Call for Applications

Early Career Fellows Program | Cycle 12 (2025-2026)

Application open: February 14, 2025

Application deadline: May 25, 2025

The Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) is pleased to launch the twelfth cycle of its Early Career Fellows Program (ECFP).

This 12-month fellowship program aims at enabling early career researchers, up to three years out of the PhD, to pursue their research and publishing plans, become part of Arab research networks, and plan a research career in the Arab region. Mobility is highly encouraged for this type of fellowship. During the period of the fellowship, the ACSS particularly encourages applicants to plan to reside in another country in the region, and affiliate with an institution and mentor in a different country other than their country of origin or habitual residence. Applicants should provide a well-thought-out plan for institutional affiliation and mentorship and in all cases, must seek new institutional affiliation and mentors other than those they have worked with before.

This initiative complements the efforts of the ACSS in supporting and promoting the social sciences in the Arab region, particularly in terms of investing in a new generation of social science researchers.

This program is funded by grants provided to the ACSS by the Carnegie Corporation in New York.

Eligibility Criteria:

The fellowship will be awarded competitively to junior scholars who meet the criteria described below. There is a special interest in attracting Arab scholars who received their PhD from outside the Arab region to come back to the region.

Applicants are eligible if they:

• Are citizens or nationals of an Arab country: Applicants must be citizens/nationals 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. Arab scholars residing outside the region at the time of application would be eligible, but only if 1) they hold an Arab citizenship or have refugee and/or stateless status 2) are not in a tenure-track position and/or do not have access to research resources from their institutions and/or countries of residence. All fellows, including those residing outside the region at the time of their application, will be expected to spend the entire 12-month period of their fellowship in the institution they choose in one of the countries in the region.
• Are junior scholars: This program targets scholars who are 0-3 years out of a PhD program in the social sciences (obtained from within or outside the Arab region). Applicants should have obtained their PhDs at the time of application. Applicants who received their PhD before the year 2022 are not eligible for this program.
• Show high quality academic credentials and potential: Applicants are expected to submit a proposal (10-15 pages) that builds on their PhD dissertation. Proposals that are not based on or not related closely to the applicant’s PhD dissertation will not be considered eligible. The proposal should highlight the applicant’s academic credentials and outline a compelling research problem. The applicant is also expected to provide a publication plan that is realistic within the fellowship timeframe. Fellows should also write a 3-year career plan outlining their ambitions and expectations in pursuing a career. This should include details on the type of career (teaching or research), types of institutions they are planning to consider and countries.
• Provide proof of support by a proposed mentor and institution: Applicants should provide a letter at the time of application from an academic mentor based in an institution in the Arab region in which he/she expresses willingness to provide administrative and academic support and supervision to the prospective fellow during the period of his fellowship. The mentor must not be the same person who supervised the applicant’s PhD or Master’s thesis and must be working at the same institution chosen by the fellow. In addition, applicants should provide a letter from the hosting institution addressed to the Arab Council for the Social Sciences expressing the institution’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of fellowship. 

Required Documents at the Time of Application:

Applicants are required to create an account and a Profile Page on the ACSS Applications Platform, then apply to the fellowship using the online application form for the Early Career Fellows Program, and provide the following supporting documents:

• A detailed CV including publications
• A one-page cover letter
• A proof of nationality or residence in the Arab region (Copy of a valid passport or identification Card)
• A project proposal (10-15 pages): detailing the activities that the fellow intends to undertake during the fellowship period. Please note that all submitted proposals will be checked on a plagiarism detection software.
• A letter from a mentor based in the chosen academic institution in the region, who expresses his/her willingness to supervise and mentor the applicant during his/her proposed fellowship period
• A detailed CV of the proposed mentor
• Copy of the PhD degree
• An official letter from a hosting institution addressed to the Arab Council for the Social Sciences expressing the institution’s willingness to host the applicant during the time of fellowship

Disciplinary and Thematic Focus:

The Early Career Fellows Program is open to any discipline in the social sciences and humanities and allied and interdisciplinary fields. Core disciplines include anthropology, demography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, philosophy, literary studies and art history. Allied and interdisciplinary fields include architecture, geography, education, law, public health, gender studies, cultural studies, media studies, development studies and urban studies.

