IASH-HCA Postdoctoral Fellowship

IASH hosts a lively scholarly community of visiting fellows. It is a supportive environment for postdoctoral researchers, while also offering networking opportunities with successful mid-career and eminent senior scholars. The Institute occupies a historic building with private courtyard and leafy views – perfect for uninterrupted thinking, reading and writing. Yet there is also plenty of opportunity to socialise and share ideas.

In short, a 2025-2026 IASH Postdoctoral Fellowship provides:

• Research visit at the University of Edinburgh for three to ten months
• Bursary* of up to £2,000 per month
• Dedicated office space, University e-mail and library access
• An allocated University mentor from the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.
• Weekly Fellows’ Lunch to build community
• Collegial work-in-progress seminar series for testing new ideas
• Calendar of engaging events at the Institute and College
• Opportunities to participate in and design funded workshops, colloquia, etc at the Institute

*) The bursary may be used to top up an existing postdoctoral Fellowship (e.g. British Academy), or as a contribution towards living expenses. Applicants are asked to indicate other sources of support for which they have applied and the expected date of outcome. No teaching is required, but successful applicants may be able to supplement the bursary by individually arranging their own concurrent teaching, though the Institute expects that a maximum commitment of 0.4 of a full time position will be dedicated to work other than the Postdoctoral Fellow’s individual research project.

The School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh is one of the great world centres for the study of the human past.

The School comprises the three subject areas of History, Classics and Archaeology, together with the Centre for the Study of Modern and Contemporary History, the Edinburgh Centre for Global History  and the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Information about the history of our subject areas, and about our specialist research centres, may be found under 'Related links' below, together with screencast about the history of the University as a whole.

The School's research quality was shown by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 where our subjects were in the top five in the UK for breadth and quality of research (THE Research Power rank). You can find out more about the School's REF results, and some of the research projects included in the School's submission, and an overview of the University REF results at the links below.

IASH provides an enviable location in one of the world’s most intellectually inspiring cities, together with a dynamic network of international connections.

Home to the Scottish Enlightenment, Edinburgh has a rich cultural heritage of scholarship and creativity that continues to the present day. In this haven of libraries and archives, galleries and music venues – all set amid iconic architecture – IASH takes the humanities beyond campus to engage the public and work with organisations in a variety of different sectors.

The Institute welcomes visiting researchers from across the world. Since 1970, over 1,500 Fellows have stepped through our doors. Up to 30 researchers are in residence at any one time in our amazing – and eclectic – nineteenth-century building just on the edge of the University’s central campus, boasting views of the Meadows.

From upwards of 65 countries, IASH Fellows form a global alumni community, and many career-long connections begin at the Institute.

We warmly welcome applications from both within and beyond the University of Edinburgh. Applicants must have been awarded a doctorate at the time of application, and normally within the last three years (i.e. you should have graduated between 2022 and 2025, although earlier graduates may be eligible if they have taken significant career breaks since completing their doctorate; if you have not yet graduated, you must be able to produce a transcript, testamur, or a letter of completion/eligibility to graduate as part of your application; you do not need to have actually graduated at the time you apply). You should not have held a permanent position at a university, or a previous Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Those who have held temporary and/or short-term appointments are eligible to apply. If you have taken parental leave or other time away from academia, this will not count towards the three-year limit, but we ask that you provide brief details of why and for how long you were not working.

The online portal will open in January 2025.

The closing date for the receipt of the next round of applications (for visits from August 2025 to July 2026) is 17:00 GMT on 25 April 2025. Applications received after that date will not be considered.

Successful candidates will be notified by email with a formal letter of confirmation to follow; please ensure that you supply a valid email address so that you can be contacted quickly after decisions are made.

• A minimum of two and a maximum of three supporting statements are required.
• One of the supporting statements must be from the member of HCA staff with whom the applicant wishes to collaborate.
• Applicants should ask their referees to write in confidence directly to the Institute Director at iash@ed.ac.uk by the closing date.
• Referees should comment on the nature and quality of the research proposal, as well as on the qualifications of the applicant.

• Candidates will be expected to have been in communication with the member of HCA staff with whom they intend to collaborate before applying, and to name the HCA collaborator/mentor in their application. The collaborator should also provide one of the necessary supporting statements for the Fellowship.
• Fellows are expected to be resident in Edinburgh throughout the tenure of their Fellowship and to play a full part in the activities of IASH and HCA. The Institute may be able to help with finding suitable accommodation in Edinburgh. These fellowships are for a duration of up to 10 months and not less than 2 months, and are funded at £1,500 per month as a contribution towards additional living costs, and/or travel grants of up to £500. Applications for less than two months will not be considered. 
• No regular teaching is required, but Fellows are expected to become involved in the School and contribute through the provision of a workshop, seminar or online learning resources such as a series of blog posts. Fellows will give at least one seminar at IASH and one seminar / workshop in HCA on their current research work.
• The Institute is close to the University Library and HCA, and within easy reach of the National Library of Scotland, the Central City Library, the National Galleries and Museums, the Library of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland, the library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the National Archives of Scotland. Access to both the extensive archival and online resources of all of these collections can be arranged for Fellows as appropriate.
• Only fully completed applications will be considered. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that all documentation is complete, and that referees submit their reports to the Institute by the closing date.