Fellowship Program
The center awards fellowships to post-doctoral scholars from a variety of countries and disciplines. Applicants’ research and writing should ideally pertain to the central theme of the RCC: transformations in environment and society. Research at the RCC is concerned with questions of the interrelationship between environmental and social changes, and in particular the reasons—the social, political, cultural, and environmental factors—behind these transformations. The concept of “transformations” gives us an adjustable lens that allows us to keep in our sights a vast range of changes—from the quick adjustments in human behavior that interest sociologists to the gradual changes over millennia that are central for geologists and climatologists, and of course the short- and long-term shifts that fascinate historians and philosophers.
All fellows are expected to spend their fellowship in residence, to work on a major project, to attend the weekly lunchtime colloquium, and to present their project at the center. Please note that for all fellowship types, the RCC does not sponsor field trips or archival research.
Life as a fellow:
The Carson Center offers five types of fellowships:
Carson writing fellowships
These fellowships are at the center of our fellowship program and are awarded to scholars aiming to complete several major articles or a book project in the environmental humanities. The program awards writing fellowships only.
Interdisciplinary writing fellowships
To promote cooperation across disciplinary boundaries, we invite applications for interdisciplinary fellowships. Scholars from the humanities should apply together with scholars from the sciences or field practitioners with the purpose of authoring a collaborative project. These fellowships are only intended for writing.
Applicants should be drawn from at least two separate institutions or organizations. One of these can be an institution at LMU Munich; in fact, preference will be given to scholars who plan to collaborate with scholars from Munich. Please note that funding will only be awarded to the non-Munich partners. All members of the collaboration should plan to be in residence in Munich at the same time.
As a rule, scholars should apply for a residential fellowship of between 3 and 12 months, or a series of 3-month fellowships. But we would consider in principle other models, for example short-term cooperations over a longer period of time.
Outreach fellowships
The outreach fellowship is intended for candidates whose work promotes public engagement with the topic of transformations in environment and society. We invite applications from documentary filmmakers and writers in particular.
Short-term fellowships
Short-term fellowships (1-8 weeks) are designed to encourage genuinely explorative partnerships and dialogue across disciplinary divides and between theory and practice. These fellows come to Munich to develop a specific project— for example, a joint publication, a workshop, or other collaborative research projects.
SoF fellowships
Former Carson fellows are not ordinarily eligible for a second writing or outreach fellowship from the RCC. However, the RCC’s alumni association, the Society of Fellows (SoF), in conjunction with the RCC, offers alumni fellowships of 3-6 months. For more information on these fellowships, please visit the Society of Fellows section of the RCC website.
Deadline
The deadline for fellowship applications for the 2017-18 class of postdoctoral and senior fellows is 31 January 2017. The new call for applications will be issued in October 2017.
More Information
For a list of frequently asked questions and answers concerning Carson Fellowships and living in Munich, please click here.