The International Institute of Social History (IISH) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) is located in Amsterdam. Founded in 1935, it is one of the world`s largest documentary and research institutions in the field of social history in general and the history of the labour movement in particular. IISH holds over 3,000 archival collections, some one million printed volumes and about as many audio-visual items. Gathered from across the globe, the IISH collections provide a unique body of materials on social conditions and social movements in many parts of the world.

Facilitating the use of these materials for research by the global scholarly community is central to the mission of the IISH. Whereas scholars from Western Europe and North America regularly find their way to Amsterdam, the institute`s collections are less widely known among social historians from other parts of the world, in particular from developing countries. With the generous help of the retail financial service provider SNS Reaal, IISH can now launch a fellowship programme for researchers located in these regions who wish to use its collections for the study of social history, preferably labour history, whether from a regional, national, or comparative and transnational perspective.

Period:
Fellowships are awarded for five months. Each year there are two rounds. This is a call for applications for fellowships for the periods 1 February – 30 June 2011 and 1 September 2011 – 31 January 2012. The call for applications for both of these rounds is open until 1 October 2010. Candidates should clearly indicate on their applications which of these two rounds they are applying for. After award the fellowships cannot be transferred to a period of stay different from the one indicated in the original application. A call for fellowships to start in 2012 will follow in due course.

Regions:
For the current two rounds we invite applications from the following regions: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Uni0n. For scholars from Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus fellowships are awarded in honour of the renowned Iranian sociologist Dr Gholam-Hossein Sadighi. In future rounds we expect to expand the regional coverage to include Africa and Latin America as well.

Minimum requirements:
a Ph.D. degree or equivalent academic track record. The fellow`s research plan should fit the Institute`s focus on social history. A close link with the Institute`s research programme on `Global Labour History` is strongly recommended. Fellows are expected to write a report on their research activities at the end of the fellowship period, to take part in the activities of the Institute`s Research Department, and to give at least one public lecture.

Applications should be submitted no later than 1 October 2010, using the application form which can be downloaded here, to be returned after completion to: fellowships@iisg.nl.

- download the Application Form (word document)
- download the Application Form (rtf file).

Fellows receive a monthly stipend of €1,500. The fellowship also includes an economy return flight to the Netherlands, visa support, as well as arrangements for accommodation and health insurance in Amsterdam.

Selection of applications will take place according the following main criteria:

1. the applicant`s qualifications
2. quality and novelty of the proposed research project, as well as its affinity to social and labour history research conducted at the International Institute of Social History
3. relevance of the IISH archival, library and documentary collections to the proposed research project
4. applicant`s abilities to interact with other fellows and the IISH`s research staff in the English language.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection procedure no later than 15 October 2010.

For general information on the International Institute of Social History, please refer to the IISH website, in particular the sections on the IISH collections, the institute`s research projects and its Global Labour History research programme. For specific information regarding the fellowship programme send your inquiries to: fellowships@iisg.nl

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