The Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Society is a research institution at Leuphana University of Lüneburg that provides a space for concentrated, collaborative, and independent research within an interdisciplinary network of scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
The Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Society offers
eight fellowships
for postdoctoral researchers, assistant professors, and early-career associate professors or equivalent with a consolidated postdoctoral project.
The Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Society at Leuphana University of Lüneburg invites applications for 12-month postdoctoral fellowships in residence starting April 1, 2028 and ending March 31, 2029, within the program “Culture and Society in Transformation”.
LIAS in Culture and Society is guided by the aspiration to think across hemispheres and to make plural societies both thinkable and realizable. This inspiration is grounded in an ethos of problematization, critical diagnosis of the present, the tracing of genealogies of contemporary lines of conflict, methodological openness, and cultural inventiveness.
The research programme challenges the prevailing linkage of concepts of transformation with the established narratives of inevitability, progress or disruption. Rather than taking transformation as a given, the research programme asks how processes of change are produced, experienced, contested, and imagined - and by whom. We invite researchers whose work examine actors, practices, discourses, power structures, narratives, frictions, unintended consequences, and conflicts that shape transformative processes across the broad field of Culture and Society, i.e. historical, contemporary, artistic, literary, philosophical, socio-cultural, epistemological, political-economic, legal, or techno-scientific research. According to one of the LIAS mottos - Thinking across Hemispheres - we particularly encourage research that brings into view forms of transformative knowledge and practice emerging across global, local, and multidirectional contexts, i.e. knowledge that shapes possibilities, limits, and direction of transformation.
PARTICIPATION IN AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE INSTITUTE
Fellows usually take a leave of absence to work in residence at LIAS on their research topic. They are expected to actively participate in LIAS events and receive support to organize public formats and workshops.
LIAS fellows will benefit from the many opportunities for interdisciplinary and international exchange with both the invited researchers and the artists who also reside at the institute. Also, fellows are invited to collaborate with researchers at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and to participate in the university's' activities.
CONDITIONS
Remuneration is based on the guidelines for scholarships of the state of Lower Saxony and amounts to € 2,100 per month (tax free) plus accommodation, travel expenses and, if applicable, a family allowance. Office space at the University Central Building by Daniel Libeskind is provided. For fellows who bring their partner and/or family LIAS will provide support in settling family-related matters.
ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION MODALITIES
Scholars at the level of postdoctoral researcher, assistant professor, early associate professor or equivalent who already have distinguished themselves with two to three years outstanding postdoctoral work corresponding to the programmatic outline of the institute are eligible to apply. Eligible applicants must hold a PhD at the time of application but have not received their PhD more than twelve years prior to the beginning of the planned fellowship. Fluency in English is required.
The application must include the following collated into one PDF file:
- completed application form (please note, the form is an important part of the application process and must be completed)
- cover letter stating your motivations to apply to LIAS specifically
- academic curriculum vitae including list of publications
- project proposal (no more than 5 pages/2,500 words) in which you present your research project in a systematic manner (including the project's research question, explanation of the contribution to the state of research, methodological/theoretical approach, etc.) and elaborate on its relation to the research program at LIAS in Culture and Society. The project proposal should also include a short work plan for the time of your stay.
For further information about the application process and for suggestions on crafting a strong application, see: https://www.leuphana.de/en/research-centers/lias/fellowship-calls/application-process.html
The selection of candidates will take place around May 2027, and you will be informed of the outcome immediately once the process has been completed.
Leuphana University of Lüneburg encourages persons with disabilities and from diverse backgrounds to apply. Applications from candidates with disabilities will be considered preferentially in accordance with German equal opportunity guidelines.
Please send your completed application (without photograph) as one PDF file digitally by December 18, 2026 to
Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
LIAS in Culture and Society
Subject line: LIAS Fellowship
Email: lias@leuphana.de
