Applications for the Citizen Lab Fellowship 2020 on Surveillance, Digital Security, and Race, are now open.
The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security.
As an academic institution focused on the advancement of human rights within the technological sphere, they are committed to addressing systemic racism and inequality while also making their own space more representative of the communities they serve.
To better achieve these goals, they are pleased to announce a fellowship program on issues related to surveillance, digital security, and race.
Project Proposals
Project Scope: The scope of the project is up to you and the program duration you choose.
- 3 months is well suited for existing projects or developing an idea. You can get a boost needed to complete or amplify an existing project or turn a new idea into a pilot study, proof of concept, beta software release, etc.
- 6 months is for more involved projects that the 3 month duration would not be enough to realize.
Project Topic Areas: Projects can have a technical and/or legal and policy focus. Potential topics could include but are not limited to:
- Technical, legal, and/or policy Investigations of surveillance technologies (e.g., IMSI catchers, drones, facial recognition, CCTV, bodycams, etc.) in communities of colour and/or deployed during protests.
- Developing privacy enhancing technologies and tactics (e.g., encryption and anonymity tools, contextualizing these tools for racialized communities).
Benefits
The fellowship provides support of $4,000 CAD distributed in monthly payments:
- 3 month total: $12,000 CAD
- 6 month total: $24,000 CAD
Eligibility
- Applicant must identify as Black (including Black Africans and people of African heritage from the Caribbean, North America, and Latin America);
- Applications are open to people from a variety of professional backgrounds and disciplines and can include students and junior to mid-career practitioners;
- While individuals with unique career paths are encouraged to apply, likely candidates have experience as software developers, systems administrators, information security researchers, computer science and engineering students and researchers, social science students and researchers (e.g., political science, sociology, etc), lawyers and law students, community organizers, and others.
How to Apply
Deadline: July 27, 2020
