Short-Term Postdoctoral Mobility Fellowship Program

Aims

• This program aims to:
  • Support postdoctoral fellows from Arab countries and enable them to conduct research or research-related activities in France.
  • Strengthen research networking and collaborations between Europe and the Arab region.

Focus Areas

• The body of the proposal should include the following components with a minimum length of 5 pages and a maximum length of 8 pages (spaces and references included):
  • Aims of the research project, specific research questions, review of the literature, type of data to be collected, methodology, and anticipated results.
  • A detailed plan of the activities to be conducted during the fellowship period, including places and institutions to be visited, contacts, type of data collection, and work plan (the detailed plan should be well thought out and must be commensurate with the fellowship period in France).
  • A clear explanation of the reasons for choosing a particular host institution in France. The selection committee needs to be convinced that the choice is based on good research and a profound understanding of how this particular institution would assist the applicant and enrich his/her project.

Funding Information

• Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of €1,800 (paid at the beginning of each month of stay in France). The stipend is intended to cover accommodation, living and transportation costs, as well as research costs. The ACSS and FMSH will also cover the cost of one roundtrip ticket for each successful applicant from their country of residence to France and back.
• FMSH will also provide support for obtaining a visa to France and guide potential fellows to plan the logistics of their stay. This includes help with finding accommodation, contact with French research centers, and letters to libraries and archives.
• Fellows have the choice between two fellowship periods: Between April 2025 and June 2025, or between September 2025 and November 2025. Fellows can also choose between staying a minimum of two months or a maximum of three months in France.

Eligibility Criteria

• Nationality/Residence: Applicants must be citizens of an Arab country (defined as a member of the League of Arab States) or refugees and/or stateless individuals from Arab countries, who are currently residing in the Arab region. This program does not fund scholars who reside and/or work outside the Arab region. Priority will be given to scholars who are marginalized, at risk, or dispossessed.
• Education: This program targets scholars who are 0-6 years out of a PhD program in the social sciences or humanities. Applicants should have obtained their PhDs at the time of application. In case the PhD was obtained from a university outside the Arab region, the applicant should have been a resident in the Arab region for at least two years prior to the time of application. The program does not have any age restrictions.
• Discipline: This program is open to PhD holders in the social sciences or humanities fields. This includes disciplines such as anthropology, demography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, geography, law, and philosophy. Interdisciplinary fields are also accepted and include gender studies, cultural studies, media studies, development studies, and urban studies. Due to French funding restrictions, the program is not open to linguistics, archaeology, literary studies, and arts.
• Position and Employment: Applicants can be affiliated with a public or private research institution in the Arab region, but they do not necessarily need to have a permanent position. However, applicants should be engaged in research in addition to teaching. The proposed project could be either ongoing or new.
• French Host Institution: Before submitting their application, applicants must have secured a French research institution willing to host them during the time of their fellowship. Applicants must submit a letter from the hosting institution addressed to the FMSH and the ACSS expressing the institution’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of the fellowship and confirming readiness and capacity to provide academic support and supervision to the prospective fellow during the period of his/her fellowship.

Selection Criteria

• The selection procedures abide by the highest standards of academic and ethical judgment. Final decisions are based on the following evaluation criteria:
  • Research proposal’s contribution to knowledge, including clarity of research questions and significance, quality and originality or project.
  • Competence of the applicant, including academic credentials and potential.
  • Candidate’s fellowship plans, including the relevance and significance of the selected host institution and the fellowship plan outlined in the proposal.
  • Expected outputs, which include planned activities, publications and career development plans.

Application Requirements

• Curriculum vitae (2 pages’ maximum)
• Copy of the PhD diploma
• Proof of citizenship or long-term residence in an Arab country
• An official letter from the hosting research center in France addressed to the Arab Council for the House of Human Sciences Foundation expressing the center’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of fellowship and to provide academic mentoring.
• Reference letter from the head of the institution in the region to which the applicant is affiliated explaining the research activities the applicant has been engaged in during his/her tenure at the institution.

For more information, visit House of Human Sciences Foundation.