Fellowship Program

In the heart of Berlin, MERICS serves as a leading European institution for policy-oriented, impartial, and innovative research on China. In this vein, MERICS has established a fellowship program that aims to attract distinguished as well as emerging thought leaders on China from academia, think tanks, the policy-making and business community, and media. Fellows work closely with the wider MERICS research team, often pursuing individual research priorities and contributing to wider MERICS research efforts at the same time. While the MERICS Fellowship Program offers long-term opportunities of association, most fellows spend between two to six months at MERICS.

There are currently four types of fellowships at MERICS:

• MERICS (Senior) Fellows are outstanding international scholars and thought leaders on China who want to pursue their research interests in collaboration or exchange with the wider MERICS research team. MERICS Fellows usually produce a MERICS Monitor Perspectives or a similar (external) publication during their fellowship. The fellowship lasts for up to six months, with most of the time usually spent at MERICS. Applications for the MERICS Fellowship are accepted throughout the year and assessed on a rolling basis by the management board.
   
• MERICS European China Policy Fellows are leading European experts on China or European-China relations, often joining from the public sector, other think tanks, and media. This fellowship stream is designed to strengthen pan-European China expertise and exchange and to serve as a foundation for deepening research partnerships with other institutions in Europe. MERICS European China Policy Fellows are invited to contribute to MERICS’s research efforts by conducting policy-oriented research on topical issues on the European China agenda and serving as an “ideas incubator” within MERICS.
   
• MERICS Futures Fellows wish to join the MERICS ecosystem to develop innovative and promising project ideas to be pursued jointly after the end of the initial fellowship. Fellows usually develop a project outline and proposal and a first short analysis on the topic that can be published as part of the MERICS range of written products. MERICS will support fellows with a view to securing funding for the execution of the most promising project proposal developed. The fellowship is usually awarded for up to six months and co-sponsorship arrangements with the applicant’s home institution or other interested parties are welcome. Applications for the MERICS Future Fellows stream can be submitted throughout the year. All applications will be assessed by the MERICS management board. 

• MERICS (Senior) Associate Fellows are long-term collaborators and partners of MERICS, nominated for the fellowship by the management board. Currently, no external applications are accepted for this type of fellowship.

If you are interested in becoming a MERICS fellow, please refer to the fellowship guidelines here in the first instance. If you have any follow-up queries or if you wish to apply for a fellowship, get in touch with the fellowship coordinator, Johannes Kast (johannes.kast(at)merics.de).

If you are interested in partnering with MERICS to co-fund a specific MERICS European China Policy Fellowship or MERICS Futures Fellowship or to support the MERICS Fellowship Program more generally, please kindly reach out to project manager, Steffen Buchholz (steffen.buchholz(at)merics.de).