Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination - 2026-27 Fellowship Application

• Award Period: September 1, 2026–May 31, 2027
• Application Deadline: September 30, 2025 (5:00 PM EST - New York City time zone)

There are three categories of candidates: Columbia University faculty, Columbia University post-doctoral candidates, and those working in the creative arts.

1. The Columbia University faculty category includes: Columbia tenured and tenure-track faculty, Barnard, and Teacher's College. Adjunct professors and lecturers are only eligible if their term of appointment extends beyond the fellowship year.
2. The Columbia University post doctoral category is for candidates in any subject who have completed their PhD and defended their dissertation at Columbia University between September 2023 and December 31, 2025.
3. The creative arts category is for applicants within the creative arts (including visual and sound arts/film/composing/writing) who are not affiliated with Columbia University. (Please remember that in order to be eligible in this category, you cannot - regardless of nationality - be a permanent resident of the United States.)

The fellowship comprises a stipend of $75,000 for a full academic year at Reid Hall in Paris (September through May), an office at the Institute, and access to Columbia’s libraries as well as associated research facilities in Paris and elsewhere. (Columbia University faculty candidates may apply to come for a single semester, though preference is given to those wishing to come for the entire year.) We welcome projects from those working in any area of the humanities, the social sciences, and conceptual dimensions of the natural and applied sciences, as well as from visual and sound artists, filmmakers, composers, writers, and other creative thinkers.

Please note: We cannot accommodate groups.

The Institute for Ideas and Imagination is a residential program. Regular participation within the community of Fellows is a core commitment of acceptance of the fellowship. Fellows are required to work at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris. There will also be opportunities to host workshops and conferences. We therefore ask that other professional obligations such as teaching, speaking engagements, and research trips be kept to a minimum for the duration of the fellowship. The Institute reserves the right to pro-rate a Fellow’s stipend for extensive absences.

The Institute for Ideas and Imagination will not accept dossier letters in place of new letters of recommendation.

Applications to the fellowship competition must be in English. Although we aim to foster a multi-lingual environment, the working language of the Institute is English.

The Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination is made possible by the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the Areté Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Daniel Cohen, with additional gifts from Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc, Olga and George Votis, the EHA Foundation, Fondation Louis Roederer, Gerald Rosberg, Tom and Maarit Glocer, James Leitner and Tracy Higgins, Lee C. and Jean Magnano Bollinger, and Mel and Lois Tukman.