Research Opportunities at Ghent University: Fellowships in Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies

Call for Applications
Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Funded By: Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO)
Venue: Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Application Deadline: December 01, 2024

Overview
The Arabic, Islamic and Middle East Studies program and Ghent University support applications in a wide-range of fellowships to pursue research at doctoral and postdoctoral levels. We are especially keen to support early career researchers pursuing doctoral and postdoctoral research through the following funding schemes:

1. FWO PhD Fellowships

The Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies program supports exceptional candidates to apply for PhD fellowships funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) to pursue doctoral studies. The current research strengths of the program are focused on the following areas:

• The history of the Middle East, especially of Egypt, historical Syria, and the Ottoman Empire, with an emphasis on issues concerning state formation, knowledge practices, historical consciousness, interdisciplinarity, sovereignty, religiosity and language and text structures.
• The anthropology of the Middle East, with an emphasis on issues concerning love, sexuality, materiality, identity, gender and modernity.
• The analysis and preservation of source materials relevant to the study of the languages, cultures, and societies of the Middle East with an emphasis on epigraphy, historiography, and documents in various languages

If you are interested in pursuing an FWO PhD fellowship, please contact one of the professors in the program to ask if they are willing to act as supervisor. You need to check carefully the detailed guidance of the FWO fellowship scheme to ensure you are eligible for this fellowship.

How to Submit an Expression of Interest:
The Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies invites expressions of interest from candidates wishing to apply for an FWO PhD fellowship to come to Ghent. Please include in your expression of interest the following materials:

• A project description (maximum 2 pages) addressing the project aims, objectives, research questions, methodology and outcomes. It should include the name of the agreed supervisor. You should bear in mind when writing your expression of interest that it will be reviewed by staff, some of whom will be outside of your specialism.
• A transcript of your MA coursework
• A CV (maximum 2 pages).

Please send these materials by 1 December 2024 to middleeast@ugent.be. If selected, you will be provided with support to develop your application for the fellowship scheme deadline in March 2025 (call opens December 2024).

2. FWO Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) funds postdoctoral fellowships at junior and senior levels for exceptional researchers to pursue independent research projects for three years. If you are interested in pursuing one of these fellowships, please contact the professor in the program whose research interests most closely align with the project you would like to pursue.

3. European Research Funding

The Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies program has hosted four ERC research projects, and Ghent University has hosted more than 100 ERC research projects. The Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies program supports the development of proposals for ERC Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, and Synergy grants, as well as Marie Skłodowska Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships. If you are interested in bringing your project to their program at Ghent University, please contact one of the professors in the program.

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