The French Institutes for Advanced Study (FIAS) Fellowship Programme offers 10-month research fellowships in the six Institutes of Aix-Marseille, Loire Valley (Orléans-Tours), Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes and Paris. In Paris, fellowships will start on September 1st, 2024, and end on June 30th, 2025.

The programme welcomes applications from high-level international scholars and scientists to develop their innovative research project in France. The call is open to all disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities (SSH) and all research fields. Research projects in other sciences and in arts that propose a strong interaction and dialogue with the SSH are also eligible.

FIAS fellowships at the Paris IAS are meant to provide high-level international researchers with outstanding research conditions and unfragmented time to develop an innovative, trans-disciplinary, and field-changing research project of their choice. With Paris being the largest grouping of scientists in Europe, fellows will be in the midst of this scientific hive, with easy access and opportunities to interact closely with local colleagues and other fellows.

PARIS IAS SCIENTIFIC PRIORITIES

The Paris IAS looking for projects that do not simply add another brick to the wall of conventional knowledge. We fund groundbreaking, far reaching interdisciplinary research that helps inform the big scientific and social questions of our times.

Accordingly, the different selection instances of the fellowship place a strong emphasis on the following 4 criteria:

1. Scientific excellence and innovation of the research project and the candidate.
2. A strong interdisciplinary focus of the proposed project, with clear capacity to have an impact beyond their discipline, their field, and beyond academia. Projects that do not respond explicitly and convincingly to such criterion need not apply.
3. Research questions that clearly and convincingly seek to address societal challenges or that offer innovative insights into the functioning of humans and societies.
4. Solid plans for collaboration with host institutions, other fellows, and the Greater Paris research community. For this reason, a collaboration letter from a local research institution is requested of all applicants (collaborations with the member institutions of the Paris IAS listed above have a priority).

The Paris IAS values collective intelligence and interdisciplinarity. Fellows are expected to contribute generously to discussions and to the communal life of the Institute, during the compulsory weekly internal seminar, lunches together, and beyond. They will also be requested to give at least one public lecture.

In addition to these criteria, fellows can choose to participate in our two thematic programs. This is not mandatory, but it can provide selected fellows with additional opportunities for collaboration and outreach:

• For projects at the interface between SSH and the cognitive and neuro-sciences, the “Brain, culture and society” program will pay attention to research in society-body-mind-brain interactions having a potential impact on major societal challenges, such as physical and mental health and bioengineering, education and learning, group conflicts and violence, and adaptation to changing natural, industrial and urban environments.
• For projects focusing or with repercussions on urban challenges, the “City of Paris” program will promote connections and activities with the local administration, notably on topics around urban environmental transition and in the inequalities of education systems.

THE PARIS IAS

The Paris IAS is an independent research entity created in 2011 that regroups 11 major universities and research institutions in the Ile-de-France Region (Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle; Université Paris Cité; Université Paris-Nanterre; Sorbonne Université; Université Paris-Saclay; Université Gustave Eiffel; École pratique des hautes études; École des hautes études en sciences sociales; École normale supérieure; Inalco-Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales; Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme). It benefits from the strong support of two founding members, the City of Paris and the Ile-de- France Region, which have provided the IAS with first-class facilities for work and for residents’ accommodation, as well as of the French Ministry for Education, Research and Innovation through the Labex RFIEA+, for invitations and research projects.

CONDITIONS

The fellowship provides fully equipped accomodation in Paris, a living allowance (2,700€ per month), social security coverage, a research and training budget, and coverage of travel expenses from the fellows home institutions.

The Paris IAS is located in the Hôtel de Lauzun, a 17th century mansion in the very heart of Paris, on the Île Saint-Louis. Fellows benefit from an office and meeting spaces at the IAS, as well as access to IT infrastructure, in-house research facilities and other relevant resources (including special access to a network of university libraries in Paris and a document delivery service at the institute), and logistical and financial support for the organization of scientific events or for other initiatives related to their work (intersectoral collaborations, doctoral training, publications).

ELIGIBILITY

FIAS awards fellowships to outstanding researchers of all career levels, from postdoctoral researchers to senior scientists. The minimum requirement is a PhD + 2 years of research experience at the time of the application. Exceptions will be made for scholars with a Master + 6 years of full-time research experience after the degree (PhD training will not be considered in the calculation of experience).

Researchers from all countries are eligible to the FIAS Fellowship Programme but they must have spent no more than 12 months in France during the three years prior to the application deadline.

Applicants to the Paris Institute must provide a letter of collaboration with member(s) of a university or research institution based in France, signed by a member of the institution. Preference will be given to projects conducted in cooperation with the partners of the IAS.
The planned collaborations may include for instance the organization of conferences and series of lectures or the preparation of a joint research project (of special interest to the Paris IAS is the submission of a project with French researchers to an international funding agency, such as the ERC or the EU Horizon Europe program).

The contacts with local collaborators must be made by the applicants themselves, the Paris IAS will not provide lists of contacts to the applicants.

APPLICATION

Applications are submitted online via www.fias-fp.eu where you will find detailed information regarding the content of the application, eligibility criteria and selection procedure.

Application deadline: June 6, 2023 - 6:00 pm (Paris, France time)

The IEA is organizing virtual Q&A sessions between May 15^th and 17^th for Parisian researchers who wish to invite their colleagues, and for international researchers who wish to send their applications. Please register by clicking on the following links:

• For Paris-region researchers (in French): https://iea-paris.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlcOCprT8rGNxZP5Nfx_2kU8yh-KbC4NWV
• For international applicants (in English): https://iea-paris.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtceiorz0rH9Tl7n9oY2-wubtd53n_dDHp

SELECTION

The scientific selection is highly competitive, merit-based and conducted through an international independent peer review.

• June 2023: eligibility check
• July-October 2023: double peer review
• November 2023: preselection by the FIAS Selection Committee (communication of preselection results, December 2023)
• January - February 2024: selection of fellows by IAS Scientific Advisory Boards and communication of results 

This program has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 94540

For more general information on the FIAS Fellowship Programme : www.fias-fp.eu

For more detailed information on the IAS specific environment and scientific priorities: https://www.fias-fp.eu/about-us/the-institutes