Fellowship Program: Culture and Society in Transformation
Job Description
Call for Applications
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The Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Society at Leuphana University Lüneburg invites applications for 12-month fellowships in residence for 2027/28 starting April 1, 2027 and ending March 31, 2028.
Fluency in English is required for participation in LIAS and university activities.
Call for Application – Fellowship
The Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Society at Leuphana University Lüneburg invites applications for 12-month postdoctoral fellowships in residence for 2027/28 starting April 1, 2027 and ending March 31, 2028 within the program “Culture and Society in Transformation” that begins in spring of 2027.
The research programme seeks to challenge the prevailing discourse of inevitability by fostering engaged scholarship that uncovers, supports, and multiplies modes of social potentialization. By questioning established certainties, it aims to activate new possibilities – especially in times marked by intersecting processes of transformation and polycrisis. We invite researchers whose work engages with the actors, side effects, frictions, narratives, and conflicts that accompany transformative processes, as well as with transformative practices and forms of knowledge in global, local, and multidirectional contexts. We particularly welcome projects that investigate the historical, contemporary, socio-cultural, epistemological, political-economic, legal, and techno-scientific conditions of living together in an interconnected world undergoing profound change.
LIAS in Culture and Society is guided by the aspiration to think across hemispheres and to make plural societies both thinkable and realizable. This inspiration is grounded in an ethos of problematization, critical diagnosis of the present, the tracing of genealogies of contemporary lines of conflict, methodological openness, and cultural inventiveness.
PARTICIPATION IN AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE INSTITUTE
Fellows usually take a leave of absence to work in residence at LIAS on their research topic. They are expected to actively participate in LIAS events and receive support to organize public formats and workshops.
LIAS fellows will benefit from the many opportunities for interdisciplinary and international exchange with both the invited researchers and the artists who also reside at the institute. Also, fellows are invited to collaborate with researchers at Leuphana University and to participate in the university’s’ activities.
CONDITIONS
Remuneration is based on the guidelines for scholarships of the state of Lower Saxony and amounts to € 2,100 per month (tax free) plus accommodation, travel expenses and, if applicable, a family allowance. Office space at the University Central Building by Daniel Libeskind is provided. For fellows who bring their partner and/or family LIAS will provide support in settling family-related matters.
ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION MODALITIES
Scholars at the level of postdoctoral researcher, assistant professor, early associate professor or equivalent who already have distinguished themselves with two to three years outstanding postdoctoral work corresponding to the programmatic outline of the institute are eligible to apply. Eligible applicants must hold a PhD at the time of application but not have received their PhD more than ten years prior to the beginning of the planned fellowship. Fluency in English is required.
The application must include the following collated into one PDF file: 1) completed application form, 2) cover letter stating your motivations to apply to LIAS specifically, 3) academic curriculum vitae including list of publications, 4) project proposal (no more than 5 pages/2,500 words) in which you present your research project in a systematic manner (including the project’s research question, explanation of the contribution to the state of research, methodological/theoretical approach, etc.) and elaborate on its relation to the research programme at LIAS in Culture and Society. The project proposal should also include a short work plan for the time of your stay.
For further information about the application process and for suggestions on crafting a strong application, see: www.leuphana.de/en/research-centers/lias/fellowships/application-process.html
The selection of candidates will take place around May 2026, and you will be informed of the outcome immediately once the process has been completed.
Leuphana University Lüneburg encourages persons with disabilities and from diverse backgrounds to apply. Applications from candidates with disabilities will be considered preferentially in accordance with German equal opportunity guidelines.
Kindly submit your completed application (without photograph) as a single PDF file by January 5, 2026. Send it digitally to Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, addressed to:
LIAS in Culture and Society Subject line: LIAS Fellowship Email: lias@leuphana.de
