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Recent Fellows and Associates

We fund research projects through competitive grant programmes aimed at UK and European scholars working across the social sciences and humanities.

Professor Yasminah Beebeejaun

Mid-Career Fellow 2025

Dr Thomas Raymen

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Professor Nick Megoran

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Dr Ludek Stavinoha

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Dr Anthony Ince

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

Professor Phillip Ayoub

Mid-Career Fellow 2025-26

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Funding

We support independent-minded researchers exploring and presenting original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real-world social problems.

ISRF Funding is awarded competitively through a series of Grant Competitions for individual Fellowships and small group projects.

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Types of funding

Early Career Fellows

Scholars within 10 years of PhD award.

Mid-Career Fellows

Scholars more than 10 years post-PhD.

Independent Scholar Fellows

Independent scholars who do not hold an appointment at an institution of higher education and research.

First Book Fellows

Scholars within 3 years of PhD award.

Political Economy Fellows

Scholars working in Political Economy.

Collaborative Fellows

Pairs of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds.

Small Group Projects

For groups of 2-10 scholars.

Other Projects and Partnerships

Non-competitively funded projects, institutional partnerships and discretionary awards.

Blog

13 min

Democratic Backsliding in the Sahel and the Myth of Migration to Europe

Michael Nwankpa

In this contribution to Bulletin 31, Michael Nwankpa argues that democratic backsliding in the Sahel is partly caused by cynical interventions by Western states motivated by myths of mass African migration.

16 min

Towards a Deep History of Gaia: Displacements, Integration, and Rights Beyond Migration Myths

Aurea Mota

In this contribution to Bulletin 31, Aurea Mota discusses the radical potential and political limits of rights of nature in the effort to achieve environmental justice.

10 min

Research After Trump

Christopher Newfield

In this Director’s Note, Christopher Newfield charts the destructive implications Donald Trump’s election will likely have on higher education.

15 min

‘Migrants have been beaten, hounded by dogs and burned with cigarettes’ – on the frontline of the Poland-Belarus border crisis

Joanna Klimowicz

Families attempting to start a new life in Europe have become stuck in the woods between two countries, regularly receiving horrific treatment at the hands of the authorities.

8 min

What Newfoundland – and Messy Family Histories – Can Tell Us About the Harms of Colonialism

Matt Warren

ISRF Fellow Julia Laite’s family have been on Newfoundland since the 17th century. Her latest project explores ancestry, empire, exploitation – and Shanawdithit, the Beothuk woman who witnessed the death of her world under colonialism.

6 min

How Portugal spied on Muslims in colonial Mozambique

Sandra Araújo

At the ISRF’s November Congress, Fellow Sandra Araújo revealed the remarkable hidden history behind her forthcoming book.

12 min

‘Egg of the serpent’

Adam Smith

Speaking at the October ISRF conference, the Polish auteur also blamed politicians for blocking the international collaboration needed to tackle the climate emergency.

6 min

We Could End the Cosmetic Fixes that Damage Higher Education

Christopher Newfield

In this Director’s Note, Christopher Newfield reflects on the terrible financial management that characterises the British university sector.

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Events

We host a variety of events which aim to provide a platform for ISRF Fellows to report on their research projects, and also to contribute to broader conversations and discussions across the social sciences.