Mission and Vision

NIAS offers established and talented researchers working in, and at the intersection of, the social sciences, humanities and the arts the space, time and freedom to pursue a topic they consider urgent, based on their academic knowledge and experience. For five or ten months, they are able to work unencumbered and undisturbed.

NIAS also engages fellows in reflecting on academic freedom worldwide and actively contributes to its promotion and defence.

Please also refer to:

• NIAS Standing Statement
• NIAS Multi-annum Plan (available soon)
• Quality Assurance and Evaluation
• Collaboration Policy

NIAS’s goal is to enable independent, curiosity-driven advanced research in the humanities and social sciences, in conditions where academic freedom is guaranteed. NIAS also aims to bridge the gap between the research practices of the humanities and social sciences and those of the natural and life sciences. The presence of writers, journalists and artists further enriches the academic community, creating a serendipitous and collaborative working environment that unlocks imagination and curiosity.

NIAS aims to attract and select outstanding researchers. The institute offers offices, research facilities, library services and, if eligible, accommodation to its fellows. Researchers from universities and research organisations in the Netherlands can apply for a teaching replacement fund, which frees them from their teaching commitments and enables them to focus on what matters, their research. In addition, international fellows are eligible for a stipend and accommodation subsidy.

The institute’s support facilities, as well as its international and interdisciplinary community, provide an autonomous research setting in which creativity and forward-thinking ideas can thrive. In addition to the cross-discipline collaborations within the sciences, NIAS stimulates collaboration between the arts and the sciences by offering fellowships to writers, journalists and artists. This allows the fellows to meet, interact and form new partnerships with researchers from disciplines they would not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with in their own academic settings.

Each academic year, NIAS marks two important moments in its calendar with a public opening event. The Opening of the Academic Year brings together fellows, alums, partners and friends of NIAS for a keynote lecture by a prominent thinker on a theme at the heart of academic life and society. The Opening of the Second Semester welcomes the incoming second semester fellows and combines their introduction with the launch of a new volume in the NIAS Book Series Studies on Academic Freedom and Epistemic Diversity. Together, these events reflect NIAS’s commitment to fostering an open and inclusive academic community.

Applications are assessed by external reviewers, and by the Fellowship Advisory Committee, which evaluates and ranks them. The final selection is made by the NIAS director, with the aim of forming a year group that is balanced in gender and discipline. Candidates for partnered fellowships are selected according to the procedure agreed with each partner.

NIAS seeks to bring together equal numbers of fellows from the Netherlands, the Global North and the Global South. Applications are therefore divided into three categories, determined by the applicant’s institutional affiliation at the time of application rather than by nationality, place of birth or place of residence. Independent and self-employed researchers without an institutional affiliation are placed according to the country in which they live. The categories are set out on the NIAS Individual Fellowship page.

Most fellows hold an individual fellowship, while some come to NIAS as members of a theme group. Together they form a mix of distinguished senior scholars and promising younger researchers, working in an environment free from the teaching, management and other commitments of daily university life.

NIAS’s core task is to maintain and reinforce its position as an international institute for independent advanced study. In the coming years, NIAS’s ambition in Amsterdam is to establish itself further as a national institute that promotes reflective and curiosity-driven advanced research, one that is recognised as a unique and vital aspect of the Netherlands’ academic infrastructure. The organisation aims to continue to play a visible role in forming interdisciplinary research partnerships driven by innovative research questions, directions, strategies and methodologies.

NIAS is a member of two international networks of Institutes for Advanced Study.

As part of SIAS (Some Institutes for Advanced Study), NIAS belongs to a consortium of ten leading institutes modelled after the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. SIAS members share a commitment to the highest standards of scholarship and offer competitive, independently reviewed fellowship programmes.

Through Netias (Network of European Institutes for Advanced Study), NIAS is connected to 25 institutes across Europe that together host more than 500 researchers each year. NetIAS promotes dialogue on advanced study practices and fosters international, multidisciplinary research communities.

NIAS has a small staff and a flat organisational structure, with short lines of communication and minimal bureaucracy. The institute is led by the director, who represents NIAS and holds final responsibility for its strategy, policy and decision-making, including the selection of fellows. The director is supported by the institute manager, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the institute. Together they form the directorate.

The director is advised by two bodies with distinct roles, the Academic Board and the Fellowship Advisory Committee.

Academic Board
The Academic Board advises the NIAS director on the institute’s academic strategy and policies, both on request and on its own initiative. Its members are appointed by the KNAW Board of Management in consultation with the NIAS director and the Academic Board, for a term of four years, renewable once. The board meets around three times a year.

The members are:

• Professor Halleh Ghorashi, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Sociology (chair)
• Professor Sven Dupré, Utrecht University, History and Art History
• Dr Timo Makori, Maastricht University, Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development
• Professor Pablo Valdivia Martin, University of Groningen, Cultural Studies

Fellowship Advisory Committee
The Fellowship Advisory Committee advises the NIAS director on the selection of fellows, by evaluating and ranking applications, and on fellowship selection policies and procedures. The selection process itself is carried out by the NIAS selection staff. The committee has at least seven members, several of whom read Dutch so that applications in Dutch can be assessed. All members of the Academic Board also sit on the committee. Members serve a term of four years, renewable once.

• Professor Halleh Ghorashi, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Sociology
• Dr Phoebe Kisubi Mbasalaki, University of Essex, Critical Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality
• Professor Sven Dupré, Utrecht University, History and Art History
• Professor Rosalba Icaza Garza, Leiden University, International Relations
• Dr Timo Makori, Maastricht University, Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development
• Dr Shyamasree Dasgupta, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India, Energy, Environmental and Climate Change Economics
• Professor Pablo Valdivia Martin, University of Groningen, Cultural Studies

Board of Recommendation (Comité van Aanbeveling)
The Board of Recommendation affirms NIAS’s commitment to academic freedom and supports its long-term sustainability.

• Professor Marion Koopmans, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Virology
• Thom de Graaf, Vice-President of the Council of State
• Tom-Jan Meeus, Journalist, NRC

NIAS is one of the institutes of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The institute receives an annual lump sum from KNAW to cover running costs, fellowships and staff. A number of fellowships are co-sponsored by public and private organisations.

NIAS is registered with the Dutch tax authorities as an Institution for General Benefit (ANBI). This means that organisations and individuals benefit from tax advantages when donating to NIAS.

We would be pleased to inform you about the possibilities of making a donation, bequeathing money to us or setting up a named fund. Please contact our institute manager Marlous Willemsen: marlous.willemsen@nias.knaw.nl or call +31 (0)20 224 67 01.