Funding

Partial / Stipend

Program dates

TBA

Fellowship•Netherlands · Amsterdam

NIAS Safe Haven Fellowship

Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS-KNAW)

Application Deadline

December 14, 2026

Official Page

The Safe Haven Fellowship is run by the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS-KNAW) in Amsterdam, together with the University of Amsterdam, Maastricht University and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. It gives a temporary base to people whose research or creative work has been stopped by conflict or war, or by severe infringements of their academic freedom. Fellows spend five months in residence, work on their own project, and take part in the institute’s weekly seminar and communal lunches. The programme started with Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian scholars and was opened in March 2024 to scholars and cultural workers at risk anywhere, including those affected by the war in Gaza. Six fellowships are granted each academic year: two scholarly and one literary, artistic or journalistic per semester. NIAS states plainly that it is not an evacuation or refugee organisation and that the fellowship does not lead to long-term residence in the Netherlands.

Benefits & funding

  • Stipend of €3,500 per month, available to fellows without sufficient income during the fellowship who are affiliated abroad, unaffiliated or self-employed.
  • Studio at the NIAS Fellows House at a subsidised €975 per month; a family apartment at the same rate for fellows who bring their children.
  • One return journey covered for fellows coming from outside the Netherlands, scaled by distance: a train ticket within 500 km of Amsterdam at up to €0.25 per kilometre, a flight of up to €500 from elsewhere in Europe, and a flight of up to €1,500 from outside Europe. Fellows who live in the Netherlands within 90 minutes one way of the NIAS building — measured from their hometown train station to Amsterdam Central Station — can claim daily commuting travel costs, up to €250 per month.
  • Shared or private office with laptop and internet, a library service that delivers books, a hot lunch on working days, the weekly seminar, plus writing and reading groups.
  • Access to the universities, archives and research collections of Amsterdam.
  • A fellowship is not an employment relationship: NIAS makes no social insurance, pension or unemployment contributions, and fellows from outside the Netherlands arrange their own health and liability cover for the whole stay.

Eligibility

  • Open to researchers who cannot carry out their work in their current location because of conflict or war, or who face severe infringements of their academic freedom.
  • Scholarly track: a PhD plus at least three years of research experience after obtaining it.
  • Literary, journalistic or artistic track: a bachelor’s degree from a university or university of applied sciences plus at least seven years of professional experience in the field.
  • Written and spoken English at academic level, equivalent to C1.
  • The work should sit in the humanities and social sciences, or come from another discipline and engage with those fields.
  • No nationality requirement. Under EU sanctions, applicants affiliated with Russian or Belarusian universities or institutes cannot be funded; Russian and Belarusian nationals who are independent or affiliated elsewhere remain eligible.
  • Applicants affiliated with institutions boycotted by the Dutch state are not accepted. Employees of NIAS or KNAW and members of the advisory board cannot apply.
  • A former NIAS fellow may apply again only ten years after the earlier application.
  • Fellows must be physically present at NIAS at least four days a week and attend the weekly seminars.

Can you apply?

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  • Education required

    Bachelor · PhD

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  • Experience required

    ≥ 3 yrs

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Application process

  1. 1
    Read the regulations and selection procedure document linked from the programme page.
  2. 2
    Prepare four documents in English: a research proposal of at most 1,500 words including footnotes, a CV of at most two A4 pages, a risk statement of at most 500 words, and a motivation letter.
  3. 3
    Submit through the online form on the NIAS website. Applications sent by email are not considered.
  4. 4
    Wait for the automatic confirmation of receipt: an application counts as submitted only once NIAS has sent it.
  5. 5
    A selection officer checks formal compliance and tells each applicant whether the application is eligible.
  6. 6
    Two external referees assess every eligible application on a five-point scale.
  7. 7
    The ten highest-scoring scholarly applications and the ten highest-scoring literary, journalistic or artistic ones go to the Advisory Committee, which ranks them.
  8. 8
    The Director of NIAS makes the final selection, weighing referee scores together with discipline, gender, seniority and regional diversity, and informs all candidates in writing.

Program timeline

  1. Applications open for the first semester of the 2027-2028 academic year

    Jul 21, 2026

  2. Application deadline, 12:00

    Dec 14, 2026

  3. June 2027

    Deadline of the following round; NIAS runs two selection procedures a year, with deadlines in June and December, and publishes no exact date for the next one

  4. Residency period for the current call

    September 2027 to January 2028

  5. Outcome

    all candidates are informed in writing; NIAS publishes no decision date