Extraordinary Call for proposals: Short-term visiting scholar residencies 2020

Application deadline: 15 July / 31 July 2020

The Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) is inviting short-term Group Residencies to support new or existing collaborative research projects during the second semester of 2020 (August to December 2020). These shall typically involve 2 to 4 collaborators, preferably from different South African institutions (and from other African countries and abroad where travel restrictions allow), who plan to undertake a residency of between two to four weeks. Principal applicants must be established scholars in their field of study and be employed in an academic/scientific position in an Africa institution.

STIAS seeks to turn the international travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic into a unique opportunity to provide available office space to South African, African and international collaborators (where travel restrictions permit) to develop new proposals for collaborative projects, or to further existing collaborative work. These may include developing proposals for research funding, publications, or for future fellowships at STIAS or other institutes for advanced study.

All disciplines and research topics will be considered and will be evaluated according to the usual fellowship selection criteria, namely:

1. Level: Does the proposal entail research at the highest level?
2. Innovation: Does the project break new ground? Does it hold the promise of new insights and the potential to produce new knowledge?
3. Interdisciplinarity: To what extent does the project draw on different disciplines and what methodology is envisaged for doing so? Will the project facilitate an interdisciplinary discourse?
4. Relevance: Does the project have relevance for South Africa and Africa? Is the project appropriate for the programme of an institute for advanced study?
5. Feasibility: How convincing is the proposed methodology and research design, and how realistic is the research plan? Is the applicant equipped to deliver on the proposed project?

Applications for a residential period starting during August 2020 may be submitted by Wednesday, 15 July and will be considered early; subsequent applications are due by Friday, 31 July for residencies commencing during September and later. Residencies may commence no later than mid-November 2020 and will end by no later than 15 December 2020.

Submissions should be emailed to Ms Gudrun Schirge, STIAS Senior Programme Administrator at [email protected]. Documentation should be submitted in PDF format. Along with a covering letter, applications should include:

1. Comprehensive CVs of the team members, which includes their publications.
2. A project title and description (2-4 pages) of the planned collaborative work and expected outcomes.
3. A brief summary/introductory text (maximum 200 words) of the proposed project accessible to readers from outside the candidate’s specific discipline. This will be posted on the STIAS website (see project summaries for examples).
4. A clear indication of the length of residency being applied for, together with preferred and alternative dates of residence at STIAS.

Successful applicants will be required to remain in residence at STIAS during the periods applied for. While in residence, team members will have the opportunity to engage with STIAS fellows who are in residence at the time to exchange ideas across disciplines. Recognising that this Call is made on short notice and that potential applicants may have academic responsibilities at their home institutions during a residency, limited virtual lecturing and virtual meeting responsibilities at home institutions will be permitted from the comfort of the STIAS offices. Such foreseen responsibilities and their scope must be indicated in the cover letter.

STIAS is pleased to have an opportunity to offer its enriching and inspiring environment to a broader scope of researchers based at South African and African universities. Past STIAS fellows have attested to the transformative impact that a period of concentrated work in the company of leading thinkers at the STIAS Wallenberg Research Centre and environs provides, reflecting our motto, “A Creative Space for the Mind”. We encourage interested persons to seriously consider applying for this Extraordinary Call.

For any enquiries, please contact the STIAS Programme Manager by email on [email protected].