LUCAS-LAHRI Virtual Visiting Fellowships

The Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS), in collaboration with the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute (LAHRI), is pleased to announce up to six short-term virtual visiting research fellowships for 2023.

The deadline for applications is 9am (GMT) on Friday 17 February 2023.  

The Virtual Visiting Research Fellowships are short-term ( six month) fellowships for academics based at institutions on the African continent, who through these positions will be given an opportunity to undertake a well-defined piece of research with a view to establishing research partnerships with academics at the University of Leeds. Each fellowship comes with an award of £1,000, to be used by the applicant for research expenses and/or buy-out from teaching duties at their institution.

We invite proposals of research projects that focus on the theme of “African ecologies” and that are driven by an intellectual and political commitment to ecological and epistemic justice. 

Efforts to better understand and mitigate ecological change are disproportionately rooted in theoretical frameworks which originated in the global north. This is despite the fact that such changes demand the formation of durable, long-term collaborations that are multi-disciplinary and global in nature. While the sciences can help us to understand the dramatic changes that are underway to our climate, it is only through the arts, humanities and qualitative social sciences that we can hope to understand and address these through the crucial lenses of justice, equity and restitution that come with the damage and change to our environment. Present and future ecological changes will not impact all of us equally. Extreme weather, rising sea levels, drought, food insecurity and myriad other problems will disproportionately affect traditionally underserved and marginalised communities. 

The ‘well-defined piece of research’ that the Fellow will work on during the fellowship will have a tangible output, in the form of a publication (jointly authored with, or otherwise with active input from, a Leeds academic) AND/OR a grant application (jointly prepared with a Leeds academic and supported by LAHRI). We especially welcome applications from researchers whose work involves close collaboration with organisations or groups in the creative or cultural sectors, and from researchers who are interested in accessing materials held in Special Collections at the University of Leeds.

During their tenure, the Fellows will be associated with the University of Leeds, administratively hosted by LAHRI, while intellectually embedded in the research community of LUCAS. They will have access to online library resources and participate in research activities of LUCAS and other units relevant to their research interests. Each Fellow will also deliver an open presentation, for example as a virtual student-facing lecture or a research seminar, based on the topic of their research.

Eligibility Criteria 

Candidates who have completed their PhD by the application deadline at any university are eligible, as long as they are currently based at an academic institution on the African continent. Proposals from arts, humanities, humanistic social sciences and adjacent disciplines are welcome as long as they broadly and critically engage with the theme of “African ecologies”. Applicants will have to confirm that a University of Leeds academic member of staff has agreed to support their application.

CLICK HERE FOR EXTENDED SCHEME GUIDANCE AND APPLICATION FORM