Deadline: 22 July 2022.
Institute For Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Fellowship Programme 2023 – Worldwide
The IASS Fellow Programme is inspired by the Potsdam Memorandum’s call to gather all sources of ingenuity and inspiration from academia, politics, business and civil society to address the sustainability challenges of our time. The fellows are a key resource for the institute; they support our research, improve our transdisciplinary methodology, and, together with our researchers, reach out to political, economic, and social actors. Since 2010, more than 300 fellows from over 40 nations have worked at the IASS.
Each year, around 30 people from across the world participate in our IASS Fellow Programme. During their stay, fellows work with each other and with IASS researchers, providing expertise, inspiration, and creative input. In return, the IASS offers fellows the opportunity to develop their ideas in an international community of eminent researchers, not only within the institute, but also in the wider Potsdam-Berlin area. In keeping with the institute’s transdisciplinary approach to research, fellows are encouraged to engage with stakeholders from all areas of society.
For the coming year, the IASS is looking for individuals from the fields of academia, public administration, business, civil society, and culture who can contribute to the Institute’s research. Applications should engage with the themes addressed in at least one of the six research areas.
The Fellow Programme is designed to bring highly qualified people from academia, the business world, and civil society to the institute, who provide expertise, inspiration, and creative input. In return, the IASS offers fellows the opportunity to develop their ideas in an international community of world-class researchers, within the institute as well as in the wider research landscape of Potsdam and Berlin.
We particularly welcome proposals that envisage active collaboration with IASS researchers and aim to achieve joint outputs with one or more of the institute’s research groups. With this in mind, applicants are encouraged to contact the coordinator of the Fellow Unit and to consult directly with researchers at the IASS while developing their project proposal.
Applications should be related to one of the current research areas of the IASS: Institute For Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) Fellowship Programme 2023
- Democracy and Sustainability
- Energy Transitions and Societal Change
- Environmental and Societal Change
- Global Implications of Socio-Technical Change
- Science-Society Platforms
- Transdisciplinary Methods, Processes and Practices
Although all proposed projects should relate to at least one of the research areas, they do not need to be tailored towards a specific research group. We especially aim to attract fellows who will inspire the entire Institute and whose work spans the boundaries of individual research projects. We welcome applications for both stand-alone projects that engage with individual research areas and cross-cutting projects that relate to multiple areas. Please visit our website to gain an overview of our research:
https://www.iass-potsdam.de/en/research.
Applicants from the scientific community are expected to have a PhD or similar level of experience. Nonacademic applicants should have several years of work experience in their chosen field. The IASS strongly encourages experts with a strong interest in sustainability and societal transformation to apply for this programme. Applicants can come from a wide range of sectors, including science, public administration, the private sector, civil society, media and the arts.
Fellows will receive financial compensation to cover their additional costs of living during their stay in Germany. The exact amount will depend on the particular situation of the successful applicant (e.g., whether they are on paid or unpaid leave) and will be decided on an individual basis. Please inquire beforehand to receive an individual assessment of the amount. On request, the IASS can also provide limited resources to cover travel expenses, publication fees, support for organising workshops,
production costs for artistic work, etc.
The minimum duration of fellowships is three months, and the nominal maximum duration is 12 months. Depending on the available financial resources, fellowships may be extended to a maximum of 24 months. Fellows are expected to generally be present at the IASS in person during their stay and actively contribute to the work of the Institute, for example by holding seminars and participating in other IASS activities. The intended starting period for fellowships is March to June 2023. Fellows may take a leave of absence during their fellowship and may even divide it into several stages over a period of two years.
The deadline for applications is 23:59 Central European Standard Time on 22 July 2022. Applications will undergo a formal review process supervised by the Fellow Unit. This will include an internal review by IASS research group leaders, as well as an external review of the short-listed top candidates. It is expected that the final decision will be made around December 2022. The selection process is guided by the Institute’s gender equality and diversity policies.
For your application, we require the following documents:
- A letter of motivation. Please specify whether you consider yourself an academic or a practitioner. Academics are asked to outline their prior experience at the interface of their field of expertise and other sectors of society (such as science, politics, business, the arts, media, etc.). Please also mention how you became aware of the call for applications.
- A current CV of no more than three pages. Please provide only professional information.
Personal information (e.g., age, family status, nationality, photo, etc.) are neither required nor
requested. - If available, a list of projects, publications, lectures or similar can be added. The list should be limited to the most important items and not exceed three pages.
- A proposal outlining your planned project, including specific activities and outputs. The proposal should be no longer than five pages (excluding bibliographic references) and should
be structured as follows:
A. Title of your project
B. Project outline (max. 300 words)
C. Specification of which of the six research areas your activities are most closely linked to
D. Work plan: What are the activities you plan to conduct during your time at the IASS?
E. Ambition: What do you aim to achieve together with IASS through your fellowship?
F. Resource needs: What financial and/or physical resources do you need to achieve your aims?
G. Timeline (intended start and end of your fellowship)
Applications that do not follow the above structure may be rejected. Applications must be submitted in
English. All documents should be collated into a single PDF file not exceeding 10MB. Please send your
application to [email protected].*
