The Berlin Prize is an annual four-month residential fellowship from the American Academy in Berlin for US scholars, writers, journalists, filmmakers, and public-policy professionals. Around two dozen fellows join an interdisciplinary community each year.
Fellows pursue independent projects in Berlin and share their work publicly while building links with German institutions. The open competition covers humanities, social sciences, law, journalism, and public policy; mathematics and natural-science proposals are excluded.
Benefits & funding
- A $5,000 monthly stipend during the four-month residency.
- Roundtrip airfare and a furnished private apartment at or near the Hans Arnhold Center.
- Partial board, library access, and professional networking.
- The stipend is taxable; if paid through a home institution, that institution may not deduct overhead.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents; limited periods spent outside the United States must be explained.
- Emerging scholars should hold a PhD, have peer-reviewed work beyond the dissertation, and propose a project significantly advanced beyond it.
- Journalism, filmmaking, public-policy, and similar applicants need a significant publication or production record; fiction and nonfiction writers need at least one book from a reputable press.
- Mathematics and natural-science projects are excluded; visual artists and composers enter only through nomination.
- Previous recipients are normally ineligible; unsuccessful applicants may reapply, and collaborators must apply separately.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
USA
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Application process
- 1Submit the English application through SlideRoom by September 25, 2026, 12:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CET.
- 2Name three referees; their English letters are due October 2 at the same times.
Program timeline
Application deadline.
September 25, 2026
Recommendation deadline.
October 2, 2026
Decisions.
Late March 2027
Fellows announced.
May 2027
Residency.
Mid-August–mid-December 2027 or late January–late May 2028