Tag: NIAS fellowships

NIAS 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.

NIAS Fellowships, 2025-26, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Deadline: 17 March 2025.

NIAS offers an intellectual haven for researchers, writers, journalists and artists to pursue their research or projects, to work in an interdisciplinary environment and to share their knowledge with society. Participating in NIAS’ international and interdisciplinary community inspires the generation of new approaches and ideas that will bring ground-breaking work to fruition. Each year, a new group of about 50 fellows is formed. The NIAS Open Call for both individual and Theme Group fellowships opens on 15 January 2025 and closes on 17 March 2025, 12.00 noon (CET). Applications should be written in English and submitted via the application module on the NIAS website.

There are two main types of fellowships: individual or theme group. NIAS offers individual fellowships to scholars who wish to carry out research in the humanities and the social sciences. For five or ten months, scholars are offered the time and space to work on a topic of their own choice. Both scholars based in the Netherlands and scholars based abroad can apply for a fellowship.

In addition, it is possible to also apply for a group fellowship. NIAS Theme Group is an (international) team of two to four researchers working together on a specific research topic for five consecutive months. Each researcher pursues their individual project while also contributing to collaborative team research. Theme Groups are formed either through an application process or may be initiated by the Director. For one semester, the Theme Group works on a self-chosen project that falls within the scope of the humanities and/or social sciences. Fellows may apply for a stipend or a Dutch University Grant, as well as reimbursement for daily commuting costs or subsidized accommodation in Amsterdam.

A NIAS Theme Group Fellowship provides the opportunity to collaborate daily on a specific research topic. The Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study is also a true residency: all fellows commit to stepping away from their regular obligations to fully dedicate themselves to their research in NIAS’s international, multidisciplinary environment. In addition to offering uninterrupted time and space for the Theme Group’s research, the residency emphasizes intellectual and informal exchanges with other fellows. Participation in communal lunches and weekly seminars, where fellows present their work-in-progress, is a central aspect of the NIAS Fellowship experience.