Applications are now open for the Digital Humanism Fellowship 2025-2026 at IWM.
The Digital Humanism Fellowship is a prestigious program offered by the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna. The fellowship aims to bring eminent scholars from a wide range of academic fields to the Institute to pursue cutting-edge research on all aspects of the networked society. Each semester, a senior visiting fellow spends a one-month fellowship at the IWM, while two junior visiting fellows come to the Institute each semester to carry out their own research projects. Junior visiting fellows are expected to focus on digitalization's intersection with societal, economic, and geopolitical dimensions, as well as other relevant research foci from the humanities and social sciences.
Fellowship Summary
• Host Institution: Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) (Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen), Vienna, Austria.
• Duration: Three months (Autumn 2025).
• Study Fields: Digitalization, societal, economic, and geopolitical dimensions, humanities, and social sciences.
• Funding: EUR 3,300/month for postdoctoral candidates; EUR 2,750 per month for doctoral candidates.
• Eligibility: Postdoctoral candidates (PhD defended by application deadline) or doctoral candidates (PhD obtained not longer than four years ago)
• Application Deadline: January 21, 2025
• Benefits: Stipend, office space with Internet access, in-house research and administrative facilities, in-house lunch, and other services free of charge.
Research Works
Candidates for junior visiting fellowships are expected to pursue research on digitalization’s intersection with societal, economic, and geopolitical dimensions, as well as other relevant research foci from the humanities and social sciences.
The fellows will typically work under the newly established Digital Humanism Program.
The recently established program on Digital Humanism aims to describe, analyze, and influence the complex interplay of technology and humankind, envisaging a better society and life in the digitized era. It is run by the Institute in cooperation with Hannes Werthner, one of the leading experts in the field and initiator of the Vienna Manifesto on Digital Humanism
Senior and Junior Visiting Fellows are invited to the Institute to explore the urgent intellectual challenges at the complex interplay of humans and machines. During their stay at the Institute, the fellows work on crucial topics in the field, pursue interdisciplinary research, and organize lectures and discussions reaching out to the public audience in Vienna and beyond.
The visiting fellows will join the scholarly community and participate in the activities of the Institute.
Program Duration and Eligibility
Junior visiting fellows will be invited to spend a period of three consecutive months at the Institute in autumn 2025. Generally, fellowships start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.
Eligibility
Senior visiting fellowships are awarded by invitation only.
Applicants to the junior visiting fellowship must currently pursue their doctoral degree or have obtained a PhD not longer than four years ago at the time of application.
Application Procedure
Applications must be submitted through the IWM's online application form.
🧾 Application materials consist of the following:
a brief letter of motivation that addresses how the project would benefit from time at the IWM, the connection to the IWM’s mission and research, and concrete research/writing goals during the fellowship
a project description (max. 550 characters)
a project proposal (max. 7,500 characters incl. spaces) containing a) a description of the project’s objectives, b) a discussion of the current state of the art, c) methods, and d) a work plan
a curriculum vitae including a list of publications
two letters of recommendation from scholars familiar with the applicant’s academic work (Please note that the letters of recommendation need to be submitted directly by your referees within the application period. Your referees will receive an automatic email with a link to a webform after you have submitted your application.)
🗓️ Application Deadline: 21 January 2025.
ℹ️ To read further information about this fellowship, click button below.
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