Fellowship for the duration of 6 months from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.

The Thyssen@KWI Fellowship addresses excellent researchers from the humanities, cultural studies, and the social sciences. It is most generously funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.

International researchers are invited to apply as well as scholars of German nationality, provided they demonstrate outstanding international work experience and contacts. We invite applications from research fellows who have completed their PhD and have already gained several years of post-doctoral research expertise (R3 LEVEL). Project proposals should address KWI’s research agenda. The KWI (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut) in Essen provides fellows with modern infrastructure, office space, technical support, and offers a library service, event and research management as well as any administrative and communicative support.

The Thyssen@Fellow will receive a fellowship contract (not a full-employment contract) and a monthly allowance of 4.000 € (pre-tax). This allowance is intended to cover rent, insurances and living expenses. Partial reimbursement of travel expenses for arrival at and departure from KWI is also possible. Fellows are responsible for covering any additional travel expenses, such as those related to conferences, using their allowance.

EXPECTATIONS:
- Candidates will have a completed PhD plus several years of postdoctoral experience (R3 LEVEL). We expect applicants to work on a project that differs from their PhD research.
- Applications are open to international researchers. German scholars may apply, provided they demonstrate outstanding international work experience and contacts.
- Candidates will have a strong scientific track record (including publications in respected international journals or other comparable publications; participation in and organization of international conferences). We welcome applications from candidates with a proven record of third-party funding and/or with experience in science communication and/or public humanities.
- The fellowship should be dedicated to research linked to one or more of KWI’s focus areas and consistent with its interdisciplinary agenda. Various project formats are possible: You might devote your time in Essen to finishing a book or a special issue, finalizing a research proposal or setting up a research group. We also welcome plans to establish or substantiate collaborations with the universities of the Ruhr Alliance.
- We expect the Thyssen@KWI Fellow to be present at the institute at least 3 days a week. The fellow will be expected to participate in entry and exit interviews.
- The Thyssen@KWI Fellow is requested to actively take part in the Colloquium, lectures, conferences, reading groups and other academic events at KWI. Moreover, we expect the fellow to contribute to the KWI Blog. We also encourage fellows to organize a workshop during their fellowship.
- The Thyssen@KWI Fellow is invited to actively take part in academic events at KWI and will have the opportunity to design outstanding discussion formats with prominent researchers.
- The Thyssen@KWI Fellow is not expected to teach, but always welcome to inspire our teaching laboratory with new ideas or participate in lecture series and seminars at surrounding universities.
- Publications deriving from the time of residence should mention KWI and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.
- Knowledge of German is not required since the Fellowship Programme relies on a strong command of English.
- We expect successful applicants to begin their fellowship on the announced starting date (October 2024). Due to our semester schedule and the design of the fellowship programme, the start and end of the fellowship are not negotiable.

APPLICATION:
We kindly ask you to apply in the form of one single PDF file (max. 20 MB) which must be submitted electronically to kwi.fellowships@gmail.com with the SUBJECT LINE: “THYSSEN@KWI-FELLOWSHIP”. [Due to IT safety regulations, we cannot accept applications via links to external platforms.]

The application must be written in English and must contain a CV, a list of publications, PhD certificate, and proposal sketching your KWI project (up to max. 5,000 characters for the proposal).

The application deadline is 30 APRIL 2024, 24:00 (MIDNIGHT, CET). We will not consider applications that are incomplete or submitted after this date.

Fellows will be selected by a committee consisting of external reviewers, the institute’s director and the Fritz Thyssen foundation.

Further information about the application process can be found in the FAQS.

For further questions, please contact kwi.fellowships@gmail.com