Deadline: October 12, 2026
Applications are open for the Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES) Fellowship Program 2027. For the spring semester 2027, the Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES) at the University of Zurich offers 5-6 residential fellowships to highly talented and innovative young or mid-career scholars from the field of social sciences or humanities with a research focus on historical or contemporary topics related to Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, or Central Asia.
The CEES Fellowship Program is typically set up as a four-months (one semester) residential fellowship at the University of Zurich. During this period, the CEES Fellow is expected to pursue her or his independent research in residency and to participate actively in the scholarly activities of the CEES. The Fellow will have access to the relevant libraries and the interdisciplinary community of experts associated with the CEES. The Fellow will hold a workshop presentation on his or her research topic. The Fellow is also expected to publish her or his findings in one of the CEES publication outlets.
Benefits
- Funding includes a stipend for living expenses during the period of stay of up to four months, travel and administrative costs in Switzerland.
- In addition to library access, the fellow will have use of a workspace and other necessary facilities at the CEES. The CEES will help the Fellow with finding housing in the Zurich area. Note that they can only consider applicants who are enrolled or employed at their home university.
Eligibility
- Open to individuals interested in historical and/or contemporary topics in Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus or Central Asia in any discipline within the field of social science and humanities.
- However, priority will be given to scholars in the early stage of their careers and individuals in higher education institutions working on issues related to CEES research priorities. These priorities are defined in the calls for application, which are launched twice a year.
- While they welcome applicants from around the world, preference will be given to scholars who are residents of countries that fall under the purview of the CEES: Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Application
A complete application should be sent to CEES by October 12, 2026, consisting of the following materials:
- A letter of motivation
- A research proposal (3–5 pages)
- A curriculum vitae (including a list of publications)
- A short writing sample (article or book chapter length)
- A short proposal for a presentation to be held at CEES
- Two letters of recommendation and/or names of two referees
All materials listed above should be written in English and sent in the form of a single PDF document to: [email protected]
For more information, visit CEES Fellowship.
