M+ / Design Trust Research Fellowship in Hong Kong

The M+ / Design Trust Research Fellowship 2020 will support two separate fellowship projects; one fellowship will support a research project focused on Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area in an Asian or global context, and the second fellowship will support a research project related to Asia more broadly, closely in line with the curatorial position of the Hong Kong–based institution M+.

Applicants should engage in advanced research on historical or contemporary topics relating to either a single discipline (such as architecture, graphic design, industrial design, or urbanism) or cross-disciplinary developments, taking into consideration cultural, social, economic, and political milieus as well as international and cross-cultural networks.

The successful applicants will be attached to M+ for three to six months in 2020, conducting independent research, preferably on a full-time basis. Fellows are encouraged to engage with the museum’s curatorial staff and participate in M+ programmes. The fellowship should result in 1) a paper (5,000 words or more) to be disseminated digitally or in print by M+ and Design Trust, or an equivalent outcome in an alternative format; and 2) a lecture as part of the museum’s public programmes.

Eligibility

Applications are welcome from individuals of all nationalities whose areas of research are in design, architecture, or a related field. The provision of the fellowship, however, depends on whether the fellow can obtain a visa for Hong Kong.

Applicants should either hold a postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline or an undergraduate degree with a minimum of three years of relevant professional work or academic research experience. Proficiency in spoken and written English is also required.

Stipend

The M+ / Design Trust Research Fellow will receive a lump-sum stipend of up to 40,000 Hong Kong dollars per month for three to six months (determined on a case-by-case basis) to cover living, insurance, and research-related costs. An overseas fellow may request a one-time travel subsidy of up to 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, covering transportation between the place of origin and Hong Kong.

Assessment Criteria

The following criteria are taken into account when assessing each application:

• Original proposal that expands and reinterprets existing knowledge, or produces new knowledge, of design and architecture in, or with an impact on, Hong Kong and the Greater Pearl River Delta region and/or Asia, within a regional and global context
• Potential for expanding the understanding and scope of the museum’s current and future collections, programming, and curatorial strategies in design and architecture
• Proven ability of the candidate to undertake advanced research

Review Process

The fellowship will be awarded on a competitive basis by a committee comprising representatives from M+ and Design Trust. After the initial screening process, shortlisted candidates will be invited to an in-person or remote interview. 

How to Apply

Applicants are required to provide:

• A completed application form
• A full curriculum vitae covering education, professional experience, honours, awards, and publications
• Two letters of recommendation (academic or professional), submitted directly from the referees

The deadline for submitting the application is 8 July 2019.

Please send all application materials digitally and address enquiries to designfellow@mplus.org.hk.

Notification

Interviews will be held during the weeks of 5 and 12 August 2019. Results will be announced in autumn 2019. Applicants not notified within four weeks from the application deadline may assume that their applications were not successful.

About M+

M+ is a museum dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, we are building one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world, with a bold ambition to establish ourselves as one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. Our aim is to create a new kind of museum that reflects our unique time and place, a museum that builds on Hong Kong’s historic balance of the local and the international to define a distinctive and innovative voice for Asia’s twenty-first century.