Visiting International Fellowships

The Society for French Studies supports an annual visiting fellowship, tenable in any UK or Irish university, or institution of higher education in the UK or Ireland, to allow outstanding academics in the French Studies field based in overseas universities to spend time at UK or Irish higher education institutions. The Society strongly encourages applications to support visits from scholars in all parts of the world, including Africa, Australasia and the Caribbean. Applications must be completed by an academic member of staff in a prospective host institution in the UK or Ireland.

The key objective is to promote the internationalization of French Studies in the UK and Ireland through collaborative work with the Visiting Fellow

The main purpose of the grant is to promote international collaborative projects based in the UK and Ireland, and we encourage Fellows to visit more than one UK institution. We also expect the collaboration to be beneficial to the Fellow's own interests. Visits should be of no more than six weeks’ duration, and in many cases will be less. (A longer period may be appropriate if additional funding is available from other institutional sources.)

The principal criteria for selection will be:

• the academic standing and achievements of the visitor in terms of their current career stage
• their potential for making a substantial contribution to French Studies in the UK and Ireland
• the specific nature of the proposed programme during the fellowship. The Visiting Fellow is expected to undertake a full schedule of events for the duration of their Fellowship.

Additionally, and as collaboration is a central aim of the scheme, joint bids from two or more institutions are especially welcomed, and the selection panel will give special consideration to such applications.

Applications will be judged by a panel consisting of the President and Vice-President of the Society and two other judges. Substitute judges are appointed if there is any conflict of interest. The successful fellow is announced in May.

Applications must be completed by an academic member of staff in a UK or Irish host institution. The host applicant is also expected to organise, direct and take academic and organisational responsibility for the fellowship. Host applicants must be members of or associated with Higher Education departments of French (or departments which teach French). Prospective Fellows must also be members of the Society for French Studies. No more than one application may be submitted by any institution in one academic year. This applies to collegiate and non-collegiate universities alike, and includes joint applications from two or more institutions.

The Society will offer a grant of up to £5,000 to support travel, accommodation, subsistence and other expenses. Up to an additional £500 is also available to cover the costs of visiting other institutions in the UK or Ireland; but successful projects may also cost significantly less than £5000, and the panel will expect efficient use of time and resources. Personal expenditure on items such as visa costs and health insurance are not eligible, and it is expected that host institutions will offer support for these. Please contact the grant convenor if further clarification on eligible expenditure is required. Application for this award will be competitive, and it cannot be made retrospectively.

In order to apply, please send a Word or PDF document by 31st March 2027 containing the following details:

1. name, position and institutional affiliation of the host applicant
2. name, institutional affiliation and outline of career and principal publications/ achievements of the proposed Visiting International Fellow
3. intended dates of the Fellowship
4. intended collaborators during the Fellowship
5. the subject area within French Studies to which the fellowship activity relates
6. a detailed weekly schedule of all planned activities, including visits to and lectures/seminars/workshops either given or attended at other institutions
7. any other anticipated outputs or outcomes
8. a draft budget, providing a detailed, itemised breakdown of the amount requested, and the purpose to which it will be put
9. details, where relevant, of other applications for, or commitments to, funding relating to the research in question
10. an undertaking to abide by the conditions of the award, if successful
11. confirmation that the host applicant and prospective Fellow are members of the Society for French Studies.

The names of recipients will be announced in the French Studies Bulletin, on SFS website and on our social media channels. The Society’s support should be acknowledged in any events held as part of the award and publications arising directly from the award. Any ‘Society for French Studies Lectures’ (or equivalent keynote events) delivered by the Visiting International Fellow should be recorded for archiving in the members’ area of the Society’s website.

Successful applicants will be asked to report on outcomes of the Fellowship within one month of the end of the award’s tenure. The report should take the form of a blogpost for our website or a short (up to 10 mins) recorded podcast/video discussion between the visitor and the host academics, which will be uploaded to our website. In each case, the report should reflect on outcomes of the Fellowship, its strategic benefits in terms of collaboration and internationalisation, and any follow-on plans.

In addition, the host institution is required to submit a final statement of expenditure within four weeks of the end of the fellowship to the Treasurer of the Society (treasurer@sfs.ac.uk).

The host institution must undertake the following (these should be listed under item 10 of the application):

1. to meet all overhead and departmental costs;
2. to provide facilities (including departmental membership, office consumables and other usual privileges) at a level commensurate with the conditions enjoyed by existing staff of the same level;
3. to manage all necessary arrangements relating to the visitor’s health insurance, visa and tax requirements;
4. to provide the main co-ordinator and point of contact for the Fellowship (principal applicant or nominated representative), including liaising with other host institutions and officers of the Society for French Studies as required.

2025/26: Dr Fanny Chabrol (Université Paris Cité), hosted by Dr. Benjamin Dalton (Lancaster University). The Fellowship will investigate the implications of research in French Studies on decolonization in health/care architecture for hospital design and alternative clinical futures. It will be informed by Dr Chabrol's work on francophone Africa and supported by the interdisciplinary health research contexts both at Lancaster University and nearby institutions in the North-West. Outcomes from the collaboration will be shared at our 2026 conference and in a report to members of the Society.

2024/25: Dr Myriam Moïse (Université des Antilles in Martinique), the first SFS Visiting International Fellow from a Caribbean institution, Dr Moïse’s appointment will foster collaboration between the Université des Antilles and UK universities with strengths in Caribbean postcolonial/francophone studies, including Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Queen’s University Belfast.

2023/24: Professor Roxanne Panchasi (Simon Fraser University, Canada)

2022/23: Dr Alison Downham Moore (Western Sydney University, Australia)

2019-20: Professor Martin Munro (Florida State University)

2017/18: Dr Natalie Edwards (University of Adelaide)

2016/17: Professor Anne Vila (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

2015/16: Professor Barbara Havercroft (University of Toronto)

2014/15: Professor Tom Conley (Harvard University)