The Evens Foundation and the Collège d'Europe in Brussels have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create annual Stefan Zweig Thesis Awards and a Stefan Zweig Scholarship Scheme.

These will form the first edition of the Foundation's Stefan Zweig Fellowships initiative, which was first announced at its 30 Years event in Brussels.

Conceived by the co-founder, board members and friends of the Foundation, the initiative aims to support the next generation of bright minds and pioneering thinkers in Europe. It targets young post-graduates who are working around some of the key challenges facing contemporary Europe, primarily through financial support and academic partnerships.

The initiative is named after Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer Stefan Zweig. "Stefan Zweig was one of the few writers who had a clear idea of the dangers that threatened Europe," explained Raymond Georis, philanthropist and friend of the Foundation." Stefan Zweig considers Europe from a humanist point of view, the point of view of culture and peace. He advocates a unification of our continent based on civil society in order to develop a sense of belonging among European citizens and thus counter the rise of nationalism."

The thesis prizes and scholarship scheme with Collège d'Europe will be awarded to students working around one of two key themes: "Precarity of European values and peace (commitment)" and "Unity of Europeans vs nationalism". Candidates will be nominated by their departments, and recipients will be selected by a jury that includes members of the Evens Foundation's board.

Image courtesy of Collège d'Europe. From left to right: Corinne Evens, Evens Foundation co-founder and Honorary President, Déborah Flon, Evens Foundation board member, and Federica Mogherini, Rector of Collège d'Europe and former vice president of the European Commission.