Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study
Deadline
open

HIAS Fellowships 2027-2028

Program
Program

The fellowship program is aimed at outstanding scholars and scientists (minimum requirement: doctorate) as well as artists and cultural professionals of all career levels and nationalities. Important prerequisites for a research fellowship at HIAS are substantial academic 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 inter- and transdisciplinarily 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. Ideally, applicants enrich both the fellow group and the city of Hamburg as a hub of research and culture with innovative impulses and strengthen HIAS’ internationality with their own networks. In addition, applicants are expected to take into consideration means of conveying the topics of their planned projects to a broader public. 

As HIAS is firmly committed to equal opportunities, 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 Hamburg as a location of research and culture with their external perspective and expertise, applicants from within the metropolitan region of Hamburg are not eligible for a HIAS fellowship. For the same reason, all fellows coming to HIAS collaborate with a tandem partner from Hamburg (see below). 

Possible financial contributions from the (home institution of the) applicant, i.e. by integrating a sabbatical or paid leave into the fellowship at HIAS, are highly welcome und should be mentioned in the application. 

The academic year at HIAS usually begins on September 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred period, which must be at least three months. July and August are not fellowship months. 

HIAS offers:

Utmost freedom and flexibility

The fellows can pursue their own research projects unimpeded by their usual professional obligations while enjoying interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary 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. 

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. However, HIAS can neither provide an artist studio nor finance one. In order to be fully integrated into the academic or cultural landscape of Hamburg, each fellow will be accompanied by a scholar/cultural professional based at one of HIAS’ nine member institutions, their so-called tandem partner. This also allows direct access to the research infrastructure required by the fellows. 

Academic and cultural program

Fellows are expected to attend the weekly lunches (Tuesdays) and colloquia/ dinners (Thursdays) and are offered participation in additional cultural and scientific excursions. Participation in the academic program is mandatory. 

Excellent and family friendly living conditions

Fellows have the opportunity to be housed in the centrally located guesthouse of the University of Hamburg, which offers fully furnished apartments with cooking facilities. HIAS welcomes accompanying life partners and children and assists in finding suitable accommodation, schools and day care facilities. 

Application

Applications can be uploaded in English as a single PDF file via the application form by March 2, 2026. 

We look forward to receiving your application for a fellowship 2027-2028. Please fill out the application form and upload your file there. 

All details
Constructive Advanced Thinking (CAT) Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Centre for Advanced Study Sofia Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities Collegium de Lyon Collegium Helveticum Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies IMéRA - Institute for Advanced Studies of Aix-Marseille University Institut d'études avancées de Nantes Institut d'études avancées de Paris Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities Institute for Advanced Study at Central European University Instituto di Studi Avanzati di Bologna Israel Institute for Advanced Studies Madrid Institute for Advanced Study Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences New Europe College Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Zukunftskolleg
Deadline
closed

Constructive Advanced Thinking (CAT) Programme 2026 - 2028

Goals

The aim of the CAT initiative is to foster networks of excellent early-career researchers dedicated to devising new ideas to understand and to tackle current or emerging societal challenges. Although the programme has a strong focus on the societal relevance of the projects, it is entirely blue sky, bottom-up and non-thematic. CAT encourages a collaboration with stakeholders outside academia (industry, policymakers, NGOs…) who are willing to support or engage in innovative research initiatives.

In order to engage in fruitful discussions and mature their ideas, the groups will be given the opportunity to meet for short stays in different participating institutes, and to be put in contact with the institutes’ fellows and local research communities.

With few guidelines and a very light application process, CAT is designed to maximize the creativity of research groups. This call has been incubated in the Network of European Institutes for Advanced Study (NETIAS) and also involves institutes beyond the network. The collaboration between several institutes in different countries aims at giving these groups access to a great variety of high-level thinkers and researchers in order to go beyond the current frontiers of knowledge and to develop highly innovative ideas on how to address very complex societal issues.

Support

CAT will provide teams of early-career researchers (three to five persons) time and space for thought and discussion in the best research environments Europe has to offer. The groups may include one representative of a stakeholder organization related to the theme of the project. During a period of up to three years, teams will benefit from a series of short stays (i.e. between one and two weeks, two to three times a year, for a maximum of six stays) in institutes participating in the program (see list below). Online meetings and digital research stays at the institutes are possible alternatives to onsite stays and can complete the work and time plan of CAT groups.

CAT will cover travel and accommodation expenses for the team meetings/short work stays in the participating institutes. CAT will not fund salaries or research-related expenses.

The participating institutes will support the teams by connecting them with the most knowledgeable and experienced researchers onsite as well as digitally, and by helping them valorise the obtained results through their legitimating channels. During their stay, CAT teams will benefit from the institutes’ amenities and conviviality for work and exchanges. Discussions at the institutes will provide a unique sounding board for innovative ideas and will give valuable feedback.

Obligations

At mid-term, the continuation of the institute’s support to the team’s work will be subject to approval after evaluation of a short progress report.

At the end of their project, in addition to the organization of (a) final meeting(s) presenting the results, the CAT teams will be expected to produce a final report in the form of a text, video, website or other media, that will be made public.

In keeping with the policies of the participating institutes, the researchers keep the intellectual property rights to their work.

Eligiblity

The project must address emergent societal issues.

  • The Principal Investigator (team leader) must have a stable research position in a European (EU as well as UK and associated countries) higher education and/or research institution for the entire duration of the project.
  • S/he must have obtained a PhD between January 2016 and September 2025.         
  • No team member should have obtained his/her PhD before January 2016. Doctoral researchers may also participate.
  • The eligibility can be extended beyond 10 years after the PhD for any member of the group for certain properly documented circumstances such as maternity and paternity leaves, clinical training, long-term illness, national service, natural disaster or seeking asylum.
  • There is no specific diploma or age requirement for representatives of stakeholder organizations.
  • Each team should include participants from at least two different countries (current workplace, including non-European countries; any nationality).
  • The team of 3 to 5 persons (stakeholders included) must be fully constituted, with CVs of all members named in the proposal.
Schedule

Deadline for applications: 14 October 2025, 15:00 CET

Successful applications will be notified by the end of January, 2026

Stays in participating institutes will take place between January 2026 and December 2028.

More information on the call