Funding

Fully Funded

Program dates

Sep 1, 2026 – Aug 31, 2027

Fellowship•South Korea

International Scholar Exchange Fellowship (ISEF)

Chey Institute for Advanced Studies

Application Deadline

Closed · February 20, 2026

Reopens ~Feb 2027

Official Page

The International Scholar Exchange Fellowship brings researchers based outside Korea to South Korea for a funded research stay. It is run by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, a private research institute in Seoul, which has operated the programme since 2000 and has hosted 1,025 scholars in that time. About ten are invited each year, for either a full academic year or six months, and each works with a Korean host scholar at a university or research institute. Every academic discipline is eligible; the institute names humanities and social sciences, information and communication, life sciences and energy as its standing areas of interest. Fellows report on their work as it progresses and submit a research paper at the end, and the institute pays an extra incentive when that paper is placed in an indexed journal. The programme once drew only from a set list of Asian countries, and that restriction is gone from the current guidelines — the 2025-26 cohort came from Pakistan, Mongolia, Vietnam, China and Indonesia.

Benefits & funding

  • Research stipend of KRW 3,500,000 a month.
  • Settlement support of KRW 1,000,000, paid once on arrival.
  • Round-trip airfare to Seoul.
  • National health insurance and accident insurance.
  • KRW 1,000,000 paid once on submission of the final research paper.
  • Publication incentive of USD 2,000 to USD 5,000 for a paper placed in an SSCI, A&HCI or SCI journal, or USD 1,000 for a journal registered with Korea’s National Research Foundation.
  • The published package does not include separate housing; the monthly stipend is what fellows live on.

Eligibility

  • A doctoral degree. Postdoctoral researchers are eligible.
  • A current post as faculty or researcher at a university or research institute outside Korea.
  • Aged 50 or under at the application deadline. The institute states this as a principle rather than an absolute cut-off.
  • Able to carry out the research in English.
  • No health condition that would get in the way of the research.
  • Open to every academic field.
  • Korean citizens cannot apply.
  • People already living or doing research in Korea cannot apply.
  • Applicants whose main aim is to teach in Korea are not eligible.
  • No nationality list applies. The eligible-country restriction that once limited the programme to a group of Asian countries no longer appears in the guidelines.

Can you apply?

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  • Education required

    PhD

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  • Age requirement

    ≤ 50 yrs

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Application process

  1. 1
    Identify a Korean host scholar and host institution and make contact directly. Fellows arrange their own affiliation; an affiliation letter is submitted where one is available.
  2. 2
    Register on the Chey Institute website and open the online application. The window runs from early November to mid-February each year.
  3. 3
    Complete the application form and upload the research proposal, which runs to at least four pages.
  4. 4
    Upload the supporting documents: doctoral degree certificate, a recent certificate of employment, two samples of published research each with a short abstract, and a photograph.
  5. 5
    Ask two referees to submit recommendations directly. At least one must come from outside the applicant’s own institution.
  6. 6
    Applications go through a preliminary screening by specialists in the field, then a full review by the steering committee. Interviews may be held.
  7. 7
    Results are announced in early April. The fellowship begins on 1 September.

Program timeline

  1. applications open for the following academic year

    Early November

  2. Mid-February

    application deadline. The guidelines give the window as early November to mid-February each year without naming a day; the exact date is set in each cycle’s announcement. The guidelines as published are still those for the 2026-27 academic year, the round that closed on 20 February 2026; the next window closes in mid-February 2027.

  3. results announced.

    Early April

  4. 1 September

    fellowship begins. One-year fellows stay to 31 August; six-month fellows take either 1 September to the end of February, or 1 March to 31 August.