OBEL AWARD’s Teaching Fellowships Program

The Henrik F. Obel Foundation will grant three teaching fellowships in 2024 for university level courses to begin in 2025. The Foundation, which grants the prestigious international OBEL AWARD for an exemplary project in the built environment, undertakes this the second edition of the teaching fellowship program to allow universities to host professionals who can teach new subjects and explore new pedagogies. The 2024 fellowship program seeks to provide the funding necessary so that universities (those located in Australia, Africa, and certain Asian countries) may incorporate new voices into the institution to develop impactful courses related to cities or adaptation as it refers to coastal resilience for university level students.

The aim of the OBEL AWARD Teaching Fellowships is to bring the professional and academic realms closer together by supporting professionals to teach in an academic setting.  The OBEL AWARD Teaching Fellowships also seek to grant flexibility to institutions of higher education to establish new courses.

The subject matter of each course is related to a theme of a past OBEL AWARD.  For 2024, the themes center on cities or adaptation.

The purpose of the fellowships – three designated for the 2024 edition, one each in designated countries in Asia, Africa, and Australia – will support the teaching of new courses within an official program at an accredited academic institution by knowledgeable, practicing professionals with at least 5 years’ experience.

Illustrating the goal of bringing new voices into academia, the applications must be submitted jointly with the individual who will teach the course(s) and the host institution, thus showing dedication to and support of the objectives of the OBEL AWARD Teaching Fellowship.

The joint online application from a university (faculty, school, or department) and the potential teaching fellow, must be related to one of the themes of recent OBEL AWARDs:

• Seminal solutions to the challenges facing cities, or
• Adaptation as related to coastal resilience.

Goals

• The following fellowship goals should be considered:
  • To encourage curiosity in students about the major issues facing architecture as reflected in the themes of the OBEL AWARD.
  • To assist academic institutions in creating relevant and impactful content and pedagogies.
  • To provide opportunities for academic institutions to explore new themes and include new voices on their faculty.
  • To bring the professional and academic realms closer together through collaboration and the Fellowships.
  • To provide an opportunity for professionals with at least five years’ experience to take time off from regular duties to teach and share their knowledge through course(s) they have developed.
  • To seek to create a community/network around the themes of previous OBEL AWARDs.

Themes

• Seminal solutions to the challenges facing cities. A broad perspective is needed to propose new urban strategies to tackle the immense risks that climate change poses for people and the planet. All the available scientific expertise on climate change shows that it is no longer the time for evolutionary change. Architecture cannot stand back and follow its routine. It must make up its mind and propose solutions beyond its hitherto scope and potential. The new strategies and innovative ideas may focus on any aspect of the city deemed important, where a change could potentially be adapted and implemented in other cities. This theme does not lend itself to a single project solution, nor theoretical treatises, but rather ground-breaking initiatives that could be adapted and applied to city contexts are needed.
• Adaptation as related to coastal resilience. Promoting integrated, ecosystem-based, climate-resilient understanding of the world’s coastal areas and rivers, lakes, and oceans is essential if we hope to reduce the many risks facing these communities and aquatic ecosystems. Coastal cities, small island developing states, coastal habitats, and marine environments are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of rising seas, coastal degradation, salination, and other impacts caused by our climate emergency. The built and natural environments are intimately intertwined.  Therefore, initiatives that analyze and understand these relationships and may foster ideas, knowledge, and new practices to assist us in adapting, in a responsible way, should be with the focus of courses established under this heading.

Funding Information

• Three fellowships will be awarded in 2024; one each in (certain countries) Asia, Africa, and Australia. With a grant of up to € 75,000 each, for teaching to begin in 2025.

Important Parameters

• Ideally, the potential fellow should lead/teach two courses at the university within the fellowship period in accredited university programs. However, other models of learning could mean that only one more intensive subject is taught and therefore eligible for a fellowship.
• The academic institution is required to sign an Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to accept the funds and administer them according to the budget submitted and approved in the joint application.
• The funds are not to be used for student trips, student stipends, or promotional publications.
• Teaching fellows are expected to remain in the city/region of the university or academic institution for the duration of the course(s), not fly in and out for classes.
• The final report of the fellow, including the curriculum of the course, will form part of a library and will be able to be consulted by other teachers and institutions.

Eligible Countries

• Universities and academic institutions located in the following countries are eligible to apply with a potential fellow who may come from any country:
  • Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka.
  • Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Caba Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
  • Oceania: Australia

Eligibility Criteria

• The application (link to online application) for the fellowship is a joint initiative of the academic institution and the potential fellow. Either the potential fellow or the University may initiate the process. Universities (faculty, school, or department) and the appropriate person who will be teaching (the fellow) must complete the application jointly for submission. Universities and university-level institutions, schools, etc. must be recognized institutions offering higher education degrees. Fellows, ideally, are working professionals with at least 5 years’ experience and cannot be current members of the faculty or the institution.
• The OBEL AWARD Teaching Fellowship hopes that new voices, new subjects, and new pedagogies are incorporated into academia. The fellowship is meant to create a long-lasting impact, and further the yearly themes set by the OBEL AWARD. This is not a research grant, publication grant, nor is it geared to full-time academics.
• The academic institution must guarantee the support of the fellow and show that the subject(s) taught by the fellow will be meaningful to students and have a positive impact on the university and the larger community.  The academic institution takes responsibility for correctly administering the fellowship funds. Universities in countries (listed at the end of this document) representing South Asia, Africa and Australia are eligible to apply for the 2024 edition of the grants.

For more information, visit Henrik Frode Obels Foundation.