Applications open for HIAS Research Fellowships 2025/26

The academic year at HIAS begins on 1 September and ends on 30 June of the following year. Applicants can choose between a period of stay of 3 to 10 months. A fellowship can also be started or ended during the academic year, but not during the months of July or August.

The fellowship program is aimed at outstanding scholars (minimum requirement: doctorate) as well as artists and cultural professionals of all career levels and nationalities. The most important prerequisites for a research fellowship at HIAS are substantial scientific or artistic achievements, intellectual curiosity and an above-average interest in other disciplines. Ideal candidates are individuals who reflect the basic assumptions of their discipline and are open to engage with topics and ways of inquiry beyond the confines of their own discipline. They should also be willing to cooperate with scholars or cultural professionals in Hamburg. Desirably, the applicant enriches both the fellow group and the city of Hamburg as a hub of science and culture with innovative impulses and strengthens their internationality with their own networks.

Since HIAS attaches great importance to equal opportunity, it particularly welcomes applications by early career researchers and emerging artists and cultural professionals as well as by individuals from usually underrepresented regions of the world.

During their fellowship, the fellows live and work in Hamburg. Therefore, only projects that can be carried out on site at HIAS or in laboratories of local cooperation partners are suitable.

To ensure that the fellows enrich the Hamburg science location with their external perspective and expertise, researchers from within the metropolitan region of Hamburg are not eligible for a HIAS fellowship.

HIAS Offers

• Utmost freedom and flexibility:
  • The fellows can pursue their own research projects unimpeded by their usual professional obligations while enjoying interdisciplinary impulses and making many and diverse new contacts. For this, HIAS either pays a stipend to the fellow or reimburses the home institution’s costs of a teaching replacement, following the idea of “no loss no gain”.
• Excellent working conditions:
  • The fellows are offered a fully equipped workspace in the center of Hamburg and continuous assistance by the HIAS staff, for example regarding literature procurement or the organization of workshops. In order to be fully integrated into the academic or cultural landscape of Hamburg, each fellow will be accompanied by a so-called collaboration partner (a scholar/cultural professional based at one of HIAS’ nine member institutions).
• Academic and cultural program:
  • Fellows attend the weekly colloquia and lunches and are offered participation in additional cultural and scientific excursions.
• Excellent and family friendly living conditions:
  • The fellows are housed in the centrally located guesthouse of Universität Hamburg, which offers fully furnished apartments with cooking facilities. HIAS welcomes accompanying life partners and children and assists in finding suitable schools and day care facilities.

Evaluation Criteria

• Evaluation criteria of previous academic or artistic performances are:
  • Publications (articles in first authorship, monographs, publications or reviews in relevant academic journals or arts pages and art journals)
  • Prestigious prizes and awards
  • Memberships
  • Exhibitions in renowned museums or art institutions
  • Concerts or performances at renowned stages
  • For applicants working in the humanities, social sciences and natural/life sciences: doctorate (minimum)
  • Very good knowledge of English
• Evaluation criteria for the intended HIAS project are:
  • Is the research project suitable for opening up new questions and ways of thinking?
  • Does it offer opportunities to connect with other disciplines or people from outside the discipline?
  • Can a suitable tandem partner be identified for this project in Hamburg?
  • Is the research project feasible within the framework of HIAS and in Hamburg?

For more information, visit Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study.