Most academic fellowships ask one question. Is your research good? Central European University’s Global Invisible University fellowship asks that question too. But it asks a second one just as seriously. Are you safe enough to keep doing it?
That second question shapes the entire programme. And it makes this GIU Fellowship different from most research opportunities you will come across.
At a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Programme | Global Invisible University (GIU Fellowship) |
| Institution | Central European University (CEU Budapest) |
| Cycle | 2027/28 |
| Deadline | 1 October 2026 11:59 p.m. CET |
| Duration | 3 to 9 months residential 6 to 12 months non-residential |
| Fellowship Type | Fully Funded |
What the Global Invisible University Actually Is
CEU built this programme as a direct response to a hard truth. Higher education around the world is under real pressure right now. War, authoritarian governments, censorship and the slow commercialization of universities have made research harder and sometimes dangerous for many scholars.
The Global Invisible University or GIU is CEU’s answer. It combines research, teaching, mentoring and public engagement into one programme. Fellows are not expected to sit alone in a library. They join weekly seminars, contribute to interdisciplinary teaching and become part of an active academic community based in Budapest.
Five Fellowship Categories Not One
This programme does not offer a single fixed fellowship. It offers five built for different career stages and different circumstances.
- Junior Residential Core Fellowships for scholars earlier in their careers
- Senior Residential Core Fellowships for more established researchers
- Residential Affiliated Fellowships
- Residential Fellowships for Threatened Scholars
- Non-residential Fellowships for Threatened Scholars
Residential fellowships run for three, five, six or nine months. The nine month option covers October through June while shorter fellowships align with a single semester, either fall or spring.
Non-residential fellowships work differently. They are reserved exclusively for Threatened Scholars and can last between six and twelve months, running from August 2027 to July 2028.
Who Counts as a Threatened Scholar
This is the part of the programme that sets it apart from typical academic fellowships.
CEU defines Threatened Scholars as researchers facing real risk because of their work. That includes people who have lost jobs, faced harassment, experienced violence or dealt with legal persecution tied to their academic or civic activity. It also includes scholars in regions affected by active military conflict.
The programme specifically encourages applications from scholars in Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia the Western Balkans, Central and Southeast Asia and the Middle East along with Roma scholars.
Applicants in this category need to submit a personal risk statement along with supporting documentation where possible. This is treated as a serious part of the application not a side note.
What Research Topics Fit This Fellowship
Applicants need to connect their work to at least one of GIU’s core research themes. The list is broad covering topics that matter far beyond academia:
- Democratization, de-democratization and re-democratization
- History, memory and nationalist or transnationalist discourse
- Political economy and global inequality
- Human rights and international law
- The crisis of multilateralism and global institutions
- Climate justice and the politics of the Anthropocene
- Media information warfare and securitization
- Epistemological challenges in the social sciences in a digital age
Interdisciplinary proposals are actively welcomed here. If your research sits between two or three of these themes that is not a weakness in your application. It is closer to what the programme is designed for.
What the Fellowship Pays
Funding depends on which category you apply for.
- Senior residential fellows receive €2600 net per month
- Junior residential fellows receive €1500 net per month
- Threatened Scholars on non-residential fellowships receive €1000 net per month plus travel support for short stays at CEU
Residential fellows and their families also get housing at the Raoul Wallenberg Guesthouse located in Budapest’s Castle District. Fellows do cover their own utilities, travel and healthcare costs.
For scholars coming from countries with a weaker currency or limited research funding, this level of support can make a real difference, not just in comfort but in the ability to focus fully on research instead of financial stress.
Who Is Eligible to Apply
The baseline requirements are fairly standard for a fellowship at this level:
- A PhD or equivalent qualification in the social sciences or humanities
- A publication record in internationally recognized academic outlets
- Fluent English since it is CEU’s working language
- The junior versus senior distinction is based on your PhD completion date. If you completed your PhD in 2018 or later you apply as a junior fellow. Earlier than that you apply as a senior fellow.
- One detail worth noting. Former IAS CEU fellows must wait seven years before reapplying. So this is not a fellowship designed for repeat visits every few years.
What Your Application Needs to Include
Everything must be combined into a single PDF file no larger than 12 MB. Inside that file you need:
- A letter of intent
- A research abstract
- A full research project description
- A teaching statement
- Your CV and publication list
- Two potential referees if applying as a junior fellow
- A risk statement and supporting documents if applying as a Threatened Scholar
How to Apply?
The online application form cannot be saved partway through. That means you need every document ready before you open it. If you start the form without your PDF finalized, you risk losing your progress and having to begin again.
Given everything the application requires from a teaching statement to a full project description, this is not something to attempt the night before the deadline.