Deadline: September 18, 2026
Applications are open for the FRIAS Sustainable Governance Senior Fellowship Programme for Researchers from Africa 2027/2028. The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is the international research college of the University of Freiburg. It brings together scholars from Freiburg and around the world, offering temporary fellowships that allow researchers to focus entirely on their projects within a vibrant community of diverse cultural and academic backgrounds. FRIAS provides exceptional support to help fellows succeed.
For the academic year 2027/28, FRIAS is offering individual Sustainable Governance Senior Fellowships for Researchers from Africa. The fellowships are available to researchers from any nationality based in an African institution. The programme offers access to the resources, networks, and academic community of the University of Freiburg, enhancing your research through new perspectives and collaborative opportunities.
Fellowship
- Depending on their situation, selected applicants will either receive a fellowship contract with the University of Freiburg or other compensation.
- Fellows receive a research cost contribution and travel costs for the inbound and the outbound journey.
Eligibility
- Applicants must hold a completed doctoral degree plus a minimum of eight years of post-doctoral experience.
- Applicants must have 5 peer-reviewed publications since 1 January 2017, including at least one with or as a co-author.
- Applicants must be based in an African country.
- Applicants must have at least six months’ research or study experience at academic institution(s) in a country different from the country of their first academic degree by the time of application AND have received a Master/PhD in an African country.
- Fellowships will be awarded to individuals with challenging and innovative research projects of top academic quality through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process (expected success rate: ~10% of eligible applications).
- Only applications from disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a thematic focus on sustainable governance will be considered. A letter of cooperation by an academic partner at the University of Freiburg is required.
Application
Information on the candidate and project (abstract, Layman’s abstract to communicate the research project to a general public, ethical issue table, motivation statement) must be filled into the online application form.
Additionally, the following attachments are required to be uploaded to the application portal:
- Project proposal (max. 3000 words including footnotes, headers, footers, and bibliographical references, 4 graphs) (PDF, for mandatory structure refer to the application manual)
- CV in tabular form (PDF, mandatory template available in the application portal)
- Publication list (PDF): Applicants must provide a list of publications that may not exceed 8 publications in total. 5 of those publications must be published after 1 January 2017 and must be peer-reviewed, including at least one with or as a co-author. (PDF, mandatory template available in the application portal).
- Copy of the PhD diploma (PDF)
- Letter of Cooperation by an academic partner at the University of Freiburg who will support the project during the stay in Freiburg. The academic partner must hold the title of a professor.
For more information, visit FRIAS Sustainable Governance Senior Fellowship.
