Wiko Early Career Fellowship in Berlin
Job Description
Wiko Early Career Fellowship in Berlin
Are you an early-career researcher in the humanities or social sciences looking for uninterrupted time to develop your research? Wiko Early Career Fellowship in Berlin or the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study) invites applications for its prestigious Early Career Call for the academic year 2027/2028.
This 10-month residential fellowship offers outstanding young scholars the rare freedom to pursue their own research project in one of Europe’s most stimulating intellectual environments.
What is the Wiko Early Career Fellowship?
The Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin is one of the world’s leading Institutes for Advanced Study. Each year it brings together approximately 40 Fellows from the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and the arts. The Early Career Call specifically targets researchers in the early stages of their academic careers in the humanities and social sciences.
Fellows enjoy complete freedom in choosing their research topic. The only formal obligations are:
- Residing at the Wissenschaftskolleg for 10 months (September to the end of June)
- Participating in the daily communal meal
- Attending the weekly Colloquium every Tuesday
This interdisciplinary and international atmosphere often generates productive intellectual friction that leads to new insights and innovative approaches.
Key Benefits of the Fellowship
- Stipend based on your previous salary (or a comparable German academic salary, typically up to €60,000)
- On-campus furnished apartment (heavily subsidized by the Institute)
- Excellent library and IT services
- Support with visa, registration, and family arrangements (including help finding schools and kindergartens)
- Daily meals and a vibrant intellectual community
- Opportunity to invite guests and organize workshops
Why Apply to the Wissenschaftskolleg?
This fellowship gives you something rare in academic life: time, freedom, and an exceptional peer group. Many Fellows describe their stay at Wiko as a transformative period that significantly advanced both their research and their career.
Who Can Apply?
Eligibility criteria:
- Hold a doctorate (PhD) in a discipline within the humanities or social sciences
- The doctorate must have been awarded no more than five years before the start of the fellowship (exceptions for care work, career breaks, or part-time employment are possible upon request)
- Open to scholars of all nationalities and all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences
Applications are welcome from early-career researchers worldwide.
Application Timeline
- Deadline: September 1, 2026 (23:59 CEST)
- Notification of results: By December 1, 2026
- Fellowship period: September 2027 – June 2028
Required Documents
Applications must be submitted online and can be written in English, German, or French. Required materials include:
- Detailed Curriculum Vitae with list of publications
- Project description (approx. 500 words including up to 10 references)
- A recent article that characterizes your work
- Letter of motivation (approx. 200 words)
- Bibliographical information on at least three major publications (at least one in English)
How to Apply
Applications are submitted exclusively through the full details, visit the official page
