IIAS Core Priorities

Research 

IIAS maintains a robust profile as a research institution. Across its various platforms, the institute facilitates scholarship that is critical, interdisciplinary, trans-regional, and methodologically innovative. IIAS’ renowned Fellowship Programme supports early- and mid-career researchers from around the world, while international In Situ Graduate Schools welcome postgraduate students for short stints of intensive, place-based research. In addition, the institute supports both in-house research programmes and multiple networks of research collaboration.

Education & Pedagogy

In an era marked by challenges to higher education worldwide, IIAS remains committed to fostering innovative educational models and alternative pedagogical practices. This role is reflected in the work of several initiatives, including the Southeast Asia Neighborhoods Network (SEANNET), Humanities Across Borders (HAB), and the international post-graduate Dual Degree in Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe. Such pedagogical experiments offer resources for learning in context, creating a flexible guide for mutual meaning-making in a variety of academic settings.

Civic Engagement

IIAS is committed to positively influencing and transforming the broader societies within which universities are embedded. The institute’s successes in this regard have yielded original and novel ways to facilitate the re-engagement of academics and academic institutions with their surrounding communities. Rising to the challenges of increased conflict, fragmentation, and uncertainty, IIAS initiatives supports public and engaged scholarship at multiple scales. Initiatives in this vein include local engagement with Dutch civil society, regional advocacy through the European Alliance for Asian Studies, and global capacity-building networks such as the South-South-North (SSN) initiative.

Network Building

Collaboration lies at the core of all of IIAS’s activities, and each of its initiatives contribute to the development international and inter-regional cooperation. IIAS has been creatively working in Asia and beyond for over three decades, emphasising the production of multicentred, inclusive, and humanistic forms of knowledge. In so doing, the institute has become a trusted partner not only in Europe and the West, but also in the Global South. Such networks have a dual role – first, to support and amplify the work of partner institutions, and second, to strengthen and undergird all IIAS initiatives.

Communication & Dissemination

The institute serves a key role in the dissemination of knowledge about Asia, both within and beyond academia. From its four book series with Amsterdam University Press to its flagship publication (The Newsletter), from podcasts and blog series to public lectures and other events, IIAS actively utilises diverse media to facilitate communication between academics, practitioners, artists, civic actors, and more. By reaching multiple audiences around the world, IIAS facilitates a more expansive and inclusive conversation about contemporary Asia and its place in the world.