The Lee Kong Chian Fellowship on Contemporary Southeast Asia is the core of a Southeast Asia initiative that the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Stanford founded in 2007. This entry covers the NUS route, run by the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
Fellows spend three to four months at NUS researching and writing on contemporary Southeast Asia and presenting their work at seminars and workshops. It is no longer a joint residency: the Stanford route has its own call and portal.
Benefits & funding
- A monthly stipend of S$10,600 for the length of the fellowship.
- One round-trip economy airfare between your country of residence and NUS (exceptions discouraged, considered only in special circumstances).
- Singapore withholding tax for foreign visiting professionals applies and is borne by you.
Eligibility
- Open to all nationalities; no residence rule is stated.
- You must hold a PhD.
- You must hold a continuing faculty or research appointment at another university or research organisation.
- The call invites people in ongoing academic posts in the social sciences or humanities.
- The project must focus on or relate to contemporary Southeast Asia, and you need published English-language work related to it.
Application process
- 1Prepare a project statement of up to three pages, a detailed fellowship schedule with your residence dates, a published English-language writing sample and a full CV with publications.
- 2Email the application to nusstanfordsea@nus.edu.sg by 22 January 2027.
- 3To be hosted at Stanford instead, apply through the Stanford portal.
Program timeline
Application deadline.
22 January 2027
Results announced.
Mid-March 2027
Window in which the fellowship must begin and end.
1 August 2027–31 May 2028