Call for applications - 2025

ACSS-FMSH Short-Term Postdoctoral Mobility Fellowship Program in the Social Sciences and Humanities

Application material available online: September 16, 2024

Deadline:  December 09, 2024

The Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) and the Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) are pleased to announce the eighth call for applications for their joint program titled “Short-Term Postdoctoral Mobility Fellowship Program in the Social Sciences and Humanities.” This program aims to:

·Support postdoctoral fellows from Arab countries and enable them to conduct research or research-related activities in France.

·Strengthen research networking and collaborations between Europe and the Arab region.  

Short-term fellowships (2-3 months) will be available to individual researchers who 1) are citizens and nationals of the Arab region, 2) have received their PhD degree within 0-6 years, and 3) and wish to conduct research in France (including field research, networking, library and archival work, as well as other types of data collection.)

Fellowship Details

Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of EUR 1,800 (paid at the beginning of each month of stay in France). The stipend is intended to cover accommodation, living and transportation costs, as well as research costs. The ACSS and FMSH will also cover the cost of one roundtrip ticket for each successful applicant from their country of residence to France and back. 

FMSH will also provide support for obtaining a visa to France and guide potential fellows to plan the logistics of their stay. This includes help with finding accommodation, contact with French research centers, and letters to libraries and archives.

Fellows have the choice between two fellowship periods: Between April 2025 and June 2025, or between September 2025 and November 2025. Fellows can also choose between staying a minimum of two months or a maximum of three months in France.

Eligibility Criteria

Nationality/Residence: Applicants must be citizens of an Arab country (defined as a member of the League of Arab States) or refugees and/or stateless individuals from Arab countries, who are currently residing in the Arab region. This program does not fund scholars who reside and/or work outside the Arab region. Priority will be given to scholars who are marginalized, at risk, or dispossessed.

Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Education: This program targets scholars who are 0-6years out of a PhD program in the social sciencesor humanities. Applicants should have obtained their PhDs at the time of application.In case the PhD was obtained from a university outside the Arab region, the applicant should have been a resident in the Arab region for at least two years prior to the time of application. The program does not have any age restrictions.

Discipline: This program is open to PhD holders in the social sciences or humanities fields. This includes disciplines such as anthropology, demography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, geography, law, and philosophy. Interdisciplinary fields are also accepted and include gender studies, cultural studies, media studies, development studies, and urban studies. Due to French funding restrictions, the program is not open to linguistics, archaeology, literary studies, and arts.

Position and Employment: Applicants can be affiliated with a public or private research institution in the Arab region, but they do not necessarily need to have a permanent position. However, applicants should be engaged in research in addition to teaching. The proposed project could be either ongoing or new. 

French Host Institution: Before submitting their application, applicants must have secured a French research institution willing to host them during the time of their fellowship. Applicants must submit a letter from the hosting institution addressed to the FMSH and the ACSS expressing the institution’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of the fellowship and confirming readiness and capacity to provide academic support and supervision to the prospective fellow during the period of his/her fellowship. Applicants who are not able to establish contact with a French institution can visit ScanR, where all French research centers are listed, or contact FMSH to ask for assistance at the following email: atlas@msh-paris.fr.

Requirements of the Fellowship

• During the fellowship period in France, fellows are required to attend professional development events/activities organized by the FMSH.
• One month after completing the fellowship period, fellows will submit a short narrative report detailing the work done and progress made during the fellowship period.In addition, each fellow will be requested to contribute an abstract concerning their project tothe FMSH and ACSS websites.
• Fellows must submit aworking paper to the ACSS Working Paper Series. (Please see the guidelines for the Working Paper Series on this page.)
• Fellows will be invited to present their research project at the ACSS Research Forum that is organized in an Arab country every two years. Participation costs will be covered by the ACSS, and dates of the event will be communicated well in advance to fellows.

Application Process

Applicants must submit an online application(including research proposal and appendices) through the FMSH website, AND fill out a profile page on the ACSS website. Applications for this round will be open as of September 16, 2024. Completed proposals can be uploaded to the application portal at any time before the application deadline onDecember 09, 2024 at 17:00 (Paris time).

Application materials (proposal and attachments) can only be submitted in French or English and they should be written in only one of these languages; mixing different languages in the same proposal will disqualify the application. Only fully developed proposals will be examined by the Selection Committee. Final proposals should include all information and details necessary for the Selection Committee to understand the research ideas and plans. The final proposal should not exceed 5-8 pages (typed, 1.5-spaced pages, 12-point font).

