American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is currently accepting applications for its Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe Workshop 2026. Interested applicants are encouraged to click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
About ACLS Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe Workshop
The Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe (SISECSE) is a residential academic workshop designed for scholars researching the history, societies, cultures, politics, and transformations of East Central and Southeastern Europe.The programme creates a collaborative environment where researchers can dedicate focused time to their projects while engaging with scholars from different disciplines and regions.
Benefits of ACLS Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe Workshop
- The program will offer a stipend for travel to and from Bulgaria and cover accommodation and per diem expenses for the two-week residency. The travel stipend amount is based on your institutional affiliation location at the time of application.
- Participating scholars will be expected to be in residence and to take part in all planned events for the duration of the institute.
- Participating scholars may undertake local fieldwork, including archival or collections research, interviews, site surveys, and other forms of data collection.
- There will be at least one weekend group trip
ACLS Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe Workshop Requirements
- Applicants must have a PhD degree conferred (officially awarded) by the application deadline. An established scholar who can demonstrate the equivalent of the PhD in publications and professional experience may also qualify.
- The competition is open to scholars in any field or discipline in the humanities or interpretive social sciences pursuing postdoctoral or advanced research focused on East Central and Southeastern Europe, including Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
- At the time of the application deadline, applicants must have an affiliation—preferably a long-term regular research or teaching appointment—with an institution (i.e., college, museum, university) in North America (Canada, Mexico, US) or East Central and Southeastern Europe.
- Applicants who have an affiliation in North America or East Central and Southeastern Europe but do not have a long-term regular research or teaching appointment must include in the application essay a description of their future commitment to the field and to continued work in North America or East Central and Southeastern Europe. If you reside outside of North American or East Central and Southeastern Europe due to conflict or political displacement, you may apply if you had a previous affiliation—long-term regular research or teaching appointment— in East Central and Southeastern Europe within the last five years, and you must include in the application essay a brief description of your scholarly journey since displacement.
- Applicants of any citizenship are eligible to apply.
- The application must be submitted in English, but the written work produced may be in any language.
Application Date and Process
Applications must include:
- A completed application form.
- An application essay (1100 words maximum, double-spaced in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). The application essay should lay out the research project—the topic and its significance, how the project relates to existing scholarship, what sources will be used, what work is required to bring the project to completion, and the expected timetable for carrying out that work. Applicants who have an affiliation but do not have a long-term regular research or teaching appointment must include in the application essay a description of their future commitment to the field and to continued work in North America or East Central and Southeastern Europe. Recently displaced scholars, must include in the application essay a brief description of their scholarly journey since displacement.
- An optional two pages maximum of images, musical scores, or other similar supporting non-text materials.
- A bibliography (1000 words maximum, double-spaced between entries, in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font).
- A list of the applicant’s publications (1000 words maximum, double-spaced between entries, in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). Applicants should indicate if any of their publications resulted from prior ACLS funding.
- An applicant’s statement of interest in the institute (600 words maximum, double-spaced in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font). The statement of interest should explain how participation in the institute and the work planned in Bulgaria will advance the project. It should specifically describe the research, writing, or fieldwork to be carried out, its impact on the overall project, and the applicant’s interest in participating in interdisciplinary conversation at the institute.
Application Deadline
28 October, 2026
Opportunity Application
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ACLS Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe Workshop
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