Time path
The selection process takes almost a year: from the opening of the call in January to the moment when all candidates are informed of their selection, reserve status or rejection in December. We then take a further five months to finalise the cohort and contract all its members.
- The annual call for applications for NIAS Individual Fellowships is open from 15 January to 15 March (or the following Monday if this date falls on a Saturday or Sunday).
- All non-eligible applicants are notified by 1 May.
- In December, all eligible candidates will be informed of their selection, reserve status or rejection.
- At the beginning of June, the NIAS year group for the following academic year is published.
Apply as early as possible for the NIAS open call
In the NIAS Open Call, a maximum of 216 eligible applications will be assessed. In line with NIAS’ commitment to achieving an equal number of fellows from the Netherlands, the Global South, and the Global North, no more than 72 applications will be admitted in each of the following categories:
-
Dutch-affiliated or -based applicants;
-
Applicants affiliated with or based in other EU countries, or in Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Vatican City, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand;
-
Applicants affiliated with or based in all countries not listed above.
NIAS will announce when the limit for any of these sub-caps has been reached. If the maximum of 72 eligible applications is not reached in one category, the remaining capacity will be distributed equally among the other categories.
The numerus clausus does not apply to applications for the Theme Groups.
Steps in the selection procedure NIAS individual Fellowships
There are five stages in the selection prodedure
First stage: eligibility
In order to be eligible for a NIAS Fellowship, candidates must meet all formal eligibility criteria that are communicated with the call. By 1 May Team Selection at NIAS will let applicants know by email if their application does not comply with these criteria, and is therefore rejected. Please, note that among them are those conditions concerning the maximum lengths of your entries and submitted documents. NIAS will not allow any additions or changes after submission.
Second stage: commitment
A NIAS Staff Committee, composed of members not otherwise involved in the selection procedure, assesses the applicants’ commitment—NIAS’s core value. They review the candidates’ statements on interdisciplinary and community engagement and propose up to 150 candidates for the reviewing phase, taking into account the level of dedication and care evident in the applications. Candidates not proposed for review will be notified by email before 15 May. The lists are compiled into a matrix produced by the Staff Committee, which presents the geographic distribution, disciplinary diversity, and various career stages of the cohort-in-the-making.
Third stage: peer review
Applications that meet the stated requirements will be forwarded to two selected external referees. These referees are chosen either from NIAS’s expanding panel of reviewers or from the three referees proposed by the applicant.
The NIAS panel represents a diverse range of expertise and backgrounds. All referees are provided with a set of evaluation guidelines, which include consideration of the applicant’s personal circumstances when preparing their proposal.
By the end of September, the dossiers of the 75 highest-rated applications will be submitted to the Academic Advisory Board. A more concise overview will be provided for the other applicants.
Fourth stage: Academic Advisory Board
The NIAS Academic Advisory Board (AAB) is responsible for advising the NIAS Directorate on which candidates should be invited as fellows.
As part of this role, the board ranks the candidates presented to them in dossiers. They are specifically asked to consider the overall balance of the proposed year group, taking into account factors such as discipline, gender, career stage, and regional diversity.
The Academic Advisory Board will recommend up to 120% of the institute’s capacity, based on which the Directors will finalise both the selection and the order of candidates to be invited.
Fifth stage: NIAS Directorate
Based on the Academic Advisory Board’s (AAB) recommendations, the NIAS Director, with the support of the Head of Academic Affairs, makes the final decision on fellowship allocations from the Open Call.
While academic considerations—both individual excellence and the potential impact on the collective of fellows—remain the priority, practical factors may also be considered at this stage. These include the availability of housing and other resources relative to demand, for which the Institute Manager will be consulted.
By 15 December, the NIAS Director will inform all candidates via email of the decision on their application. Candidates will be notified if they have been accepted, placed on reserve, or rejected.
Accepted candidates receive a Preliminary Offer, and upon acceptance, a Fellowship Agreement will be issued along with any relevant attachments and documents. Full agreement must be reached and signed by 15 April, after which the offer will expire. Offers cannot be deferred to a future year.
If an accepted candidate declines or their offer expires, the Director will offer the position to an alternate candidate. By 15 May, the final NIAS year group for the upcoming academic year will be confirmed and ready for presentation in June.
Download the Regulations – NIAS Selection Procedure
