Academy in Exile (AiE) Fellowships 2026 in Germany
- Omran Aburayya
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
If you are a scholar whose voice and research have been threatened by political, social, or institutional pressures, the Academy in Exile Fellowships 2026 offer you a chance to rebuild, continue, and flourish. With a 12-month residential placement in Germany at TU Dortmund or the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) Essen, AiE aims to protect and empower scholars at risk, enabling them to carry forward rigorous scholarship in a safe, collaborative, and internationally supported environment. The application deadline is November 15, 2025. Here's everything you need to know.
🎓Fellowship Summary
Host Institutions: TU Dortmund, Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) Essen
Fellowship Type: Residential Fellowship (12 months)
Stipend / Support: €2,500 monthly stipend + health insurance (up to about €500/month)
Duration: Twelve months (with possible start as early as March 2026)
Deadline: November 15, 2025
Eligible Fields / Focus: Humanities, social sciences, law, work around democracy, human rights, academic freedom, civic engagement
📚 Fellowship Overview
The Academy in Exile Fellowship is designed not only as a financial safety net but a scholarly home. Over the 12 months, fellows:
Conduct independent research in their chosen projects, with mentoring and institutional support.
Participate in the AiE academic community, seminars, workshops, collaborative events, and public discourse activities.
Help shape AiE’s research agenda by contributing their perspectives, themes, and topics to the broader cohort’s intellectual life.
Leverage institutional facilities and networks at TU Dortmund and KWI (libraries, labs, networks).
Engage in public outreach, publication, and dissemination, to amplify voices around academic freedom, exile, and critical scholarship.
Since its founding in 2017, AiE has supported scholars through residential arrangements, emergency stipends, guest professorships, and various other programs — totaling over 80 hosting arrangements to date.
🎁 Fellowship Benefits
Fellows selected for AiE 2026 will receive:
Monthly stipend of €2,500 to cover living costs.
Health insurance coverage (up to approximately €500/month)
Access to institutional infrastructure, research facilities, mentoring, and scholarly networks via TU Dortmund or KWI.
Membership in an international cohort of scholars at risk — a community of mutual support, interdisciplinary exchange, and intellectual solidarity.
Opportunities to publish, present, and participate in AiE and partner events, influencing broader conversations around exile, freedom of expression, and academic rights.
✅ Eligibility Criteria
To qualify for the Academy in Exile Fellowships 2026, applicants must satisfy the following:
Hold a PhD degree in humanities, social sciences, or law.
Be scholars at risk — those whose academic work or civic engagement places them in danger, under threat, or censored in their home countries or contexts.
Be currently in their home country or in exile for no more than two years.
Ineligibility conditions:
Individuals holding dual citizenship or permanent residence in a “safe” or developed country (or their partner) are not eligible.
Applicants already assured of safe academic placement elsewhere may be deemed ineligible (the program prioritizes urgent cases). (Implicit in mission; applicants at severe risk are prioritized.)
The program is intended for 12-month residential attachments; short-term or remote applications may not align with its model.
Because AiE selects only 5 residential fellowships in Germany under this call, competition is high.
📝 Application Procedure
Below is a roadmap and required checklist for your application:
Application Steps
Download the Call & Application Form
Prepare your full application as a single PDF file, named using the format: surname_firstname_fellowships2026.
Include all required documents (see list below).
Submit to the designated email address (e.g. applications.aie.kwi@tu-dortmund.de) by November 15, 2025 (local German time).
Notify confidentially as requested; encrypted or secure transmission may be used upon request.
Selection & Review: Applications are assessed by AiE’s academic board. Successful candidates are informed accordingly.
🗂️ Documents Required
Your application PDF should include:
Completed and signed application form (as per AiE’s official format)
Motivation letter / personal statement — describing your risk context or exile situation, reasons for applying, preferred host institution (TU Dortmund or KWI)
Research proposal (approx. three pages) outlining the topic, methodology, relevance, and timeline
Curriculum vitae (CV) including list of publications (articles, chapters, monographs)
PhD degree certificate (copy)
At least one published article or book chapter (as evidence of scholarly productivity)
Signed data processing / consent form (usually provided by AiE)
👌🏻 Tips & Best Practices for a Strong Application
Narrative of risk matters: While your academic credentials are crucial, clearly articulating your threat context—political, institutional, censorship, personal danger—can differentiate you.
Align your research with AiE’s mission: Proposals tied to academic freedom, exile, memory, human rights, democracy, cultural critique, or resisting intellectual suppression fit well with AiE’s themes.
Select host preference smartly: Review the research environment, faculty, and institutional focus at both TU Dortmund and KWI to decide which suits your work better (state this clearly in your application).
Polish your writing and presentation: Since you’re submitting a compact package, clarity, coherence, and precision are essential.
Secure strong scholarly endorsements: Choose referees who understand your work, risk situation, and potential — their letters should speak both to your academic merits and the urgency of your context.
Submit early: Don’t wait until the last minute; last-minute submissions may run into technical, time zone, or email delays.
Maintain confidentiality protocols: If you’re applying from a context where your safety could be compromised, use secure communication and anonymize where needed, following AiE’s guidelines.
Show engagement and community potential: AiE values not only solo research, but also how fellows contribute to collective intellectual life — mention seminars, collaboration, outreach ideas.
✨ Why You Should Apply
The Academy in Exile Fellowship 2026 is more than a grant — it’s a lifeline for resilient scholarship under duress. This program allows you to:
Reclaim intellectual space and continue your work free from censorship or immediate threat
Connect with peers in exile and established scholars in Germany
Preserve your academic trajectory rather than losing momentum
Amplify your voice in global conversations around democracy, justice, and knowledge under adversity
Strengthen academic freedom networks and contribute to structural change
In a time when many academics face silencing or displacement, AiE stands as a beacon of support. If you fit the criteria and have a compelling research agenda, applying to AiE 2026 could be one of the most transformative steps you take.
