General Information
The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) was founded in November 1970 as a result of consultations between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and representatives of the universities. The Institute began its activities in February 1971 and the first Fellows arrived in October 1971. Since January 1988 NIAS has been an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The aim of the Institute is to stimulate research in the humanities and social sciences and to promote interdisciplinary co-operation in an international setting. The Institute is mainly financed by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Under the supervision of the Board of the Academy, the Rector is responsible for formulating the policies of the Institute and for stimulating the Fellows in their research. He works in conjunction with the Heads of the all the departments within NIAS. They are assisted by a Staff of approximately twenty persons.
NIAS awards annual fellowships to approximately twenty foreign scholars and a further twenty from the Netherlands. Fellowships awarded to foreign scholars usually carry a NIAS stipend, although some Fellows are able to cover the costs of their stay, or at least part thereof, from other sources. All fellowships are awarded on the recommendation of a Scholarship Committee, whose members are appointed by the Board of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Institute's resources are allocated to research groups and scholars pursuing individual research. The Rector, advised by the Scholarship Committee, tries to put together a stimulating group of scholars for each year. Fellowships cover a full academic year of ten months (September-June), one semester of five months (September-January; February-June), or a fixed three month period.
The Institute hosts special Fellowship programmes, e.g. the Willem F. Duisenberg Fellowship, Golestan Fellowship, KB Fellowship, Lorentz Fellowship, Spinoza Fellowshp, Henry G. Schermers Fellowship, Mellon Fellowship. In addition, there is a Visiting Grant programme for younger scholars from Central and Eastern Europe and Africa. There are also Guests of the Rector who, at the Rector's personal invitation, spend a short period at the Institute. Finally, NIAS has special programmes for a Writer-in-Residence, a Journalist-in-Residence, and a Literary Translator-in-Residence.
Fellows
Notwithstanding the formation of nuclei around specific research themes, Fellows
are free to pursue their individual research projects. However, in planning the
composition of any particular year group, the Scholarship Committee selects
scholars who are likely to find common areas in which co-operation and
interaction may prove especially fruitful.
To promote co-operation and interaction, the formation of informal working
groups is encouraged, as well as participation in more general meetings of
Fellows to discuss topics of wider interest. Fellows will be invited to contribute to
the NIAS seminar series. However, the occasion to do so is limited, since these
sessions take place only once a fortnight. The research groups are encouraged to
organise larger conferences which involve participants from both the Netherlands
and abroad. The seminar series is organised by the Rector.
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