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

Call for Applications
Ghent University, Belgium
Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Application Deadline: December 1, 2024

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.Early career researchers pursuing doctoral and postdoctoral research are especially supported 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

Interested individuals pursuing an FWO PhD fellowship should contact one of the professors in the program to inquire about their willingness to act as a supervisor. It is essential to review the detailed guidance of the FWO fellowship scheme carefully to confirm eligibility for the fellowship.

The expression of interest should include the following materials:

• A project description (maximum 2 pages) addressing the project aims, objectives, research questions, methodology, and outcomes. The name of the agreed supervisor must be included. When preparing the expression of interest, it should be noted that it will be reviewed by staff, some of whom may be outside the applicant’s specialism.
• A transcript of MA coursework.
• A CV (maximum 2 pages)

These materials should be sent by 1 December 2024 to middleeast@ugent.be.

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. Interested individuals pursuing one of these fellowships should contact the professor in the program whose research interests most closely align with the proposed project.

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. Interested individuals seeking to bring their project to the program at Ghent University should contact one of the professors in the program.

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