Applications are currently being accepted for the re:constitution Fellowship Program 2026. Interested applicants are encouraged to click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
About re:constitution Fellowship Program
The re:constitution Fellowship is a pan-European programme designed to support professionals working on constitutional democracy, democratic governance, and the rule of law in Europe. It brings together scholars and practitioners from diverse disciplines and professional backgrounds to strengthen democratic principles, encourage cross-border mobility, and foster collaboration between academia and practice.The Fellowship promotes freedom, equality, and human dignity as shared European values while building a long-term, sustainable professional network.
Benefits of re:constitution Fellowship Program
- Independence and flexibility to research and publish on an issue of choice connected to democracy and the rule of law in Europe.
- Funding for mobility via collaboration with selected host institutions across Europe offering new personal and remote work and exchange opportunities.
- Exchange and debate on topical issues in interdisciplinary, high-quality and flexible environment of mutual learning and professional development among scholars, legal practitioners and journalists from across Europe.
- Networking through multi-faceted exchange about democracy and the rule of law in personal meetings with leading experts and decision makers from across Europe and different backgrounds offering diverse perspectives.
- Shaping the re:constitution alumni network to build a sustainable community of knowledge and discussion with potential for further collaboration and support.
- Support by the coordination team and access to a secure digital collaborative working space provided by Forum Transregionale Studien.
- Opportunities to become involved in the broader analytical work of the re:constitution programme run by Democracy Reporting International, based on interests and availability.
- Training courses to promote Fellows’ further career development, particularly in the areas of interdisciplinary, intersectoral and transregional competences and to expand methodological knowledge.
re:constitution Fellowship Program Requirements
- The Fellowship is open to both scholars and practitioners working on democracy and rule of law issues.
- Eligible scholars include those holding or completing a PhD in disciplines such as law, political science, social sciences, or philosophy.
- Eligible practitioners include government officials, legal professionals, NGO and think tank experts, journalists, and policy or legal researchers.
- Applicants must be residents of eligible European or associated countries for the duration of the Fellowship, but citizenship is not required.
Application Date and Process
- Please submit your application via our secure online application platform by 5 March 2026, 12 noon CET: https://application.trafo-berlin.de/.
- Please make sure to choose the correct Fellowship Track (1 or 2) when starting the application process. They only accept one application per person.
- Important! Applications by e-mail will not be considered!
As part of your application, you will be asked to prepare and upload the following:
• Curriculum vitae including a list of publications (max. 3 pages),
• Project outline (max. 1500 words)
• Short abstract of your project (max. 300 words),
• Two references (university faculty members or practitioners in a field relevant to your project).
Please note: Letters of recommendation are NOT REQUIRED.
• Potential host institutions (your preferred research and practice institutions in Europe to spend part of your mobility period, ideally including an indication of preferred dates and/or existing personal contacts. By the time of submitting your application you are not yet required to organise your stays.)
Any applications that do not fulfil the conditions on the document lengths as mentioned above will be excluded.
For the project outline, they recommend the following structure:
- Context/problem and relevance (practical need or academic novelty)
- Project description, question(s) and objectives
- Methods, working plan (incl. mobility phase) and outputs
- Conclusion (incl. potential impact and contributions)
The working language of re:constitution is English.
Application Deadline
05 March, 2026
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re:constitution Fellowship Program
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