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Carla Boulos receives Hestia grant for refugee academics

Carla Boulos bij een demonstratie voor vrouwenrechten

18 April 2023


Carla Boulos is one of eleven scientists to whom NWO awarded a grant this year from the programme 'Hestia – Impulse for Refugees in Science'. This programme is aimed at scientists who fled threatening situations in their homeland and who want to continue their academic career in the Netherlands. Boulos is receiving the grant for her PhD research at the University for Humanistic Studies on the more invisible effects of the war in Syria.

Research project

War creates destruction. However, in Syria, the war has also positively changed gender roles. Women now head households and take leading roles in public life. This project asks how this change can be sustained. How can civil society in Syria transform this initial spark into lasting gender social justice? The titel of Boulos’ research project is ‘Conflict as a Transformative Moment for Gender Social Justice in Syria’. Prof Nicole L. Immler is the project leader.


Carla Boulos has been a human rights activist for the past 10 years. She has worked in local and international development and human rights fields in complex conflict contexts, including Syria and Lebanon. She received an MA in Human Rights and Cultural Diversity at the University of Essex in the UK and has been awarded the Civil Society Leadership Award from the Open Society Foundation for her work on justice.


As Syrian refugee and human rights activist, Boulos has found a new home in the Netherlands. With this PhD project she aims to combine activism and scholarship on social and gender justice. She will also join the team of the Dialogics of Justice research project.

Hestia programme

Researchers who had to flee their homeland due to war or another threatening situation often face obstacles such as a different working language and culture in the countries where they settle. NWO introduced the programme Hestia – Impulse for Refugees in Science to give these academics the chance to join ongoing Dutch research projects so they can expand their network and increase their knowledge and skills.


It is also an opportunity for them to actively share knowledge and expertise, to get to know the Dutch science system, with the ultimate aim of enabling them to continue their careers/lines of research in their homeland. These academics will also enrich Dutch science and society with their expertise. The pilot programme was developed in 2018 in consultation with The Young Academy, the Royal Netherland Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF).


Project leaders and main applicants of a research project already funded by NWO or ZonMw can use this programme to apply for funding to enable a refugee to join their project. The refugees must have an academic background (a master or PhD degree) and be appointed for a maximum of 18 months on a full-time or no more than 24 months on a part-time basis.


Read more at nwo.nl: Eleven refugee academics put their talent to work for Dutch research

Carla Boulos ontvangt de beurs voor haar promotieonderzoek naar de meer onzichtbare effecten van de oorlog in Syrië.