Tag Archives: Germany

MELTON FOUNDATION GLOBAL SOLVERS ACCELERATION

Application Deadline: 15 November 2026

LOCATION: Germany

Connecting grassroots experiences, empowering social impact practitioners, and unleashing transformative change! The Global Solvers Accelerator is a peer-to-peer learning platform that unites emerging social entrepreneurs from around the world to nurture their leadership capacity, enhance their skills, strengthen their projects, and grow their impact in their local communities and beyond.

ELIGIBILITY:

The Global Solvers Accelerator is for people already working on social, economic, and environmental challenges: grassroots activists, social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, SDG practitioners, action researchers, community organizers, and more. What matters isn’t a person’s title; it’s that they’re already running, co-leading, or actively shaping a project, and want to deepen both the work and themselves.

With that in mind, well-suited candidates:

Are between 20 and 35 years old;

Are actively involved in an ongoing project, enterprise, research effort, movement, or community initiative tied to the SDGs—and can influence the decisions within it;

Have a track record of real social impact;

Want to connect globally, advance sustainable development, and help transform society;

Are curious, open-minded, and forward-thinking team players who are at ease working with people from different cultures, backgrounds, and identities—online and in person;

Bring a sharing mindset and a readiness to learn, unlearn, and relearn with peers worldwide;

Have sufficient English language skills to take full part in every aspect of the program;

Can commit roughly 4 hours per week to the program, including online engagement, regular meet-ups, and project-based assignments;

Can attend the week-long Global Solvers Co-Lab (3–10 July 2027, in Germany, fully funded);

Are eager to draw on the Melton Foundation’s global network to strengthen impact and practice global citizenship in local communities.

Beyond the checklist, this program is for people who want to move past showcasing their project and dig into the questions beneath it; who let the process challenge and change them as much as they hope to challenge and change the world around them. It isn’t only about what participants have already achieved; it’s about the mindset they bring: participants show up consistently and authentically, ready to question their own work and to give to the learning community as much as they take from it.

Much of the program is cross-cultural and cross-sector, so it asks for openness, curiosity, and a genuine willingness to learn alongside people from diverse backgrounds, identities, and realities.

BENEFIT:

At the Global Solvers Accelerator, everyone contributes—also financially. The program fee is 900 USD, which you will need to pay only if selected for the program. Scholarships covering 20%, 50%, or 80% of the program fee are available to participants with proven need.

If required, you must request a scholarship as part of your application form.

Melton Senior Fellowship:

Senior Fellow Orientation: December 2027 (Tentative)

Participants who successfully complete the program will be formally inducted into the lifelong Melton Senior Fellowship during this final orientation.

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MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS (MPI‑IS) PHD POSITION (F/M/DIV) | COMPUTER VISION

Application Deadline: Applications accepted all year round

LOCATION: Germany

The Optics & Sensing Laboratory (OSLab) at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen (Germany) has an open position for a Doctoral Researcher for the project “WeGaze: Large-Space Gaze Analysis via Multi-camera System for Social Interactions” to develop datasets and algorithms to capture and analyze eye gaze.

ELIGIBILITY:

They are looking for a doctoral researcher to work and develop algorithms and multi-camera capturing systems for eye movements such as gaze, mutual gaze, and blinks. The doctoral researcher will be co-supervised by Prof. Xucong Zhang, Delft University of Technology and Dr. Senya Polikovsky, MPI‑IS. This project is funded by the DFG SPP Programme Understanding Gaze (ugaze SPP 2481) and the applicant will be part of the School of SPP Programme as well as the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS‑IS). The doctoral researcher is expected to work on-site in Delft with Prof. Xucong Zhang for a given time period. They are expected to have strong skills in software design and development as well as experience in computer vision and machine learning.

Your tasks will be to:

Develop and enhance capture systems, which include creating the hardware system and study design.

Data collection using the developed capture systems

Develop cutting-edge gaze estimation and blink detection algorithms based on multiple systems in collaboration with TU Delft.

Collaborate with researchers in the field of psychology to adapt and improve the systems for specific case studies.

Education & Experience

MSc degree and strong academic background in the field of computer vision and machine learning

Strong programming skills, including but not limited to Python, OpenCV, PyTorch, Unreal Engine, and C++

Good oral and written communication skills in English

A natural team player and detail-oriented person

Some academic background or general interest in psychology would be a plus

BENEFIT:

Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

The offer:

Working in a multidisciplinary collaborative project at MPI for Intelligent Systems (Tübingen)

Cutting-edge technologies related to computer vision and multi-sensor systems

An open-minded and motivating working environment with international scientists, engineers, and administrative staff

They provide a subsidy for the Deutschland-Jobticket (ÖPNV).

Their connection to a day care center and the possibility of mobile working help you to reconcile family and career.

The position is for 3 years with the possibility to extend if the scientific progress and funding permit it. The position is available as of now.

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