CURE Call for application

The Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation (CURE) at Saarland University is an institute for advanced study, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2024. Each year, up to twelve international fellows conduct research at the centre. For the centre’s second academic year (October 2025 to September 2026), we are inviting applications for both junior and senior fellowships for a period of up to twelve months.

The great task facing Europe in its future is to reshape its relationship with the world – and this insight has now advanced to become a central concern in both cultural production and reflection. In the face of harms which pose existential threats and cannot be repaired, practices of cultural reparation take on a function of founding the future.

The goal of the centre is to develop a transmedial theory of practices and processes of cultural reparation from a historical and transcultural perspective, thus helping to formulate a sociopolitical understanding of cultural reparations as a field of action. Its work is intended as a contribution toward reorienting cultural studies and creating knowledge about individual and collective processes of reparation in a globalised world – as insight that is indispensable for living together in the future. Our focus will be on memory cultures and historical-political discourses; individual experiences of harm, humiliation, and loss; and cultural-ecological questions.

Scholars in cultural studies and the humanities in the postdoc phase or further along in their academic careers may apply. During the period of the fellowship, fellows should be pursuing an independent research project that is also relevant to the research agenda of the centre. The project should align with at least one of the centres’ three thematic fields – ‘history’, ‘experience’, and ‘nature’ – and relate to the second of the four designated themes for the following academic years:

• 2024/2025: Theory
• 2025/2026: Society
• 2026/2027: Bodies
• 2027/2028: Things

Applications are to be submitted through the form available on this website. You may upload all required application documents directly as one PDF file in the form.

Involvement and participation

The centre will welcome up to twelve fellows a year. We expect fellows to actively participate in the centre’s events (colloquia, working groups, conferences) and to contribute to publications produced by the centre. Fellows will also have the opportunity to organise conferences or to collaborate in teaching or other academic events with our research and cultural cooperation partners.

Saarland University is distinguished by its close ties to France and its strong European focus, with programmes and partnerships such as the Cluster for European Studies (CEUS) devoted to the topic of ‘European World(s): Projections, Reflections, Transformations’, the international university network University of the Greater Region (UniGR), and the European university alliance “Transform4Europe” (T4EU), from which the Käte Hamburger Centre CURE can benefit.

Duration and conditions

Fellowships are usually awarded for one year, always starting on 1 October. In justified cases, shorter periods can also be awarded, albeit with a minimum length of six months.

The fellowship guidelines of Saarland University provide two funding options.

1) Fellows who take unpaid leave from their home institution during the fellowship will receive financial compensation in the form of a stipend (approximately 6,100 to 7,200 euros monthly before taxes, depending on their qualifications).
2) If a fellow chooses to keep their current salary and benefits, CURE will pay their home institution the equivalent salary for a teaching replacement during the fellow’s time at the centre.

Accommodation in modern apartments is provided free of charge, and accommodation for families can also be arranged if required. Similarly, the expenses for traveling to and from Saarbrücken will be reimbursed once according to the Saarland Travel Expense Act (SRKG). Fellows will be provided with a fully equipped workspace at the centre.

Insurance and all other living costs must be covered by the fellows themselves.

Fellows are expected to contribute to the work of the centre on-site during the duration of their fellowship; longer absences from the centre for extended research trips or stays are not possible.

Application requirements and procedures

Applicants must be pursuing an independent research project relevant to the centre and may apply for junior or senior fellowships. Applicants for junior fellowships must hold a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree; applicants for senior fellowships must hold a tenured professorship (at the level of associate or full professor) or a comparable position (such as senior lecturer).

Fellowships will be awarded based on the criteria of scholarly excellence; alignment of the proposed research project with the college’s research programme; applicant qualifications and motivation; and the consideration of diversity.

Artists with experience in collaborating with the academic community are also encouraged to apply.

CURE is expressly committed to diversity and welcomes applications regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion/worldview, disability, age, or sexual orientation and identity.

Members of Saarland University are not eligible to apply for a fellowship.

Please submit the following documents for your application by 2 January 2025, at the latest:

• CURE application form, including an abstract of your project
• letter outlining your motivation for applying (1 page)
• tabular curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
• publication list
• summary of your project (maximum of 5 pages) explaining its relevance to the centre in terms of at least one of the centre’s four thematic fields and the second year’s designated theme

Applications may be submitted in German, English, or French.

We explicitly request that you do not submit passport photos/application photos.

Applications are to be submitted through the form available on this website. You may upload all required application documents directly as one PDF file in the form.

As part of your application for a fellowship at the Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation (CURE) at Saarland University (UdS), you will be submitting personal data. Regarding our use of personal data, please see the university’s privacy policy  in accordance with Art. 13 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the collection and processing of personal data. By submitting your application, you confirm that you have read the UdS policies on data privacy and protection.