Scholarships

🎓 Fully Funded FIAS Fellowship France 2027 — Complete Guide for International Researchers

Gradualin

May 28, 2026
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Imagine spending 10 fully funded months conducting your own research in France — in cities like Paris, Lyon, or Aix-Marseille — with a monthly stipend, office space, research budget, and zero teaching obligations. That is exactly what the FIAS Fellowship Programme 2027/2028 offers. France’s network of seven prestigious Institutes for Advanced Study has just opened 29 fellowship positions for outstanding international researchers across all disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, and beyond. This Gradualin guide covers everything: who can apply, what you receive, how to apply, and why this fellowship could be the most important career move of your research life.

📋 Quick Info Box

Detail	Information
Programme	FIAS Fellowship Programme
Host Country	France 🇫🇷
Host Institutes	7 French Institutes for Advanced Study
Fellowship Duration	10 months
Available Positions	29 (2027/2028 cycle)
Monthly Stipend	€2,200 net per month
Research Budget	€2,500 per year
Open To	All nationalities worldwide
Eligible Fields	Social Sciences, Humanities & interfacing disciplines
Application Deadline	June 25, 2026 (6:00 PM Paris time)
Official Website	fias-fp.eu/fellowships

🎓 FIAS Fellowship Programme — Overview

The French Institutes for Advanced Study (FIAS) is a network of seven world-class research institutes spread across France, united by a single mission: to give the brightest minds from around the world the time, space, and resources to pursue transformative research — completely free from day-to-day academic pressures.

FIAS operates under the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) framework, which is the European Union’s flagship programme for supporting excellent research and researcher mobility. This European co-funding gives the FIAS fellowship international credibility and long-term institutional weight that very few research fellowships in the world can match.

What makes FIAS genuinely different from ordinary fellowships is its philosophy: fellows are free to organise their own work and pursue their own research priorities. There are no mandatory teaching loads, no administrative duties forced upon you. You arrive, you research, you produce.

For the 2027/2028 academic year, FIAS is offering 29 fellowship positions distributed across seven iconic French cities. The selection is competitive, fully international, merit-based, and conducted through a rigorous independent peer review process. This is not a grant that goes to the well-connected — it goes to the most deserving researchers, regardless of nationality.

🎓 Benefits & Funding — What the FIAS Fellowship Covers

Here is the complete package every FIAS fellow receives:

💶 Monthly net living allowance: €2,200 (equivalent to take-home pay after deductions) — approximately $2,400 USD per month
🔬 Individual research and training budget: €2,500 per year — for conference attendance, research materials, field visits, or skills development
✈️ Round-trip travel expenses from the fellow’s home country to France — fully covered
🏠 Accommodation support or relocation assistance — each institute provides housing help or a housing allowance
🏥 Adequate social security coverage — health and social protection included throughout the fellowship
🖥️ Full office and workspace — individual offices, IT services, and collective research spaces at the host IAS
📚 Special library access — lending privileges at university-based research libraries associated with each IAS
🎓 Skills training opportunities — workshops, seminars, and professional development activities

Two flexible contract options are available depending on your individual situation: a work contract (employment-style, for those not on leave from another institution) or paid leave (for those taking leave from an existing position). This is a rare and thoughtful feature — most fellowships don’t account for researchers already employed elsewhere.

To put the value in context: 10 months at €2,200/month = €22,000 in living allowance alone, plus €2,500 research budget and travel covered. This is a fellowship package worth well over €26,000+ in total value — genuinely competitive with the best research fellowships in Europe.

🎓 Eligibility Criteria

FIAS is open to a remarkably wide pool of applicants. Here is exactly who can apply:

✅ All nationalities and all countries — there are no geographic restrictions on who can apply
✅ PhD holders with at least 2 years of post-PhD full-time research experience at the time of the application deadline (note: time spent doing the PhD itself does not count toward the 2 years)
✅ All career levels — from early postdoctoral researchers to senior professors and scientists
✅ All disciplines in Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) — and any research field that meaningfully interfaces with SSH
✅ Artists who meet the eligibility requirements are also explicitly welcomed to apply
✅ Equal opportunity — FIAS does not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, language, disability, or political opinion

Mobility Rule (very important): Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity — whether work, studies, or otherwise — in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the June 25, 2026 application deadline. This is a standard MSCA transnational mobility rule. If you’ve been based in France recently, check carefully whether you meet this requirement before applying.

