The Academic Accelerator Program offers a one-year, fixed-term opportunity designed to support highly qualified doctoral candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, thereby fostering essential diversity within human rights research. Each year, partner institutions exclusively nominate two talented researchers—typically in their second or third year of study—whose projects align with the Cluster’s interdisciplinary focus on how global megatrends like autocratization, economic globalization, migration, environmental crises, and digitalization are transforming human rights norms. To ensure long-term stability and prevent academic precarity or brain drain, selected candidates integrate into the Cluster’s Doctoral Program while remaining fully enrolled at their home institutions, guaranteeing a seamless return to their original programs once their year at the Cluster concludes.
