Category: Fellowships

ACLS: Leading Edge Fellowships 2026-27 (USA)

FellowshipsLeading Edge Fellowships, American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS is based in New York, but the fellowships are across the USA). Deadline: 12 March 2026.

The American Council of Learned Societies is pleased to announce the eighth competition of the Leading Edge Fellowship program, which demonstrates the potential of humanistic knowledge and methods to solve problems, build organizational capacity, and advance justice and equity in society. Leading Edge Fellowships place recent humanities PhDs with nonprofit organizations advancing justice and equity in their communities. Fellows take on substantive roles that draw on the skills and capacities honed in the course of earning the humanities PhD, including advanced communication, research, project management, and creative problem solving.

The fellowships are designed to foster mutually beneficial partnerships between fellows and their hosting organizations. Each applicant may apply for up to two of the available Leading Edge Fellowship opportunities. There is a separate selection process for each fellowship opportunity

ACLS will hold two webinars for applicants to the 2026 ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship, offering real-time feedback on questions about eligibility, the online application, and the fellowship review and selection process. Please register for February 24 or March 4.

NIAS Fellowships 2026-27 (Netherlands)

FellowshipsNIAS Fellowships, 2026-27, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Deadline: 16 March 2026.

NIAS has opened its fellowship calls – welcoming thinkers whose curiosity and insight transcend disciplinary boundaries. Scholars, journalists, artists and writers come together in a vibrant community where ideas breathe, collide and take shape.

NIAS has opened its fellowship calls – welcoming thinkers whose curiosity and insight transcend disciplinary boundaries. Scholars, journalists, artists and writers come together in a vibrant community where ideas breathe, collide and take shape.

In a time of complex global challenges, these fellowships are more important than ever: they create space to move beyond comfort zones, question assumptions, and pursue ideas unbound by immediate utility. At NIAS, the value of research is not measured primarily by immediate outcomes but by the questions it provokes, the perspectives it reveals, and the conversations it sparks.

The fellows include Safe Haven researchers: scholars whose work has been disrupted by war, conflict or persecution. Their presence signals a form of intellectual life that is grounded in the world, alert to its pressures, and free in its thinking.

The calls are an invitation to inhabit a space where curiosity reigns, creativity flourishes, and the boundaries of knowledge expand – one bold question at a time.

Founded in the 1970s, NIAS was the first institute for advanced study in continental Europe and the third globally, following Princeton and Stanford. At a time when academia was siloed and national in scope, NIAS brought together scholars from different disciplines and countries to rethink boundaries – a mission it continues to uphold.

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences: Fellowships in Southeast Asian & Caribbean Studies (Netherlands)

Fellowships

Fellowships, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Deadline: 22 March 2026.

The KITLV invites scholars working in the fields of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies to apply for a Visiting Fellowship. Duration: 3 months (Period 1 is 1 September 2026 to 1 December 2026; Period 2 is 1 December 2026 up to 1 March 2027). Fellows may work on a publication or research project of their own choice in the fields of Southeast Asian or Caribbean Studies. Applicants are not required to have an affiliation at a university or a research institute. They are, however, expected to have a steady income in the period of the Visiting Fellowship.

The KITLV Visiting Fellowship is not a salaried position. The selected candidates will be offered:

  • A return air or train fare (economy) to and from the Netherlands;

  • Reimbursement of the costs of their accommodation in Leiden (including rent, energy costs, and if applicable service costs) up to a maximum of € 2,000 per month, based on proof of payment;

  • A monthly compensation for higher living costs in Leiden, as compared to the main place of residence (calculated on a case-by-case basis).

Stimson Center: Junior Fellows, South Asia Program 2026 (USA)

Fellowships

Junior Fellows, South Asia Program, Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, D.C., USA. Deadline: 31 January 2026.

The one-year, full-time fellowship will provide individuals with a unique opportunity to expand their knowledge of security issues in the subcontinent, engage with the South Asia policy community in Washington and the region, and experience working at a dynamic think tank that provides close interaction with senior staff and researchers. Junior Fellows will receive a salary for the full year, as well as health insurance and transit benefits for the duration of the fellowship. All applicants must be eligible to work in the United States for the full twelve months of the fellowship, and Stimson will not provide sponsorship for any visas.

Junior Fellows will support the Stimson South Asia Program’s efforts to research, analyze, and inform policymakers about the evolving dynamics of deterrence, conflict risks, military modernization, and great-power competition in Southern Asia. Fellows will support programmatic efforts including South Asian Voices and/or the Strategic Learning initiative, as well as assisting with public events, workshops, and research for publications. They will receive professional development opportunities, engage with leading scholars and practitioners in the field, represent Stimson at scholarly and policy convenings, and hone technical and analytical skills.

Loire Valley IAS: Smart Loire Valley Programme Fellowships 2026 (France)

Fellowships

Smart Loire Valley Programme Fellowships 2026, Le Stadium: Loire Valley Institute for Advanced Study. Deadline: 29 January 2026.

The Smart Loire Valley Programme aims to support high-quality research and international collaborative research projects, to build human capacity and scientific knowledge for research, development and innovation by attracting talented, highly qualified researchers worldwide and from all academic disciplines. Researchers have to embody, in their profile, the key words that capture the research values of LE STUDIUM: Curiosity, Imagination and Intuition. The annual call for applications is open from October each year to January the next year. It is thus open to all scientific disciplines. It offers different awards and formats of residencies and interactions (fellowships and professorships residencies of 12 months, 3-12 months researchers’ visits, networking actions). It consists in a precious opportunity to access funding to develop fundamental research projects and to create or extend sustainable international collaborations.

