Independent Scholar Fellowships

Independent Scholar Fellowships

Independent scholars from within Europe† are eligible to apply, and they will not hold an appointment – full-time or part-time, temporary or permanent – at an institution of higher education and research.

For the purposes of this competition, an ‘Independent Scholar’ is understood as someone, whether or not currently in (non-academic) employment, who is engaged in intellectual work of a nature and standard comparable to that of a professional academic scholar. Applicants will usually hold a PhD but other equivalent academic or professional qualifications may be considered. Evidence of scholarly achievement at a sufficiently high level can include publications in academic journals, edited collections and monographs, as well as pieces for professional journals and the popular media.

Independent Scholars intending to pursue or complete a piece of independent research and desiring an affiliation to an institution of higher education and research within Europe are eligible to apply. They may be in professional (non-academic) employment, including in the arts, full- or part-time, or in an unpaid occupation.

The awards are intended as providing a stipend to allow applicants full or partial support for academic research and relief from non-academic work (including domestic care) for a period of up to one year.

Normally applicants will hold a PhD. Other academic or professional qualifications may be considered, along with publications usually in peer-reviewed academic journals. Monographs, professional journals and the popular media may also be considered.

The research proposed may include, but is not confined to: initiation of a project or of research level work intended to draw on or contribute to one of the professions, completion of a project, or preparation of an article or monograph for publication, based on existing work.

The amount of an award depends on the nature of the work proposed and individual circumstances – the ISRF expects applications for grants up to a maximum of £28,750 (from July 2020). Within that sum, reasonable support for research expenses will be considered. Reasonable childcare or other domestic costs may be considered.

Tenth Independent Scholar Fellowship Competition

In January 2023, the ISRF launched its tenth Independent Scholar Fellowship competition. Having received a number of strong proposals, the Selection Panel met in September 2023, and voted to make four awards.

Dr Yasamin Alkhansa

State Histories: Schooling and Official Narrative Change in Iran since the Revolution of 1979

Hope Barker

Stemming the Flow: The Role of Rivers in EU Migration Governance and Strategies of Resistance

Dr Emma Lochery

Powering the Public: Rewiring the post-conflict city

Dr Margot Verdier

The Emerging Politics of Energy Workers. A Study of Forms of Work and Political Agency in the Green Transition

Ninth Independent Scholar Fellowship Competition

In January 2022, the ISRF launched its ninth Independent Scholar Fellowship competition. Having received a number of strong proposals, the Selection Panel met in July 2022, and voted to make five awards.

Dr Chamion Caballero
Dr Chamion Caballero

‘Communicating Mixedness’: using digital technologies to explore the dissemination of academic research into nineteenth century working-class racial mixing in Britain with a public audience

Dr Patrick McCartney
Dr Patrick McCartney

Ancient Street Performers, Espionage and “Yoga”: Across and Beyond South Asia

Dr Lucilla Salvia
Dr Lucilla Salvia

Gangmastering and gang workers agency in Italian Agricultural Commodity Chains

Dr Lucy Stroud
Dr Lucy Stroud

Re-imagining the Real Life magazine, teenage girls and melancholic communities

Dr Louis Thiemann
Dr Louis Thiemann

Artisans of the world, unite? Inter-sectoral and -national solidarity among independent workers

Eighth Independent Scholar Fellowship Competition

In January 2021, the ISRF launched its eighth Independent Scholar Fellowship competition. Having received a number of strong proposals, the Selection Panel met in July 2021, and voted to make six awards.

Dr Eleanor Davey
Dr Eleanor Davey

Historical Rights and Humanitarian Dilemmas: Caring for Children in Offshore Detention

Dr Christos Filippidis
Dr Christos Filippidis

Building (in) a New World: Constantinos Doxiadis, Urban Development and the Pacification of the “Third World”

Dr Larisa Jasarevic
Dr Larisa Jasarevic

Beekeeping in the End Times

Sanaz Raji
Sanaz Raji

The Carceral Campus: Understanding the Nexus between Marketised Higher Education, Surveillance and the Hostile Environment

Dr Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen
Dr Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen

Darkness and Disorder: Refugees, Humanitarian Agencies, and the Struggle to Provide Sustainable Energy Access in Refugee Camps

Dr Alison Wilde
Dr Alison Wilde

Media, Communications and People with Learning Disabilities and Autism – Lessons from the Pandemic

Contacting Fellows

If you would like to contact any of our Fellows to discuss their ISRF-funded work, please contact Dr Lars Cornelissen (Academic Editor) in the first instance, at lars.cornelissen@isrf.org.