From the IIAS Fellowship Coordinator

The IIAS Fellowship Programme is designed to be an inspiring environment that nurtures academic growth within a supportive and friendly framework. Bringing scholars together in Leiden to advance their research is about so much more than just providing them with the necessary conditions to refine and amplify their work. It’s about exposing them to the Institute’s entire knowledge ecosystem—its networks, partners, programmes, activities, actions, and ideas. A key focus of the programme is to generate and facilitate meaningful discussions that tackle the pressing issues researchers face, recognising the increasing number of scholars who encounter various barriers in their academic pursuits.

Beginning this year, our fellowship will shift to a 12-month format, with all fellows arriving in September to create a cohesive and interactive cohort. We want prospective applicants to see a fellowship at IIAS as more than a place to churn out research for publication, but, as we envision it, as fertile ground for cultivating new ideas, enriched by an enlightening exchange of life experiences and thought-provoking interactions. 

In the next few years, our programme activities will pivot around two main reflective themes. The first focuses on spaces of knowledge production explored through film sessions that address life on campuses, projects of heterodox higher education institutions, and intersections between society and academia. The second theme tackles the structure of residential fellowships and their impact on knowledge production. This kind of meta-reflection contributes to a better understanding of the systems in which the fellows themselves are inserted and how to navigate them. 

Within the rapidly changing academic job landscape, in which the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts are often being assessed with technocratic tools, the very nature of the academic career is undergoing major transformations. As researchers develop their research, they continue to reflect on their professional identity, the limits of their own fields and potential directions for their future work. Lately, we have been seeing a growing number of researchers who, for various reasons, have had to leave their field of study, do not have access to essential field research sites, or face substantial challenges in connecting academic research to other forms of knowledge production. 

We believe these are highly relevant issues and that they can generate significant conversations and constructive debates among our fellows. By fostering meaningful encounters, the programme aims to go beyond the traditional residency programme models, which focus on isolation and individual career development, and instead become a space for conversational and collaborative growth. 

Laura Erber
Coordinator,  IIAS Fellowship Programme