Call for Applications for the 2026–2027 Academic Year
The joint postdoctoral fellowship program of Central European University and the Institute for Human Sciences (Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, IWM) in Vienna supports recent graduates who have received a doctoral degree from CEU no earlier than three years prior to application and who wish to conduct research as postdoctoral fellows at the IWM. Applications are welcome in any topic in the humanities and social sciences that relates to research pursued at the IWM. Applicants are asked to consult the Institute’s website to check whether their research topic fits the Institute’s profile.
Conditions
The selected candidates will be invited to spend a term of five consecutive months at the IWM in Vienna between September 2026 and June 2027 in order to pursue their research projects as CEU-IWM Visiting Fellows.
CEU-IWM Visiting Fellows will receive a stipend of EUR 3,300 per month. From the stipend, visiting fellows are responsible for covering all living expenses during their research term, including travel to and from Vienna, accommodation costs, health insurance, utilities, local transport, telecommunications, etc., as well as research costs (i.e. for literature, conference fees).
Fellowships start on the first day of the first month and end on the last day of the last month of the fellowship period.
The IWM provides visiting fellows with office space, internet access, in-house research facilities, and administrative services, all free of charge. The visiting fellows will join the IWM community of scholars and are invited to participate in the activities of the Institute.
Eligibility
Candidates for the fellowship must have completed a PhD in any discipline at CEU, or have already submitted their PhD dissertation, with expected graduation before the start of the fellowship. Candidates must have obtained a doctoral degree from CEU in the same fields no longer than three years previously at the time of the application deadline (not before 22 March 2023).
How to Apply
The application consists of the following:
- application form
- project proposal in English (no more than 3 double-spaced pages)
- abstract (max. 70 words)
- curriculum vitae including a list of publications
- two letters of recommendation
- CEU transcript (printout from SITS system)
- high-resolution digital photo
Please send us all of the required materials merged into a single PDF file, following strictly the order given above. Please note that letters of recommendation should be sent separately by the referees to the submission e-mail address.
Submission to: kovacsn@ceu.edu in an email with a single pdf attachment addressed to Noemi Anna Kovács, European Cooperation Projects Officer of CEU.
Subject heading: CEU-IWM Fellowship 2026-2027
Application Deadline: 22 March 2026, 23:59 CET
Evaluation and Selection Procedures
A jury consisting of academic members from the IWM and CEU will evaluate the applications and select the finalists. Two fellowship awardees and two candidates for the waiting list will be nominated. Applicants will be informed about the decision as soon as possible.
The jury is not required to publicly justify its decisions, nor to provide applicants with individual feedback on their applications.
In cooperation with
