Call: Thyssen@KWI Fellowship

Call: Thyssen@KWI Fellowship
Fellowship for the duration of 6 months from 1 October 2025 until 31 March 2026.
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: https://www.fritz-thyssen-stiftung.de/en/
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.
The KWI:
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen is an interdisciplinary research
institute for the humanities and social sciences in the tradition of institutes for advanced study.
Located in the Ruhr Area, KWI offers a space for independent and innovative research in the
humanities and various opportunities to engage and include the public. Currently, research at KWI
focusses on the following areas: literary and cultural sociology, cultural science studies, science
communication, visual literacy and public humanities. Further projects are concerned with cultures
of communication, among others. It is one of KWI’s main goals to find new ways of linking research
questions, concepts, methods and theories of philology, cultural studies and the social sciences. We
are dedicated to pursuing our interdisciplinary agenda through international collaboration. An
important contribution to our scholarly and political work comes from the Academy in Exile, offering
research space to colleagues whose academic freedom is threatened.
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.
• The Thyssen@KWI Fellow may have the opportunity to organize a workshop as part of the
program, depending on available resources and scheduling constraints. While this is not a
requirement for participation, we encourage applicants with an interest in hosting a
workshop to express their ideas in their application.
• The Thyssen@KWI Fellow is not expected to teach, but always welcome to 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 1 2025). Due to our semester schedule and the design of the fellowship
programme, the start and end of the fellowship are not negotiable.
Academic landscape:
Fellows will have the opportunity to liaise with researchers in a rich and diversified academic
landscape: The University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr), KWI’s umbrella structure, strategically links the
universities of Duisburg-Essen, Bochum and Dortmund. Nearby, the universities of Duesseldorf,
Cologne, Muenster and Bielefeld as well as the renowned Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen
offer further possibilities for collaboration and exchange. Fellows might also profit from cross-border
programmes and initiatives engendered by the close proximity of Belgium and the Netherlands to
North Rhine-Westphalia. For details on 14 collaborative research centres and 13 graduate training
groups within the UA Ruhr, see here: www.uaruhr.de/index.html.en.
The Ruhr area:
The cities of Duisburg and Essen are situated right in the middle of the Ruhr area. With more than
five million inhabitants and an area of about 4,435 square kilometres, the Ruhr area is one of the
largest metropolitan areas in Germany and the fifth largest in Europe. The region’s cultural appeal
and diverse urban landscape were recognised by the European Union in 2010, when the Ruhr
metropolitan area, spearheaded by Essen, was honoured as “European Capital of Culture”. After the
transformation of traditional industries, great effort has gone into making the Ruhr area greener
again. By now, this region in the West of Germany has developed into a cultural hub with manifold
outdoor possibilities. The cities of Cologne and Duesseldorf can be reached easily, and the
Netherlands and Belgium offer day-trip destinations.
Application:
We kindly ask you to apply in the form of one single PDF file (max. 20 MB) which must be submitted
electronically to international.fellowship@uni-due.de with the subject line: “Thyssen@KWIFellowship”.
[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 28 February 2025 (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 international.fellowship@uni-due.de