The Open World Scholarship

As we explain in our Mission Statement, Open Society as a concept is not associated with any specific political platform. It was introduced during the times of fascism and communism by Karl Popper—one of the most important contemporary philosophers and a long-time professor at London School of Economics born and educated in Vienna.

Karl Popper defined Open Society as a society where any idea or policy is open to a rational challenge.

To promote that open-minded, fact-based approach to management in a variety of sectors and industries, CEU offers its prestigious Open World Scholarships.

We are looking for candidates whose experiences, choices and broader professional track record illustrate their potential to act as positive change agents making our organizations and societies more open.

The scholarship is offered to candidates with a proven record of challenging dogmas – business, organizational, social, political – or encouraging others to be more open in their professional life.

There are an endless number of ways in which managerial professionals could be making our world more open. Examples include a daring attempt to create a startup (even if ending up in failure), a record of innovation and challenging established business models (even if not always successful), a sustained effort to change a sclerotic organizational culture from within, attempts to break “glass ceilings” of prejudice or bigotry in the business and managerial world (especially if standing up for your values or identity costs your salary or career progression).

It is as simple as that: can you show us how you thought differently or encouraged others to move beyond their dogmas, prejudices or conventional wisdoms?

To understand more about our view of the connection between Open Society and global business, you can read our Mission Statement. Candidates are obviously welcome to challenge our understanding of the connection and propose an alternative one.

The Open World Scholarships are available to all candidates through our general Program Application.