Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA)

Fellowship Categories

There are a number of different categories of fellowship affiliation with the Institute:

The Institute encourages prospective applicants for visiting and postdoctoral fellowships to seek funding from external sources, such as:

Please check your eligibility for the above scheme/s before approaching the Institute to request affiliation.

Associate Fellowships
Associate Fellows are academics and researchers based in London who work on an area of relevance to the Institute. Fellows participate actively in the Institutes seminar programme by convening and proposing events, assessing publication proposals, and teaching on the Institutes postgraduate programmes. Associate Fellow meetings are held three times a year once each for Latin Americanists (November) and United States specialists (March) and once as a whole, including Canadianists and Caribbeanists, in June. Associate Fellowships are by invitation only, as determined by the Director, and are offered on an annual basis. See the list of current Associate Fellows.

Visiting Research Fellowships
Visiting Research Fellows are visitors to the Institute who spend a significant period of time at the Institute (usually between four weeks and six months) undertaking their own research. Visiting Research Fellows are provided with shared office space with access to computing and printing facilities and a library card. In some cases Visiting Research Fellows are required to pay a bench fee, which is currently £2,600 per annum (calculated on a pro rata basis according to the length of visit).

Visiting Research Fellows are expected to make a contribution to the Institute's programme of events during their stay. Fellows are usually postdoctoral senior researchers, though applications from non-academic researchers in a relevant field will be considered. Doctoral students are not eligible to apply for Visiting Research Fellowships (see Visiting Doctoral Fellowships below).

Applications should consist of a completed application form, a letter describing the proposed duration and timing of stay, as well as a detailed research proposal and curriculum vitae of no more than two pages each (excluding bibliography). A research proposal should include a bibliography and an indication of where the proposed research fits with the literature, as well as what is new about the work. Applicants should also indicate why it is important for them to be based in London for their research.

Applications can be made at any time and will be considered by the Institute's Academic Staff Committee, which meets in September, November, January, March and June. See the current list of Visiting Research Fellows.

Visiting Fellows are asked to submit a report following their stay (the report template is available here), and to acknowledge the Institute in any publications or other outputs that arise from their stay.

Named Fellowships
The School of Advanced Study offers two Visiting Professorial Fellowships (the S T Lee Professorial Fellowship and the School of Advanced Study Fellowship) for distinguished senior scholars to spend up to six months in one of the Institutes associated with the School. The Fellowships provide funding for travel, accommodation and research up to a maximum of c. 16,000. Applications can be made to the School in January each year (usually around mid-January - check the School website for current details). Further particulars and application forms may be obtained from deans.office@sas.ac.uk.

The Robin Humphreys Fellow is a distinguished associate of the Institute, usually with a diplomatic background in a country or countries of Latin America. Appointments are by invitation only and are for one to two years. The current Robin Humphreys Fellow is Dr John Hughes.

Honorary Research Fellowships
Honorary Research Fellows are senior or retired scholars with a strong association with the Institute, usually as a former director of either the Institute of Latin American Studies or the Institute of United States Studies. Appointments are by invitation only and are ongoing. See the list of honorary fellows.

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Postdoctoral Research Fellows are employed as staff members of the Institute to undertake research work in an area related to the interests of the Institute. Research Fellows participate fully in the academic life of the Institute by attending and presenting seminars, coordinating seminar series or conferences, attending committee meetings, and undertaking some teaching on existing courses in association with Institute teachers. Research Fellows are appointed after a call for applications. There are currently no Postdoctoral Research Fellowships on offer by the Institute.

Visiting Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships
Visiting Doctoral Fellows are advanced doctoral candidates of outstanding quality working on the Americas in the disciplines of history, politics/international relations, sociology or economics. Visiting Postdoctoral Fellows are those who have recently completed a doctorate in the above areas. Fellows may attach themselves to the Institute for a period of between one and four months. Applications may be made to the Institute at any time for consideration by the Academic Staff Committee, which meets in September, November, January, March and June. See the guidelines for applying for Visiting Doctoral Fellowships for further details, as well as details of former fellows.

Fulbright University of London American Studies Fellowship
The US-UK Fulbright Commission offers one Fellowship per annum for a US academic to lecture and conduct research for a minimum of three months at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London. Those interested in applying should contact Professor Iwan Morgan on iwan.morgan@sas.ac.uk to discuss proposed activities. The application deadline is 1 August each year, 15 months prior to the academic year in which the fellowship is proposed.

More details are available on the Fulbright Commission website. Applications must be made through the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES).


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