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Virtual Visiting Research Fellowships for Africa-based Academics

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Virtual Visiting Research Fellowships for Africa-based Academics
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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 2025-26.

Please review the full call for applications and application form, or email LAHRI@leeds.ac.uk to request a copy.

All application materials must be sent to LAHRI@leeds.ac.uk by the deadline of 12 noon (UK time) on 20 May 2025.

The Virtual Visiting Research Fellowships are short-term fellowships for academics based at institutions on the African continent, who through these positions have an opportunity to undertake a well-defined piece of research with a view to establishing research partnerships with academics at the University of Leeds.

The Visiting Fellowship will last 10 months from 1 August 2025 - 31 May 2026.

Each Visiting Fellowship comes with an award of £1,000 to be used by the applicant to pursue their planned research.

The ‘well-defined piece of research’ that the researcher will work on during the Visiting Fellowship will have a tangible output, in the form of a publication (jointly authored with, or otherwise with active input from, a University of Leeds academic) and/or a grant application (jointly prepared with a University of Leeds academic and supported by LAHRI).

We invite proposals that focus on the theme of "Africa's Entanglements in a Global World', and that examine the continent’s role as an active participant in shaping global dynamics rather than a passive recipient of external influences.

We invite proposals that engage with, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Historical entanglements: Africa’s role in transcontinental trade, colonial networks, and postcolonial globalisation.
  • Political and economic interdependencies: Africa’s engagement with global institutions, trade policies, migration, and development finance.
  • Cultural and technological exchanges: The impact of digital globalisation, media, arts, and popular culture on African societies.
  • Diaspora and transnationalism: African migration, diaspora communities, and global African identities.
  • Environmental and ecological connections: Africa’s position in global climate change debates, resource governance, and sustainability practices.
  • Knowledge production and global epistemologies: Africa’s role in global knowledge economies, indigenous knowledge systems, and decolonial intellectual movements.

Find out more about our most recent group of Fellows, whose work focused on the theme of 'African Ecologies' on our Visiting Fellows page.