Researching the Far East: Funding (South)East Asian and Buddhist studies

≈≈ At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable. — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ≈≈
Are you currently seeking funding for research projects on China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and neighbouring countries ? It’s your lucky day! Here goes the fund┋it digest on grants and fellowships for (South)East Asian studies (and you don’t need to be able to tell China from Arizona, we have done that for you).
Please note that this digest covers neither research on Japan nor on India, which will both be subject of separate articles.
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(South)East Asian studies in general
ISEAS Singapore regularly offers 1-year visiting fellowships on Southeast Asian studies and NYU Shanghai is currently accepting applications for postdoc positions on Asian studies (call open until 1st July).
Outside the region, New York based Cooper Union is running a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship program on Southeast Asian history. Furthermore, Columbia University, the International Institute for Asian Studies of Amsterdam (IIAS) and Hebrew University of Jerusalem regularly offer fellowships on Asian or East Asian studies.
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Specific countries
For research on Taiwan and China, Taiwan fellowships by Taipei Center for Chinese Studies (CCS) and the Academia Sinica postdoctoral fellows program in Taiwan are among the most prestigious ones. Both are currently accepting applications! The CCS also runs a research grant program on Chinese studies, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation one on Taiwan studies. More specifically, the Portuguese Oriente Foundation offers scholarships for research on Portugal and the Far East (applications accepted on a rolling basis).
Outside the region, both the University of Alberta and Stanford University offer 1-year fellowships in Chinese studies.
For research on Korea, grants and Jangseogak fellowships by the Academy of Korean Studies are available.
Did you know that you can bookmark expired calls, or institutions you are interested in ? You will then be notified by e-mail as soon as the call opens again, or a new call from this institution is published on fund┋it.
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Thematic foci
Among funding programs covering interregional and international relations of the region are the University of Duisburg fellowships on Trans-border cooperation in East Asia and, again, IIAS Amsterdam fellowships on Asian-African interactions, in cooperation with the Leiden African Studies Centre (ASC). Furthermore, two calls for application of the European Commission’s H2020 program (both upcoming) will address the issues of Asia-Pacific strategic importance for Europe and EU-China cooperation on sustainable urbanisation.
Southeast Asian arts and culture are focused by other programs such as the design and architecture research fellowships by the very recent M+ museum and Design Trust of Hong Kong (call currently open until 3rd July); the Lee Kong Chian fellowships on Singapore and Southeast Asian culture, economy and heritage at the Singapore National Library; or curatorial fellowships on East Asian art and material culture at Harvard Art Museums.
Scholars of religious aspects and Buddhism are particularly spoilt for choice of funding: UC Berkeley offers fellowships both on Chinese and Japanese Buddhism ; University of British Columbia runs a program on East Asian Buddhism in general. Scholars can also opt for a 1-year fellowship in Buddhist studies at ISEAS Singapore, or apply for either the mobility fellowships, research grants or collaborative fellowships on Buddhist studies by the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation.
Last but not least, researchers interested in social and environmental questions might be interested in either Brown University’s fellowships on Migration and Displacement in Asia, Harvard’s An Wang fellowships in Chinese Environmental Humanities, or the D. Kim Foundation’s fellowships on the History of Science and Technology in East Asia (call currently open until 1st Dec.).
For information on how to obtain a Chinese research visa, read our fund┋it mobility guide.