Selection Process

A multi-disciplinary Selection Committee composed of distinguished Arab scholars with established research and publication records and experience in regional research and teaching 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:

1. Research Proposal’s Contribution to Knowledge (Research Questions, significance, quality and originality)
2. Feasibility of Proposed Research Plan (Realistic timeframe and methods)
3. Candidate’s Competency (Academic credentials, existing publications, and potential)
4. Candidate’s Postdoctoral Plan (choice of mentor, institutional affiliation, and plans for conducting research during the pandemic)
5. Expected Outputs (Planned Publications and career plan)

By submitting the electronic application, applicants affirm that they agree, without any objections, to the evaluation and selection results as decided and announced by the Selection Committee and the Arab Council for the Social Sciences.

Results will be communicated to applicants in July 2025. Successful applicants will receive provisional Award Letters confirming their selection and, if applicable, requests for clarification and elaboration from the Selection Committee. Applicants who are unsuccessful will not be informed of the specific reasons for rejection.

Terms of the Fellowship:

The fellowships will provide 12 months of full support (living expenses plus research expenses) with a total stipend ranging between $20,000 and $36,000. The total amount depends on the respective price levels in the proposed country where the fellow will be residing during his/her fellowship as well as whether or not the fellow will have other sources of income during the fellowship period. If shortlisted, applicants will be asked to provide a budget estimating (1) the costs of living, (2) the costs of research; and (3) indicate whether or not they will have any other sources of funding and/or income during the period of the fellowship.

Applicants must indicate whether or not they will be having any other sources of funding and/or income during the period of their fellowship. Fellows cannot accept any funding from any other organization for the same items covered by the ACSS during the fellowship period. In case the second offer covers the same items as those covered by the ACSS, the fellow may then have to choose between the two offers. If the other grant covers different items, then the fellow may be allowed to hold both. The ACSS will contact the other funding agency to make sure that the terms are clear to all sides. 

Fellows are not allowed to maintain a job during the period of the fellowship. However, they are allowed to undertake short-term consultancies and are encouraged to teach part-time. Earnings generated from these activities should not exceed US$3,000 (three thousand US dollars) during the entire period of the fellowship (i.e. a maximum remuneration of US$3,000 over twelve months). Furthermore, the fellows may not teach more than one course during the 12-month period of the fellowship. Exceptions to these guidelines could be made on a case-by-case basis.

• Accepted applicants are expected to provide a well-thought financial plan before signing the contract.
• Travel funds for each fellow will also be provided for those seeking affiliation with an institution outside their home country or country of residence.
• The fellow will be expected to attend and present their research at three events (i.e. workshops, research forum and/or conference) organized by the ACSS during the term of the fellowship. Expenses of participation in such events will be covered separately by the ACSS.
• Each fellow will be requested to contribute an abstract concerning his/her project for the ACSS website.
• Each fellow will be requested to write one working paper in Arabic to appear as a pre-publication in the ACSS Working Paper Series. The working paper must be submitted to the ACSS  with the final/third report. (Please see the guidelines for the Working Paper Series here.)

Timeline:

• February 14, 2025: Application forms are available online.
• May 25, 2025: Deadline for submissions.
• July 2025: Decisions are communicated to applicants.
• August 2025: Accepted applicants sign their contracts.
• September 2025: Fellowships are expected to begin. Later starting dates can be considered on a case-by-case basis. However, the latest starting date can be January 2026.
• Spring 2026: Attend and present at the Sixth Research Forum; attend a capacity building workshop organized by the ACSS.
• Spring 2027: Attend and present at the Eight ACSS Conference which will be held in Lebanon.

Applicants are advised to consult the Frequently Asked Questions and the Early Career Fellows Program Checklist prior to submitting their application.

Questions related to the program should be directed to the Grants and Fellowships Unit at the ACSS: grants@theacss.org. 

For questions regarding the online application process and technical issues, please contact the ACSS IT Officer, Wassim Alam, on the following email address: alam@theacss.org