Research area

Culture

Select research type below:

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies – Visiting Fellowships and Visiting Research Fellowships: the Abdul Aziz Al-Mutawa and the Muhammad Bin-Ladin Visiting Fellowships 

Amount:

  • 5,000 GBP (8,401.80 CAD, conversion rate on 27th oct 2023)
  • Shared working space
  • Membership of the Common Room including dining facilities and assistance with finding residential accommodation.

Deadline: January of each year

Duration: 1 year.

Requirements:

Citizenship: Unspecific

General: research relevant to the study of Islam or the Muslim world

Documentation Requirements:

  1. Completed application form (completed via the Centre’s website at https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/visiting-fellowships)
  2. A brief description of proposed research (up to 1000 words)
  3. Samples of publications, if available (a maximum of two)
  4. A curriculum vitae
  5. Letters of recommendation (signed and dated) from two persons familiar with the applicant’s work should be uploaded by the applicant’s referees to: https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/form/ref-letter-submission-form-vf. Please note it is the responsibility of the applicant to share this URL with their referees

Eligibility:

  • Applicants will normally be established academics but scholars at the postdoctoral or equivalent level are also eligible.
  • An academic affiliation is not a necessary requirement.
  • The criteria for selection of Visiting Fellows are:
    1. evidence of academic excellence including quality of publications
    2. relevance of the proposed research to the overall aims and current academic research priorities of the Centre
    3. potential to contribute to and benefit from interdisciplinary interaction with other Centre Fellows and/or Visiting Fellows

Details:

  • Two Visiting Fellowships are offered to support research in any area that has relevance to the study of Islam or the Muslim world, particularly anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, law, literature, philosophy, politics, religion, sociology, science and society.
  • The grant is intended as a supplementary award and may be held in conjunction with other research grants, stipends, or sabbatical salaries.

Current research at the Centre is concentrated within four broad areas, but we welcome fellowship applications from scholars conducting research on a diverse range of topics:

  1. Muslim Societies Past and Present
  2. Identity and Citizenship: Muslims in Britain and the West
  3. Classical Islamic Sciences
  4. Economic and Human Development and Islamic Finance
  5. Science, Technology, Environment and Muslim Societies

Link:
https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/visiting-fellowships

American Academy of Religion – Individual Research Grants 

Amount: 

  • 500 to 5,000 USD 

Deadline: May 1 to August 1, annually 

Duration: Unspecified.  

Requirements: 

Citizenship: Open

General: must be current AAR members for at least 3 years 

Eligibility: 

  • Applicants must be current AAR members.  
  • Applicants must have completed and received the doctorate. 
  • Grant recipients must maintain their AAR membership throughout the grant period. 
  • Applicants who have received any AAR research grant award in the previous five (5) years will not be considered.  
  • Applicants should be prepared to upload the following required materials, all of which should be compiled into a single document in PDF or Word format: 
  1. Cover page that includes: 
    1. Applicant's name 
    2. Applicant's institutional affiliation (if applicable) 
    3. Project title 
    4. Grant type 
    5. Requested grant amount (USD) 
  2. Abstract - 50 words or fewer describing the project 
  3. Two-Page Focused Project Description  
    1. Description of the research project with details about the aims and significance, and explanation about how the award would be used 
  4. Project budget 
    1. Budget items with amounts; explanation of these expense items may be included in the two-page description of the project . 
    2. Other sources of support—e.g., funds granted by your institution, funds requested from outside agencies—and indicate the total award amount sought from the AAR. 
  5. Curriculum Vitae 
  • No more than two pages 

Selection Criteria:  

All  eligible grant proposals will be reviewed and assessed by AAR Research Grants Jury using the following criteria:  

  • Clarity and focus of the research to be pursued 
  • Contribution to scholarship in a field or subfield of religion and significance of the contribution for advancing the understanding of religion or for advancing interdisciplinary discussions between religion and other humanistic and social science disciplines 
  • Adequacy of the overall work plan, including goals, objectives, and time frame for the completion of the project 

Details: 

  • In order to advance research in religion, these grants provide support for important aspects of research such as travel to archives and libraries and field work. 
  • When submitting your budget proposal, please include information about any other sources of funding or possible funding. 

