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the context of contemporary international conflicts;
- The role of UNHCR in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Asylum systems in individual states and regions: good practices and current challenges to be addressed;
- Refugee integration: good practices and current challenges to be addressed;
- the role of the knowledge of the language of the host state for the integration of refugees;
- socialisation and adaptation of refugees, stateless persons: challenges for the state;
- the role of non-governmental organisations in the integration of refugees into the host society;
- Sustainable development goals in addressing refugee and statelessness issues;
- Identification of stateless persons and determination of stateless status: existing standards and current approaches;
- UNHCR's #IBelong campaign and its relevance for resolving statelessness issues;
- State approaches to eliminating statelessness, including by reducing statelessness and/or preventing the emergence of new cases of statelessness;
- The causes of statelessness in the world today and its regional characteristics;
- The cessation of nationality and safeguards to prevent the occurrence of new cases of statelessness;
- The interaction of nationalities and cultures in a mono/multinational space;
- the problem of statelessness in the context of COVID-19;
- the problem of refugees in the COVID-19 pandemic;
- The principle of "non-refoulement" and its implementation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic;
- COVID-19 and its impact on the upsurge of racism, xenophobia and discrimination in the world.
The topic and title of work is determined by the author under the proposed directions. It is desirable the title of the work not to be titled after the directions indicated in this announcement. Works with new proposals, suggestions, and recommendations on solutions of the problems stated before will be encouraged.
Once you have decided to participate in the contest, it is recommended to consult with the organizers of the contest.
Works which don't comply with the contest topic and include plagiarism will be excluded from the participation in the contest. Indication of participant’s name or the title of a higher educational institution somewhere in the work, except of the title page, will also lead to participant's disqualification.
N o t e: Plagiarism is the use of the language and thoughts of another author without indication of actual authorship. The use of the language and thoughts of another author is assumed in case of obligatory reference to the actual author's text, which must be given in quotes. Attention should also be paid to the presence of references to facts and figures which are given in the work.
The competition begins on October 15, 2021, the deadline is on November 30, 2021. The results of the contest will be announced not later than on December 31, 2021.
Works will be measured by the following criteria: research nature of the work (the depth of the topic research, independent views, argumentativeness of conclusions, existence of proposals and problem-solving recommendations); presentation of material (literacy, clearness and logical order of material presentation, unambiguousness which exclude double-meaning sense, justification of personal suppositions and recommendations of the author); compliance of the work with the design requirements.
For the winners of the contest are planned:
the first place rewards in the amount of 500 (five hundred) BYN;
the second place rewards in the amount of 250 (two hundred and fifty) BYN;
the third place rewards in the amount of 100 (one hundred) BYN.
The number of winners and the amount of the rewards could be changed in accordance with the Commission’s decision. By the Commission’s recommendation the best works may be published in the Journal of International Law and International Relations.
If you have any questions and comments, feel free to contact us by the phone: (017)209 57 66, (029) 322 27 40 or via email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..