The program provides up to one year of research support at the Freie Universität Berlin— one of Germany’s leading research universities. It is open to scholars in all social science and humanities disciplines, including historians working on German and European history since the mid-18th century.
Under the umbrella of our program, we offer five different fellowships to scholars from North America, Africa and China: the Berlin Program Dissertation Fellowship, the Berlin Program Postdoc Fellowship, the Max Kade Berlin Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Kerstin Leitner Berlin Dissertation Fellowship and – starting this fall – the Kerstin Leitner Berlin Postdoctoral Fellowship. For key features of our awards, check our Fellowships Overview.
The program offers a stimulating academic environment that combines excellent research opportunities at one of Germany’s most distinguished research universities with intellectual and cultural interaction. Our colloquium – which is held in German – serves as a central meeting point for all fellows to share, discuss and support each other’s work.
Essential to our mission is our close cooperation with our North American partner and co-sponsor, the German Studies Association (GSA), – the largest organization of scholars, professionals, and students who focus on the study of German-speaking Europe from all periods of history and all relevant disciplines (www.thegsa.org). Each year, our Summer Workshop and the GSA Distinguished Lecture at the Freie Universität Berlin as well as our Alumni Panel at the GSA Annual Conference in the U.S. provide a forum for scholarly exchange and seek to strengthen ties between fellows, alumni and the academic community in Berlin and beyond.
ACLS invites research proposals from scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and interpretive social sciences. In the 2024-25 competition...
Learn MoreEstablished in 1988, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is committed to expanding academic faculties and leadership in higher education...
Learn MoreALSCW Dissertation Fellowship The annual fellowship is designed to support an individual whose doctoral dissertation involves literary history and/or aesthetics...
Learn MoreThe RMA offers a number of awards for musical scholarship, as well as conference affiliation (including financial assistance), and small...
Learn MoreThe Franklin program is particularly designed to help meet the costs of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes;...
Learn MoreA wide variety of grants to master’s, pre-doctoral, postdoctoral, and senior scholars, for travel and research, principally in Eastern Europe...
Learn More