MIASA Individual Fellowships at University of Ghana for African Scholars 2023-2024

The Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) is dedicated to research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, with ‘Sustainable Governance’ as its central topic. Our main thematic corridors are conflict and sustainable peace, democracy and environmental transformation. We are also interested in a wide range of intersectional sub-topics, such as landownership and acquisition, migration and mobility, restitution of cultural objects, African cities, human rights and other related themes. MIASA is committed to reduce global asymmetries in knowledge production, to promote female scholarship and to bridge cultural divides. The institute offers time and space for supporting innovative academic projects of top international quality. MIASA serves as a hub for exchange, networking and collaboration amongst leading researchers from Germany, Ghana, Africa, Europe and elsewhere in the world. The institute is located on the beautiful campus of the University of Ghana (UG) at Legon (Accra), and has been implemented in collaboration with the University of Freiburg, the Goethe University of Frankfurt, the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the German Historical Institute Paris (GHIP). It is largely funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. 

The present call is for up to ten (10) individual residential fellowships for 3-12 months each for the academic year 2023/2024. The starting date of a fellowship is generally handled flexibly, however, we strongly encourage to set the starting date on either 1st of June 2023, 1st of August 2023 or 1st of January 2024. The latest possible date for the end of a fellowship is the 31st of July 2024.

About Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA)

The Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) is an international research college at the University of Ghana in Legon, Accra. The Institute facilitates the cooperation of Ghanaian scientists with their international peers beyond disciplinary and geographical boundaries. MIASA is committed to reducing global asymmetries in knowledge production, simultaneously bridging the cultural divide between anglophone and francophone Africa, as well as increasing the visibility of humanities and social science research by academics in and from Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to ac... read more

Individual Fellowships

Aim and Benefits of Individual Fellowships

• The successful applicants become MIASA fellows with all the corresponding rights and obligations for the requested funding period. For fellows affiliated with a home institution the fellows’ salary or teaching substitution costs are met by MIASA for every full fellowship month on the principle of “no loss, no gain,” and paid directly to his/her home institution. In cases where this is not possible an individual grant based on the candidate’s salary at his/her home institution can be offered. Fellows may be eligible for a post adjustment to compensate for the difference in the cost of living based on a case-by-case justification. Fellows without employment receive an individual monthly grant. For  fellows from outside Accra, MIASA provides accommodation (or an equivalent accommodation allowance of up to 1500€/month) and reimburses travel costs. In addition, a contribution to support research undertaken at MIASA can be granted to all MIASA fellows upon application to MIASA directors (max. 250€ per fellow per month). MIASA fellows who come with family members to Accra can receive a family allowance. Fellowships are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research via the University of Freiburg/FRIAS.
• The Institute provides its fellows with office space on the University of Ghana campus. Fellows have full access to all library services at the University of Ghana and, electronically, at the University of Freiburg, Germany. For fellows from francophone and lusophone Africa MIASA can offer funding for courses in advanced academic English during the fellowship at the University of Ghana. A full-time presence of fellows at MIASA for the entire fellowship period is required. Periods of leave need to be negotiated with the MIASA directors prior to the signing of the fellowship agreement, and must not exceed a total of more than 1/6 of the fellowship duration.

Requirements for Individual Fellowships Qualification

• The call is open to scholars (both on junior and senior levels) who have been awarded their doctoral degree at least three months before the start of the fellowship.
• Individual residential fellowships will allow researchers to conduct a project of their own choice, connected to MIASA’s thematic research areas. Projects can be at conceptional stage, mid-term phase or final stage (analyzing data, writing up findings). Fellowships are residential with only shorter absences possible and with only limited funds to support activities such as field work trips. The selection is made by MIASA’s distinguished international Academic Advisory Board. In a strictly merit-based selection process, the individual fellowships are awarded to researchers of top academic quality with an innovative and high-quality research topic. The all-important selection criteria are the academic excellence of the applicant and the fellowship proposal. MIASA is committed to inclusion, gender equality, and family friendliness. The MIASA fellowship program thus aims for gender parity and promotes affirmative action policies.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted in English and French. The completed application form together with the information indicated below have to be uploaded on the application webpage (here). After submission of the documents, applicants receive an acknowledgement of receipt providing contact details and including a copy of their submission. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

• Information on the application and selection process (required documents, eligibility criteria, evaluation criteria, timeline and stages of the selection process) is provided in the Application Guidelines for Individual Fellowships.

For more details, visit MIASA website.