The Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) was launched in October 2006 to mark the 175th anniversary of the foundation of Durham University. The aim of the Institute is to foster creative interdisciplinary thinking – and to communicate this to public audiences – through dialogue and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. At the core of IAS activities lies a now internationally acclaimed Fellowship programme. This allows the IAS to gather together distinguished scholars and non-academics (e.g. artists, writers, journalists, policy makers, and politicians) from the full spectrum of sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities to address shared research areas and topics. By recruiting Fellows from all around the world, the IAS fosters an exciting intellectual environment in which scholars from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds can exchange ideas.

Fellowships are available for a 3-month period between October 2018 and March 2019. Applications are considered from researchers or non-academics who have a well-established or strongly emerging international reputation, have made major contributions to their field, and can provide evidence of research leadership and/or public impact. They are expected to have played a significant role in shaping their discipline or field through their outputs, achievements and indicators of esteem. It is hoped that the research or professional interests of applicants could complement the 2018/19 research projects sponsored by the IAS.

A completed PhD is the minimum requirement for applicants undertaking a traditional academic trajectory, or an equivalent level of experience in other areas.