Guidelines for Writing the Proposal

I. The body of the proposal should include the following components with a minimum length of 5 pages and a maximum length of 8 pages (spaces and references included):

• Aims of the research project, specific research questions, review of the literature, type of data to be collected, methodology, and anticipated results.
• A detailed plan of the activities to be conducted during the fellowship period, including places and institutions to be visited, contacts, type of data collection, and work plan (the detailed plan should be well thought out and must be commensurate with the fellowship period in France).
• A clear explanation of the reasons for choosing a particular host institution in France.  The selection committee needs to be convinced that the choice is based on good research and a profound understanding of how this particular institution would assist the applicant and enrich his/her project.

*If the application does not meet the above criteria, it will not be presented to the Selection Committee.

II. A bibliography of relevant sources of the research project.

Note: In case of questions concerning the content of the proposal, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If additional clarification is needed, please contact the FMSH at atlas@msh-paris.fr and the ACSS Grants and Fellowships Unit at grants@theacss.org. 

Required Appendices

• Curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum)
• Copy of the PhD diploma
• Proof of citizenship or long-term residence in an Arab country
• An official letter from the hosting research center in France addressed to the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme expressing the center’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of fellowship and to provide academic mentoring. You can use the ACSS-FMSH program letter addressed to institutions to help you obtain the required official letter from the hosting research center in France.
• Reference letter from the head of the institution in the region to which the applicant is affiliated explaining the research activities the applicant has been engaged in during his/her tenure at the institution.

Application Steps

Step 1: Apply on the FMSH Website:

1. Access the online application form and enter «Researcher Workspace».
2. You have to be registered on the online platform in order to use it. If you haven’t created an account yet, you will be asked to.
3. Create your profile by filling in all your personal information and then enter “create a new application”.
4. Select “Atlas Programme incoming 2025” and then the specific call « FMSH-ACSS: Arab countries > France».
5. Fill in all the information tabs.
6. In the “Documents” final tab, you will need to upload your research proposal and the appendices into one single PDF document:

• Research proposal
• Curriculum vitae
• Copy of your PhD diploma
• Proof of citizenship or long-term residence in an Arab country
• Letter from the director of the host laboratory/center of research in France
• Reference letter from the head of your current institution.

7. You can save your application and complete it later as many times as you wish, until the closure of the call for applications. Once you have submitted your application, you will no longer be able to amend it. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an automatic email confirming the submission.

For any information on the application platform or in case you face difficulties using it, please contact fadili@msh-paris.fr.

Step 2: Fill out a profile page on the ACSS website:

1. Go to the profile platform
2. Register to create your profile. If you haven’t created an account yet, you will be asked to.
3. Create your profile by providing the requested information. All fields should be completed in the profile.

Draft applications not submitted, incomplete applications or ineligible applications will not be considered. Fellows who already benefited from this program may apply again three years after their fellowship completion date.

Note: Since this is a joint program, all applicants are required to fill in a profile with the ACSS. This can be done after completing the FMSH application. All applications will be cross checked. Applicants who have not completed both steps will not be considered.

Selection Process

A multi-disciplinary Selection Committee composed of distinguished Arab and French scholars with established research and publication records will review and select proposals for funding. The selection procedures abide by the highest standards of academic and ethical judgment. Final decisions are based on the following evaluation criteria:

• Research proposal’s contribution to knowledge, including clarity of research questions and significance, quality and originality or project.
• Competence of the applicant, including academic credentials and potential.
• Candidate’s fellowship plans, including the relevance and significance of the selected host institution and the fellowship plan outlined in the proposal.
• Expected outputs, which include planned activities, publications and career development plans.

Timeline:

September 16, 2024: Application materials are available online.

September 16- December 09, 2024: Prospective applicants may approach FMSH or the ACSS with questions about any aspect of the competition. Please read the Frequently Asked Questions before contacting the ACSS or FMSH. You may find the answers to your questions there. If you have questions about the details of the proposal, please email the ACSS at grants@theacss.org.If you have questions about filling out the online application, please email FMSH at fadili@msh-paris.fr.

December 09, 2024: Final and complete proposals are due before 17:00 pm (Paris Time). Only candidates whose proposals are complete and ready for examination by the Selection Committee will be contacted by the Secretariat. Incomplete proposals will not be considered for funding.

Beginning of February 2025: Decisions will be communicated to applicants via email.

April 2025 to June 2025: First cohort of fellows may conduct their fellowship.

September 2025 to November 2025: Second cohort of fellows may conduct their fellowship.

Spring 2026: Presenting a paper at the ACSS Sixth Research Forum.

For more information, contact:

Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH):Bénédicte Rastier, Pôle recherche et international  (atlas@msh-paris.fr)

Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS): Rebecca Daher, ACSS Grants and Fellowships Unit (grants@theacss.org)