An Essay Competition for Kosovo Young

ThinkYoung is organizing an Essay Competition in which young people of Kosovo between the age of 19 and 25 are invited to participate. The topics for consideration will be: Economy, Social Inclusion/exclusion, Information Society, Statehood and Governance, Culture, and European Union.

The Jury composed of experts from the Education sector, Governmental organizations and Enterprises world will judge on the entries of the competition. The authors of the ten best essays will be awarded with a paid trip to Brussels to participate at the concluding activity of the project, a high level international conference with invited speakers from European Institutions, organizations and enterprises where it will be discussed about Kosovo, Kosovo’s youth and the visa liberalization process.

The 1st prize award of the competition, an internship of five months at ThinkYoung with accommodation provided from ThinkYoung and a remuneration of 200 EUR per month, will be assigned to one of the authors of the best paper who will be able to convince ThinkYoung also through a rich CV and an impressive interview that will take place in Prishtina in the beginning of May.

The ten winners of the competition and the 1st prize winner are to be announced in the course of a conference that will be organized by ThinkYoung and UNI Group on May 3, 2010 in Prishtina.

>> Click here to go to the Official Rules of the competition

>> Click here to go to the Selection Criteria of the competition

>> Click here to go to the Accredited Schools for the competition participants

Here follow the names and short bio of members of the Jury and coordination team
Coordination of the competition: Lindita Komani, ThinkYoung, UNI Group

Jury Members:
(in alphabetical order)

Prof. Dr. Nebi Caka
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Prishtina
Fields of expertise: Microelectronics, Optoelectronics, Lasers, Optical communications; Computational linguistics, Corpus linguistics, Lexicography and Terminography; Curriculum development, E-learning, Communication skills.

Ardian Harri, PhD - click here for full CV
Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS
Current Research Projects: Relations among corn and oil prices and exchange rates, Relaxing heteroscedasticity assumptions in crop insurance rating, System of equations and overlapping data, The effects of supra-national governing structures and bribery negotiation on corruption, Pricing a futures contract for wholesale beef and implications for hedging, A Generalized Structural Model of Convenience Yield and Commodity Prices
Current teaching: Econometric analysis in agricultural economics, Agribusiness risk management, Experimental and survey data analysis

Gjejlane Hoxha (Belegu) - click here for full CV
Gjejlane Hoxha is an architect and expert in the field of the conservation of the architectural and constructional heritage. She has been active in the field of cultural heritage in the past 24 years. In 1985-2009 she has worked at Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments in Prishtina, in 2000-2006 she has worked as Founder and Director of the Division of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of Kosovo. Since January 2010 she is Executive Director of the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage which is based in Prishtina, and is an organ created by the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo. Since 1999 Gjejlane is also Board Member of the Association of Architects of Kosovo.

Uk Lushi
Uk Lushi is an investor and investment manager in the USA. He finished his university studies in economics and mathematics at Columbia University in New York. He publishes articles on economic and financial topics in several journals in New York, Prishtina, Tirana and Shkup.

Dritan Mezini - click here for full CV
CEO of DM Consulting Services
With over 18 years’ progressive experience, Dritan brings an extraordinary depth of expertise in IT management, project management, communication, HR and analysis of business processes. He is a long-established expert in diverse, complex, global industries and multi-million dollar business initiatives.
Dritan is an active member of numerous professional associations as Project Management Institute, USA and Albanian Information Technology Association (AITA). He also holds the position of Board Chairman of AITA.
Expertise
- IT management, strategy, vision, project management, human resources & business processes’ analysis
- Communication, Public administration & e-Government services
- Training, needs assessment, management, leadership, analytical, & research skills

William Wechsler, PhD
William Wechsler is Instructor in International Relations, Law and Public Policy at American University in Kosovo. He is also Director of the Summer Program that contains modules in Peace-building and Post-Conflict Development as well as a Trans-Balkan Program on Accession into the European Union.  His field of expertise involves Peace-building, Post-Conflict Development, and the changing nature of Security.  He also has considerable experience as an international business consultant.  He has a BA from Dartmouth College; a JD from Georgetown University; and a PhD from McGill University.  He has taught at a number of universities in Canada, the US, and Europe and spent considerable time working in Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.