⚠️ No specific IELTS or TOEFL score is required for the FIAS fellowship. However, all application documents must be written entirely in English. Any application submitted even partially in another language will not be considered eligible.

🎓 Who Should Apply — And Who Should Not

✅ Apply if you:

Hold a PhD and have at least 2 years of full-time post-PhD research experience
Are a researcher based outside France (or have spent less than 12 months in France in the last 3 years)
Work in the social sciences, humanities, or a discipline that connects with these fields
Want to dedicate 10 uninterrupted months purely to advancing your own research project
Are looking to expand your professional network within one of Europe’s most vibrant academic ecosystems

❌ Don’t apply if you:

Do not yet hold a completed PhD degree at the time of the application deadline
Have been based in France for more than 12 months in the three years prior to June 25, 2026
Are applying with a research project exclusively outside the social sciences/humanities and without any SSH connection
Cannot commit to a 10-month residence in France

🎓 Available Positions — Host Institutes & Cities

The 29 fellowship positions are distributed across seven French Institutes for Advanced Study, each with its own research focus and institutional personality:

🏛️ Aix-Marseille (IMERA) — 7 positions | Mediterranean crossroads of culture, science, and the arts
🏛️ Cergy (CYAS) — 3 positions | Just outside Paris, strong links to social innovation
🏛️ Loire Valley / Orléans-Tours (Le Studium) — 2 positions | Historic heart of France, science and heritage
🏛️ Lyon (Collegium de Lyon) — 3 positions | France’s gastronomic and cultural capital, Europe’s biotech hub
🏛️ Montpellier (MAKIT) — 2 positions | Dynamic Mediterranean university city
🏛️ Nantes (Nantes IAS) — 4 positions | Creative, innovative Atlantic port city
🏛️ Paris (Paris IAS) — 8 positions | The most sought-after, in the world’s most iconic research capital

Each institute has its own specific scientific priorities and institutional partners. Gradualin strongly recommends visiting each IAS’s individual page at fias-fp.eu/about-us/the-institutes before deciding where to apply, and tailoring your research proposal to the institute’s strengths.

🎓 Required Documents

All documents must be submitted in English only through the FIAS online application platform. You will need:

Completed online application form — filled out entirely through the FIAS website after creating an account
Detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) — including a full list of publications and contact details for three scholars who can speak to your academic work
Copy of your PhD diploma — in PDF format
Detailed research proposal — maximum 5 pages, plus 1 additional page for bibliography
Three to five key publications — articles or book chapters that best represent your scholarly work
Up to two letters of recommendation — optional, but strongly advisable for competitive applications
Ethics compliance declaration — confirming adherence to the Research Code of Ethics and EU regulations on privacy, data protection, and intellectual property

On the research proposal: this is the heart of your application. It must clearly articulate your scientific goals, how your project relates to the current state of knowledge in your field, your proposed methodology, expected outcomes, and why the 10-month fellowship duration is appropriate for what you want to achieve.

🎓 Step-by-Step Application Process

Visit fias-fp.eu and create a user account via the login arrow in the top-right corner of the website.
Read the full guide for applicants — available for download on the call for applications page. This document contains essential details and requirements.
Check your eligibility carefully — particularly the mobility rule and the PhD + 2 years requirement.
Research your preferred host institute(s) — visit individual IAS pages and align your research proposal with their scientific priorities.
Prepare all required documents in English — CV, research proposal (max 5 pages + bibliography), PhD diploma copy, and selected publications.
Log in to your FIAS account and complete the online application form.
Upload all documents and declare your compliance with the research ethics requirements before final submission.
Submit before June 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM Paris time — the platform will not accept late submissions under any circumstances.

Pro tip from Gradualin: Contact your preferred institute directly before applying. A brief email to the IAS scientific coordinator to introduce your project can help you understand whether your research is a strong fit — and it signals genuine engagement, which selection panels notice.

🎓 Important Dates & Timeline

Stage	Date
Application Deadline	June 25, 2026 — 6:00 PM Paris time
Eligibility Check	July 2026
Double Peer Review Process	August – November 2026
Pre-selection by FIAS Selection Committee	December 2026
Final Selection by IAS Scientific Advisory Boards	January – February 2027
Results Communicated to Applicants	March 2027
Fellowship Start (2027/2028 academic year)	September/October 2027 (verify on official site)

📌 Bookmark this page and check back for updates — the FIAS website occasionally updates its documents and timelines during the application period.

