The Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen is an interdisciplinary research institute for the humanities and social sciences. Its International Fellowships bring researchers from around the world to Essen for a fixed six-month residency to work on an independent project.
The most recent call covered the cohort running 1 April to 30 September 2027. Fellows get an office at the institute, join its colloquium and lecture programme, and are expected on site at least three days a week.
This route is aimed at the early postdoctoral stage, up to six years after the PhD. Researchers with longer track records apply through the separate Thyssen@KWI Fellowship, which runs on the same deadline.
Benefits & funding
- Monthly allowance of €3,000 before tax for the full six months, intended to cover rent, insurance and living expenses.
- A fellowship contract rather than a full employment contract; no family allowance is paid.
- Travel to and from KWI may be partially reimbursed.
- Office space, research infrastructure and technical support, plus library service, event and research management, and administrative and communication support.
Eligibility
- A completed PhD in the humanities or social sciences; for the current call, applicants who completed the PhD in 2021 or later are eligible (R2 level of the European Framework for Research Careers).
- Up to six years of postdoctoral experience. Career breaks, for example for care-related reasons or as a scholar at risk, may be explained in the cover letter and are taken into account.
- The PhD must be completed by the time the fellowship starts; applicants who have submitted the thesis and scheduled a viva before that date may apply.
- Researchers of all nationalities may apply. German nationals are eligible for this route only if they are currently employed at an international institution.
- Fellows must be able to be present at KWI in Essen at least three days a week; the dates and the six-month duration are fixed and cannot be changed, postponed or shortened.
- The application is written in English; knowledge of German is not required.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Education required
PhD
Experience required
≤ 6 yrs
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Application process
- 1Confirm which of the two KWI routes fits your postdoctoral stage — this call is the International Fellowships route.
- 2Prepare a CV, a list of publications, a PhD certificate (or a letter from your department if the certificate has not been issued yet) and a proposal for your KWI project of no more than 5,000 characters including spaces.
- 3Combine everything into one PDF of at most 20 MB. Word documents, several separate files and links to external platforms are not accepted.
- 4Email the PDF to international.fellowship@uni-due.de before the deadline; a corrected version may be resubmitted while the call is open.
- 5Await the decision of the selection committee, which is made up of members of the KWI governing board and the institute’s director. Applicants are normally informed about four months before the fellowship begins.
Program timeline
17 August 2026, 24:00 CET
Application deadline for the cohort starting April 2027
About four months before the start
Applicants normally informed of the outcome
Fellowship begins
1 April 2027
Fellowship ends
30 September 2027