GRF Young Fellows Program

In 2010, Global Relations Forum started the GRF Young Scholars Program for undergraduate students studying in the leading universities of Turkey, and GRF Young Scholars Abroad Program for students from Turkey studying in distinguished universities abroad. These two separate seminar programs were merged into a single program in 2015.

The GRF Young Scholars program, which had taken an hiatus in 2020 to undergo restructuring, has resumed in 2022 under a new format as well as the new name, the GRF Young Fellows program.

The General Framework of the Program

The program was created to provide its participants with a platform where they can analyze and discuss global issues in a free, rational and constructive manner. The meetings are organized in three sections:

The first section brings together students and GRF members. Invited as guest speakers, our members share thoughts on topics of international affairs that they have selected based on their own career paths and areas of interest. This gives the students the opportunity to benefit from the wisdom and experiences of GRF members, who have represented Turkey in international platforms, and have played and are still playing a personal role in the shaping of events in Turkey and the world. In turn, our members find the opportunity to enrich their ideas with the questions and comments of the young participants, who have minds shaped by the challenges of our day and an interest in a wide array of subjects resulting from their intellectual curiosity. In short, this section of the program is about the exchange of knowledge and experience between generations.

The second section of the program consists of meetings where GRF and GRF Community members who have experience with the subjects at hand convene with students as speaker or moderator. The discussions in these meetings revolve around the articles written by leading academics and intellectuals of the world and require the active and sustained participation of students. One of the important goals of this section is to enable students to form connections, on a macro scale, among many different aspects of the global agenda, from economy to technology and from law to politics. Additionally, this section of the program aims to provide students with the tools to understand central debates concerning the world’s future in the long-term; and help them shape their professional and personal ideals as well as their dreams of contributing to their countries and the humankind.

In the third section of the program, students are expected to conduct a "Book Review Presentation" in groups of two or three on a book written on global issues, and selected by GRF. They are then expected to individually write a 1000 - 1500 word book review with the same group. 

Upon completion of the program, students who have attended the meetings, conducted their presentations, and written their book reviews will:

• Join GRF community as “Young Fellows”.
• Be invited to a variety of GRF events featuring world leaders and internationally renowned experts.
• Merit priority when applying for internship opportunities and open positions within GRF.

Please click here for past events.

Program Details

• GRF Young Fellows groups consists of a maximum of 15 highly-qualified students. Special care will be given to the students’ chosen fields of study when creating a group in order to preserve a diversity of opinions. 3rd and 4th year students will be given priority when considering applications.
• The first meeting of the program is tentatively due to take place in  November or December 2023. Afterwards, additional meetings shall take place every 1-2 months up to a total of five meetings. The meetings will all take place in Istanbul, and over the course of a full day (preferably weekends).
• The working language of the seminars will be Turkish. However, prospective students are expected to also have an excellent command of English, as the majority of reading materials, books, articles, etc. for the seminars will be in English.
• Participants travelling from outside of Istanbul for the program are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation. Lunch and all the necessary reading materials will be provided by GRF.

Application Process

• Applications: August 22 - October 20, 2023.
• Interviews: November 1 - November 17, 2023.

All applications, alongside the necessary documents listed below, should be sent to yfbasvuru@gif.org.tr before the application deadline. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Required Documents and Program Criteria

• Candidates studying Administrative Sciences, Social Sciences, Basic Sciences, Law, Medicine and Engineering at an undergraduate level are preferred. Candidates must be, at most, in their final year of study.
• Application Form
• Transcript
• Cover letter that includes the candidate’s reasons for applying to the program, their expectations, as well as their academic background and areas of interest (maximum 500 words)
• CV (must include the applicant’s extracurricular activities, club/organization memberships, experience abroad, completed certificate programs, etc. if available)
• Language proficiency (advanced level of English and/or other languages, language certificate if available)
• Candidates may also include references in their application.