🎓 Why Apply — Why France, Why FIAS

Here’s the best part about this fellowship: France is not just a beautiful country to spend 10 months in — it is one of the most intellectually alive places on earth for researchers in the humanities and social sciences.

France is home to some of the world’s most important archives, libraries, and research institutions. Paris alone houses UNESCO, the OECD, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), and dozens of world-leading research centres that have shaped global scholarship for centuries.

The FIAS network puts you at the intersection of all of this — with genuine freedom to pursue your own research agenda. No mandatory courses. No committee work. No bureaucratic distraction. Just you, your ideas, and 10 months of protected time.

Beyond the research itself, the FIAS fellowship builds your career in ways that last decades. Fellows become part of an international scholarly community, gain European research credentials under the respected MSCA framework, and return home with a network of colleagues, collaborators, and friends spanning seven French cities and dozens of academic disciplines.

If you are an early-career researcher looking for your breakthrough, or a senior scholar seeking time to write that long-planned book or complete a major project — this fellowship is built for you.

🎓 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Can researchers from any country apply to the FIAS Fellowship? A: Yes. FIAS welcomes applications from researchers of all nationalities and from every country in the world. The only geographic restriction is the MSCA mobility rule: you must not have lived or worked in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years before the June 25, 2026 deadline.

Q: Is there a language test requirement like IELTS or TOEFL? A: No specific English language test score is required. However, all application documents — including your CV, research proposal, and application form — must be written entirely in English. Applications containing any other language will be deemed ineligible.

Q: Can I apply to more than one FIAS host institute? A: You should check the guide for applicants for the specific rules on this (verify at fias-fp.eu). Gradualin recommends focusing your application on the institute whose scientific priorities most closely match your research project, as this significantly strengthens your candidacy.

Q: Do I need to speak French to live and work in France during the fellowship? A: French language skills are not listed as an eligibility requirement. Each IAS operates in an international academic environment and hosts researchers from all over the world. That said, some basic French will naturally enhance your daily life in France (verify any specific language expectations with your chosen IAS directly).

Q: Is the €2,200 monthly allowance before or after tax? A: The €2,200 is described as a net living allowance, equivalent to take-home pay. It is not a gross salary figure — this is what you actually receive each month. (Verify the precise tax treatment under your chosen contract option — work contract vs paid leave — with FIAS directly.)

Q: What disciplines are eligible for the FIAS Fellowship? A: The programme is primarily designed for Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) researchers. It also welcomes researchers from other disciplines that interface with SSH — meaning interdisciplinary, cross-cutting, or applied research that engages meaningfully with social, cultural, or humanistic questions. Artists matching the eligibility criteria are also explicitly invited to apply.

🎓 Official Sources

🌐 Fellowship Overview: fias-fp.eu/fellowships
📋 Call for Applications 2027/2028: fias-fp.eu/fellowships/call-applications-20272028
✅ Eligibility Requirements: fias-fp.eu/fellowships/eligibility
💰 Fellowship Conditions: fias-fp.eu/fellowships/conditions
📝 How to Apply: fias-fp.eu/fellowships/how-apply
❓ FAQ: fias-fp.eu/fellowships/faq
🏛️ The Seven Institutes: fias-fp.eu/about-us/the-institutes
📧 Contact: fias-fp.eu/contact

🎓 Complete Summary Table

Detail	Information
Programme	FIAS Fellowship Programme 2027/2028
Host Country	France 🇫🇷
Number of Positions	29
Fellowship Duration	10 months
Monthly Stipend (Net)	€2,200 (~$2,400 USD)
Research Budget	€2,500/year
Travel	One round-trip from home country — covered
Accommodation	Support or allowance provided
Social Security	Included
Contract Type	Work contract or paid leave (flexible)
Eligible Disciplines	SSH and all SSH-interfacing fields
Nationality	All countries — no restrictions
Minimum Qualification	PhD + 2 years post-PhD research experience
Language Requirement	No IELTS/TOEFL — but all documents in English
Mobility Rule	Max 12 months in France in the past 3 years
Application Deadline	June 25, 2026 — 6:00 PM Paris time
Results Announced	March 2027
Application Platform	Online via fias-fp.eu
Official Website	fias-fp.eu/fellowships