NIAS Theme Group Fellowships

Every member of a theme group is a NIAS fellow with an individual fellowship, on the same conditions as any other fellow. What sets a theme group apart is the shared topic. Alongside their own projects, the members work together on that topic throughout the semester, led by a coordinator who oversees the group’s application and receives the outcome on its behalf. Theme groups are selected through the annual Open Call, and the NIAS Director may also invite a group.

Every member of the group, including the coordinator, must meet the requirements for a NIAS Individual Fellowship, which are set out under formal requirements. A group has at least two and no more than four members.

Each member receives what every NIAS fellow receives, as described on the NIAS Fellowship page and under What NIAS offers. That includes a personal stipend or, for members affiliated with a Dutch university or research institute, a Dutch University Grant paid to their institution.

A fellowship at NIAS is a full-time commitment. Fellows are expected to be at the institute four days a week from the start to the end of their fellowship, including Thursdays for the weekly seminar. They are also expected to take part in the introduction period in the first two weeks of their fellowship and to acknowledge NIAS in publications and other work resulting from it.They are advised to make arrangements with their home institutions well before the fellowship begins. More information is available under What NIAS offers and Commitment, rules and regulations.

A theme group applies through its own application form, which every member fills in, including the coordinator. Each member’s application consists of the same parts as an application for a NIAS Individual Fellowship, described under Applying for a NIAS Fellowship. For the coordinator, the form adds questions on the names of the other members, any previous collaboration between them and the title of the theme group, and asks for the group proposal to be uploaded. Theme group applications do not count towards the cap on the number of applications in the Open Call.

The sample form below gives an impression of the questions. Some details may differ in this year’s form.

• Sample form NIAS Theme Group Fellowships

Applications cannot be changed once submitted. Within a few minutes of submission, each member receives a confirmation email at the work email address given in their individual application. Each member must confirm their application through the link in this email within 48 hours, and in any case before the call closes on 15 March 2027 at noon (CET). A group in which one or more applications are not confirmed in time is incomplete and therefore ineligible. The coordinator is advised to make sure that all members have submitted and confirmed their applications well before the call closes. If the email does not arrive, please check your spam folder or contact selection@nias.knaw.nl.

The group proposal may not exceed 1,500 words, including footnotes and excluding references. It covers the following points.

• The title, topic and main idea of the project
• Its relation to the existing literature
• Its academic and societal relevance
• The methodology
• The interdisciplinary character of the project, the benefit of working as a group and the contribution of the NIAS environment
• The intended output, such as articles, monographs, lectures, databases or websites
• A definitive list of the two to four members

Theme Group applications go through the same five stages as applications for Individual Fellowships, as described under Selection procedure. The three groups with the highest scores from the external referees are presented to the Fellowship Advisory Committee, which advises the NIAS Director. No later than 15 December 2027, the Director informs the coordinator whether the group has been selected, placed on reserve or rejected.

• Why do adults change their beliefs?
• Ecology and Belonging: In Search of a New Political Space
• Early Dutch Commerce and Indigenous Landscapes
• Re-imagining Security Labour
• Future of Progressive Politics
• The Spatial Segregation of Neighborhood Organizations and Entrepreneurs: Connecting Urban Inequality to the Built Environment
• Political theories of involuntary servitude within Europe (1600 – 1850)
• The Politics of Defamiliarization: the Common and the Strange in Contemporary Europe
• Legal Mobilization: Analyzing Law-based Advocacy
• Commodity Frontiers and the Making of Global Capitalism