Scientific events and networking actions organised by LE STUDIUM in the course of these research awards focus on advancing interdisciplinary research and translational research to stimulate together fundamental research and socioeconomic development. Synergies between academic disciplines and potential links with the industrial world are highly considered.

To be eligible, applicant researchers must be nationals or long-term residents of a country other than France and comply with the European mobility rules. The preliminary acceptance into a host laboratory and/or host enterprise based in the Centre-Val de Loire region is necessary.

Options:

Humboldt Research Fellowships (& Postdocs) 2026 (Germany)

FellowshipsHumboldt Research Fellowships, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. Deadline: Selection committee meets March, July, and November each year, and you should apply well in advance. Applications are usually processed within four to eight months.

The Humboldt Research Fellowship is available to researchers of all nationalities and research areas, at either the postdoctoral or experienced researcher level, to conduct research in Germany. Through the Humboldt Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors researchers with above-average qualifications from across the globe. The fellowship enables you to conduct your own research at various stages of your career in collaboration with a host at a German research institution of your choice. Hosts may apply for a subsidy towards research costs. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation aims to achieve a good balance between genders and a high level of diversity among its fellows in all areas. They therefore expressly invite female scientists and members of underrepresented groups to apply. They welcome all applications, regardless of ethnic, cultural or social background, gender identity, age, religion, worldview, disability or sexual orientation.

Postdocs

Benefit from research sponsorship in Germany at the beginning of your academic career. The Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdocs enables you to conduct research in Germany. The monthly fellowship amount is €3,000 plus addtional benefits. Fellowships may last from 6 to 24 months and can be divided into up to three stays within three years.

Experienced researchers

You can still apply for research sponsorship in Germany even if you are already well advanced in your academic career. The Humboldt Research Fellowship for experienced researchers enables you to conduct research in Germany. The fellowship amount is €3,170. Fellowships may last from 6 to 18 months and can be divided into up to three stays within three years.

U Notre Dame: Visiting Research Fellowships 2026-27 (USA)

FellowshipsVisiting Research Fellowships, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA. Deadline: 31 January 2026.

Each year, the Kroc Institute’s Visiting Research Fellows Program brings outstanding scholars focused on peace research to the University of Notre Dame for a semester or a full academic year. For the academic year 2026-27, they invite research proposals that focus on one or more of the following themes:

  • Intersection of Gender, Race, Class and Peacebuilding
  • International Mediation
  • Peace Accords Matrix (PAM)
  • Sustainability, Climate Change, and Peace

US-Japan Leadership Program 2026/27 (Japan/USA)

FellowshipsCall for applications: US-Japan Leadership Program (USJLP). Deadline: 5 January 2026.

USJLP is the flagship program of the United States-Japan Foundation. It launched in 2000 with the purpose of developing a network of communication, friendship and understanding among the next generation of leaders in each country.  With the goal of bridging the gap between East and West, the Program fosters a continuing dialogue among future leaders in a broad variety of professions. It starts this process by bringing some young leaders together from each country for two intensive weeklong conferences over two years, with discussions revolving around historical and current issues in bilateral relations, as well as issues reaching beyond our two countries. Through serious conversation as well as recreation and shared cultural activities it seeks to nurture lifelong friendships. The Program is designed to keep the leaders in touch with each other throughout their careers through a dedicated website and member directory, frequent reunions and newsletters, and online social networks.

Candidates for USJLP must:

🔹Hold U.S. or Japanese citizenship.
🔹Start their first Conference between the ages of 28 and 42.
🔹Have demonstrated leadership in their respective field.
🔹Feel comfortable expressing themselves in English.
🔹Commit to attending two consecutive seven-day Conferences over two summers and hold interest in lifelong engagement with USJLP.

Weatherhead Program on US-Japan Relations Fellowships 2026 (USA)

Fellowships

Weatherhead Program on US-Japan Relations Associates, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. Deadline: 15 December 2025. 

The roughly 16 Associates who join the Program include businesspeople, government officials, journalists, and scholars. They are primarily from Japan and the United States, but the Program has also hosted Associates from Australia, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

The Program also offers postdoctoral fellowships for social scientists in a broad range of fields, including anthropology, economics, education, history, law, political science, public health, public policy, and sociology. Projects that focus on Japan or Japan’s international role from a comparative, historical, or global perspective are welcome. A knowledge of the Japanese language is not required. Awards are for the academic year and provide $60,000 over 10 months.

Candidates must hold a doctoral degree by August 1, prior to the start of the academic year in September.

The Program was founded in 1980 based on the belief that the United States and Japan have become so interdependent that the problems they face require cooperation. Co-sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, the Program enables scholars and outstanding professionals from government, business, finance, journalism, NGOs, and other fields to come together at Harvard. Over the academic year, they conduct independent research and participate in an ongoing dialogue with Harvard faculty and students, and with others from the greater Cambridge-Boston community. 

U Hong Kong: Global South Fellowship Spring 2026 (Hong Kong)

FellowshipsSocial Sciences Global South Fellowship, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Deadline: 1 December 2025.

University of Hong Kong Global South Fellowships 2026

Launched in 2025 by the Faculty of Social Sciences at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), the HKU Social Sciences Global South Fellowship Scheme is designed to foster vibrant knowledge exchange and collaboration among scholars and researchers from the Global South, enhancing the Faculty’s global academic impact. Fellows will have the opportunity to visit HKU’s Faculty of Social Sciences and engage in knowledge-sharing activities, promoting cross-cultural learning and partnerships. Apply now for visits during the upcoming spring semester (February to June 2026).

Eligibility: Open to professoriate-level scholars affiliated with universities or comparable institutions in the Global South region.

Duration and Timing: Fellowships last one to three months, during the spring semester (February to June).