Link: 

https://www.aarweb.org/node/141 

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies: Visiting Fellowship and Visiting Research Fellowships: the Imam Bukhari and the Imam Tirmizi Visiting Research Fellowship 

Amount: 

  • 4,000 GBP (with waiver of any bench fees) (6,722.03 CAD, , conversion rate on 27th oct 2023) 
  • Shared office accommodation 
  • Membership of the Common Room  

Deadline: January of each year 

Duration: 1 year.  

Requirements: 

Citizenship: Visiting research fellowships open to citizens of countries in Asia and Africa.  

Eligibility: 

  • Applicants should normally be at the postdoctoral or equivalent level.  
  • These Visiting Research Fellowships are open to citizens of countries in Asia or Africa and are intended to encourage interaction among academics from different traditions of learning. Preference will be given to those studying classical Islamic sciences, although other areas in the humanities and social sciences will be considered.  
  • The criteria for selection of Visiting Fellows are:  
    • Evidence of academic excellence including quality of publications  
    • Relevance of the proposed research to the overall aims and current academic research priorities of the Centre  
    • Potential to contribute to and benefit from interdisciplinary interaction with other Centre Fellows and/or Visiting Fellows  

Details: 

  • Fellowships are offered to support research in any area of the arts, humanities, or the social sciences that has relevance to the study of Islam or the Muslim world (particularly anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, law, literature, philosophy, politics, religion, and sociology). 
  • The grant is intended as a supplementary award and may be held in conjunction with other research grants, stipends, or sabbatical salaries. 

Current research at the Centre is concentrated within four broad areas, but we welcome fellowship applications from scholars conducting research on a diverse range of topics: 

  1. Muslim Societies Past and Present  
  2. Identity and Citizenship: Muslims in Britain and the West  
  3. Classical Islamic Sciences  
  4. Economic and Human Development and Islamic Finance  
  5. Science, Technology, Environment and Muslim Societies  

Link: 

https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/sites/default/files/inline-files/VRF%20Application%20Guidelines%202024-25_0.pdf

American Council of Learned Societies – the Robert H. N. Ho Family Program in Buddhist Studies – Public Scholars Fellowship in Buddhist Studies

Amount:

  • Compensation equivalent to $60,000 USD, health insurance and an allowance of $10,000 for relocation, site visits, home office expenses, or professional development paid by ACLS directly to the scholar.  

Deadline: January, annual.  

Duration: one year, open to renewal for another 12-months.  

Requirements: 

Citizenship: Open

General: must identify a significant scholarly product 

Eligibility: 

  • An applicant must hold a PhD in the humanities or interpretive social sciences. An applicant must hold a PhD conferred no earlier than September 1, 2019 (within the last 6 years). 
  •  If the PhD is not conferred (officially awarded) before a scholar is offered a position with a host institution, the scholar must submit a letter from the scholar’s graduate school confirming that the dissertation has been submitted and approved by the graduate school for conferral according to the university calendar. The scholar is responsible for submitting the dissertation on time in order to meet this requirement. 
  • An applicant must be authorized to work legally in the United States for the duration of the initial 12-month fellowship term. This includes Indigenous individuals residing in the United States through rights associated with the Jay Treaty of 1794, and those who hold DACA status, Temporary Protected Status, political asylee or refugee status, and other non-permanent status. Neither ACLS nor the host institution will sponsor scholars for visas. 
  • Each applicant may apply for up to two of the available positions, indicating which is the first preference.  
  • Applications must include: 
  1. A completed application form.  
  2. A short statement of interest to explain your interest in careers outside the academy, including where you see yourself professionally five years from now (no more than one page in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). 
  3. A cover letter tailored to each selected position and addressed to the host institution (one to two pages in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). Applicants applying for two positions will submit two distinct cover letters. 
  4. A resume (one to two pages in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). Applicants applying for two positions will submit two resumes. 
  5. A writing sample (no more than five pages, double-spaced in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). 
  6. Two letters of recommendation, which should address the applicant’s knowledge of Buddhist traditions, professional competencies, and the fit with the position selected. Applicants applying for two positions will submit two letters of recommendation for each position selected. 

