A wide range of options: Fellowships in Jewish and Israel Studies

For scholars working on Jewish history, Jewish Studies or Israel Studies a large number of fellowship programs are available worldwide. This article presents a few of them.

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The French Research Center of Jerusalem is currently accepting applications from European scholars for research stays in Israel. Eligible projects must engage in any aspect, past or present, of the Israeli-Palestinian world and require a research stay (archival, field study, interviews…) in Jerusalem.

Similarly, Yad Hanadiv, one of the Rothschild family’s philantropic foundations, is running a fellowship program in collaboration with Beracha foundation. If you are a young post-doc, fluent in Hebrew and living outside Israel, you can now apply for a 1-year fellowship and conduct your project in Jewish studies at a research institution in Israel, supervised by a senior scholar.

A third opportunity for recent Ph.ds is the Israel Institute’s current call for fellowship applications. The Institute funds fellowships of up to two years for projects on Israel related topics. The selected fellows can base their project at universities in Israel, the U.S. or Europe, but are required to do their fellowship at another university than the one in which they completed their Ph.D.

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In the United States, several foundations and funding institutions fund research on Israel and Jewish studies. Among them, the Prins foundation is currently offering a fellowship for early career scholars in Jewish History. All nationalities except Israeli, U.S. and Canadian are eligible, but preference will be given to candidates from eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

The Herbert Katz Center fellowship program on Advanced Judaic Studies and the Schusterman Center program on Israel Studies are not currently accepting applications, but are likely to open again next year. Both offer 1 year residential fellowships for postdocs from any nationality and in any stage of their career.

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Elsewhere in the world, Jewish Studies are also flourishing. The Taube Foundation and POLIN museum Warsaw jointly offer short-term fellowships (3-5 months) on Jewish history and culture.

The Mendelssohn Centre in Potsdam, Germany, is running a Visiting Professorship program. Senior scholars are invited to spend 1 year in residence in Potsdam to pursue their project in Modern Israel Studies, teach at least one course at Potsdam University and give public lectures at the Berlin-Brandenburg Centre for Jewish Studies.

Oxford University hosts a research center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, regularly calling for fellowship applications such as this year’s short-term visiting fellowships on « Israel in Egypt/Egypt in Israel » and mid-term fellowships on the current research seminar « Jews, Liberalism, Anti-Semitism: the Dialectics of Inclusion (1780-1950) ».

None of these international calls is currently open for applications – but next year the game is on again !

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For those specializing in Holocaust or Genocide Studies, the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute is currently accepting applications for 6-11 month fellowships. Fellowships both for young postdocs and senior fellows are available.

In France, Fondation pour la mémoire de la Shoah is awarding grants for projects on Holocaust studies. Post-docs under 40 years of age are eligibile for these 12-month grants. This call is also currently open for applications.

Other opportunities in the field of Holocaust Studies not currently open for applications include the Munich Institute for Contemporary History’s short-term fellowships, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum fellowship program in Advanced Holocaust Studies. Furthermore, the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research runs a fellowship program for senior scholars, to be in residency at the center in Los Angeles for 1 term.

Remember that you can bookmark all expired calls and corresponding institutions in your fund┋it user account. You will then be notified as soon as the program opens again next year!