New Europe College-Institute for Advanced Study in Bucharest (Romania) announces its annual competition for the 2022/2023 Fellowships. Romanian and international scholars in all fields of the humanities and social sciences (including law and economics) are invited to apply.

Presentation

The Fellowship consists of: a monthly stipend of 850 Euros (tax free); accommodation in Bucharest, comprising living quarters and working space; reimbursement of travel costs from the home / residence country to Bucharest and back. Fellows who stay for the whole academic year are offered a one-month research trip to an institution of their choice. Fellows have free access to the NEC library and electronic resources.

Fellows are expected to work on their projects and take part in the scientific events organized by NEC; presence at the weekly seminars discussing the work in progress of the Fellows is compulsory. At the end of their Fellowship, Fellows are expected to hand in a research paper, reflecting the results of their work over the duration of the Fellowship. The papers will be included in a NEC publication.

Eligibility

NEC Fellowships are open to postdoctoral level scholars, Romanian and international, in all fields of the humanities and social sciences.

Duration

• For Romanian citizens: a full academic year (10 months, starting with October 2022);
• for non-Romanian citizens: a full academic year or one term (5 months, starting with October 2022 or March 2023).

How to apply

Applications (in English, French or German) will be submitted in electronic format only, using the on-line form available at applications.nec.ro.

See the guidelines below to make sure you have all the needed documents to fill in the form. Please also note that English is the preferred language of communication during most NEC events.

If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to: applications@nec.ro

Selection process

Applications will be evaluated by NEC’s academic staff, in consultation with external experts. Candidates will be notified on the results of the pre-selection in the first half of March 2022, by e-mail. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview, scheduled on April 7–8, 2022.

Decisions to select the NEC Fellows will be taken by the members of NEC Academic Advisory Board.

For selection criteria, please visit Guidelines below. Please note that NEC does not disclose to candidates the assessment reports on the applications.

The deadline for submitting applications is January 10, 2022

Incomplete or late applications will not be taken into consideration.

Guidelines for Applicants

Submitting an Application

Please note that you need to upload several documents to the application platform:

• a recent photo
• a scan of your PhD diploma
• at least two original letters of reference (in English, French, or German) written explicitly to support your application for the NEC Fellowship. Referees will be invited to upload the letters themselves.

Please answer all the questions mentioned in the application form and do not exceed the allotted space. The project itself should not exceed 12,000 characters (with spaces), including bibliographical references. The project should describe the state of research in your particular area of interest and indicate your objectives.

Selection Criteria

• High quality of the candidate’s academic trajectory and publications, participation in international research;
• Innovative fundamental research proposal with significant contribution to scholarship;
• Interdisciplinary and/or comparative approaches are an advantage.

Current Fellowship Programs

NEC Fellowships (since 1994)

This is the core program, which awards Fellowships to scholars working on projects in all fields of the humanities and social sciences. Due to funding considerations, this program has been divided into two: International Fellowships, granted with the financial support of NEC’s institutional sponsors, and the Ştefan Odobleja Fellowships, targeting Romanian researchers, with financial support from UEFISCDI (The Romanian Executive Agency for Funding Higher Education, Development and Innovation).

The Gerda Henkel Fellowships (since 2017)

This program, developed with the support of Gerda Henkel Stiftung (Germany), invites young researchers and academics working in the fields of humanities and social sciences (in particular archaeology, art history, historical Islamic studies, history, history of law, history of science, prehistory and early history) from Afghanistan, Belarus, China (only Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, for a stay of one or two terms at the New Europe College, during which they have the opportunity to work on projects of their choice.

The Porticus N+N Fellowships (since 2020)

The ‘Nations and Nationalisms’ (N+N) program, developed with financial support from the Porticus Foundation, aims to approach one of the main challenges faced by societies around the globe, but mostly in Central and Eastern Europe: a growing tension between nationalizing and globalizing forces in a world dominated by migration, digitization and automation. The N+N Fellowships are open to international candidates working in all fields of the humanities and social sciences with an interest in the study of nations, nationalism and the effects of globalization on national identities.

The Ameropa Fellowships (since 2020)

Organized with financial support from Ameropa and its subsidiaries in Romania and with academic support from the Centre for Government and Culture at the University of St. Gallen, this program aims to investigate the conditions and prerequisites for democratic stability and economic prosperity in Romania and the neighboring region. The Ameropa Fellowship Program is open to early career Romanian researchers in political science, economics, anthropology or sociology. Their projects should focus on aspects relevant for the challenges to democratic consolidation, economic development and the strengthening of civil society in Romania and the region.

The Relevance of the Humanities in the Digital Age Fellowships (since 2021)

The program, proposed jointly by the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia and the New Europe College Bucharest and developed with the financial support of the Porticus Foundation, aims to underscore the cognitive functions of the humanities and their potential as critical disciplines by opening them up to issues relevant in/for the contemporary digital world – issues that are “practical”, but also epistemological, ethical, philosophical, etc. The program is intended to accommodate a broadest range of themes pertaining to humanities and social sciences provided they link up to contemporary debates, or address major challenges to the human condition stemming from technological advances and ‘digital modernity’. The program addresses international scholars.

Academic Advisory Board

• Dr. Edhem Eldem, Professor of History, School of Arts and Sciences, Boǧaziҫi University, Istanbul, Turkey, Chair of Turkish and Ottoman History, Collège de France
• Dr. Luca Giuliani, Professor of Archaeology, Humboldt University, Berlin
• Dr. Béatrice Von Hirschhausen, Researcher, Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin
• Dr. Daniela Koleva, Permanent Fellow, Centre for Advanced Study, Sofia; Associate Professor of Sociology, St. Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia
• Dr. Toma Pavel, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Comparative Literature, Social Thought, University of Chicago
• Dr. Ulrich Schmid, Professor for the Culture and Society of Russia, University of St. Gallen; Head of the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe, University of St. Gallen
• Dr. Victor I. Stoichiță, Professor of Art History, University of Fribourg