Evaluation Criteria:  

The initial review will evaluate applications based on: 

  • Knowledge of Buddhist traditions and disciplinary competence 
  • Demonstrated ability to connect academic and non-academic skills and capacities to the responsibilities of the applicant’s selected position(s) 
  • Applicant’s academic and extra-academic accomplishments 
  • The capacity of an award to advance The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global’s interest in presenting and interpreting Buddhist knowledge, traditions, and cultures to the broader public 

Details:  

  • The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhism Public Scholars Fellowships in Buddhist Studies places recent recipients of the PhD in professional positions at host institutions (museums, libraries, and publications) that present and interpret knowledge of Buddhist traditions. The selected Buddhism Public Scholars will use their academic knowledge and professional expertise to bolster the capacity of host institutions in the area of Buddhist art and thought in any tradition and location where Buddhism is practiced. We expect the Buddhism Public Scholars initiative to nurture mutually beneficial partnerships between scholars and hosts that will help disseminate knowledge of Buddhist traditions to broad publics. 
  • Buddhism Public Scholars will take on substantive, intellectually meaningful responsibilities at cultural institutions.  

Link: https://www.acls.org/competitions/the-robert-h-n-ho-family-foundation-buddhism-public-scholars/ 

American Council of Learned Societies – the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Translation Grants in Buddhist Studies

Amount: 

  • Up to 50,000 USD  

Deadline: November of each year 

Duration: 12 months.  

Requirements: 

Citizenship: Open

General: no restrictions as to the language of the final product prepared for publication 

Eligibility: 

  • Individual applicants and leaders of collaborative teams must have PhD degrees conferred (officially awarded) by an accredited university. An established scholar who can demonstrate the equivalent of the PhD in publications and professional experience may also qualify. 
  • The application must be written in English by the applicant. 
  • There are no restrictions as to the location of work proposed or the citizenship/residence of applicants. 

For Collaborative teams, the team leader must submit a single application on behalf of the team. 

  • Applications must include: 
  1. A completed application form.  
  2. A proposal (no more than five double-spaced pages in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). 
  3. An optional one to two additional pages of images, musical scores, or other similar supporting non-text materials. 
  4. A bibliography (no more than two pages, double-spaced in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). 
  5. Applicant’s statement describing the intellectual trajectory and experiences that brought the applicant to the current stage of academic career and that motivate plans for the future (no more than one page, single- or double-spaced in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). ACLS is committed to inclusion, equity, and diversity as integral components of merit that enhance the scholarly enterprise. It is a priority of this program that cohorts of fellows and grantees be broadly inclusive of different backgrounds, cultures, and any aspects that make one unique. In Buddhist Studies we seek balance in regard to citizenship and university affiliation, as well as in languages, topics, Buddhist traditions, and locations of research. Please use the applicant’s statement to note any relevant information about your personal background and/or ways in which your proposed research addresses issues related to inclusion, equity, and diversity. 
  6. A sample of the text(s) proposed for translation: in the original and in translated form, if the translation has already begun (no more than fifteen single- or double-spaced pages with no hyperlinks). Applicants/teams who have not yet started the project should submit a sample of previous work. 
  7. A budget statement, outlining costs for salary replacement, travel, research materials, research assistants, etc. No indirect costs or institutional overheard is permitted. 
  8. A list of the applicant’s publications (no more than two pages, double-spaced in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). 
  9. Two reference letters that provide explicit information on the proposed project and the applicant (and the collaborators, if any), submitted through the ACLS Online Fellowship and Grant Administration (OFA) System. 

Evaluation Criteria:  

  • Significance of the text to be translated 
  • The potential contribution to Buddhist Studies of the translation, especially the potential benefit to scholarly communities using the target language 
  • Feasibility of the plan of work and the budget proposed 
  • Record of applicants’ accomplishment in scholarship and translation 

Details: 

  • These grants support translations of important Buddhist texts for the benefit of contemporary audiences (e.g., communities of scholarship and Buddhist practice) who currently do not have access to them in their own languages. Applicants may propose the translation of works from any genre of Buddhist literature from any period and region. Priority will be given to the translation of works that have not been translated into a modern language. There are no restrictions as to the language of the final product prepared for publication. 
  • Award funds can be used as stipends for work performed (e.g., secure release time or pay assistants), travel, and related office costs (e.g., reproduction or digitization of images). A budget is required. 

Link: https://www.acls.org/competitions/the-robert-h-n-ho-family-foundation-translation-grants-in-buddhist-studies/