Applications are now open for the fully funded Peace Research Fellowship 2026 for early-career researchers from any country at the University of Zurich

Ednah Carrick February 15, 2026

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Closing Date: 20 March 2026

Applications are now open for the fully funded Peace Research Fellowship 2026 for early-career researchers from any country at the University of Zurich

Are you an early-career researcher working on peace, institutions, and violence?

University of Zurich invite applications for the Peace Research Fellowship 2026 at the University of Zurich — a fully funded, two-week research visit within the Decades of Peace team at the Department of Political Science.

Fellows receive funding for travel and accommodation, present their work at a workshop with Swiss-based and international scholars, receive feedback to get their research ready for publication, and have time to develop new collaborative ideas.

Call for applications: Peace Research Fellowship 2026

The Peace Research Fellowship offers early-career scholars the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge research on long-term peace, violence reduction, and institutional development, embedded within a community of peace and conflict researchers in Switzerland. The fellowship is designed as a short, intensive research visit focused on exchange and network-building, with the potential of longer-term collaboration.

The Peace Research Fellowship is part of the consolidator project Decades of Peace, based at the University of Zurich. With this project, University of Zurich seeks to understand the institutional drivers of sustained violence reduction.

What University of Zurich offers:

A fully funded residential stay at the Department of Political Science (including shared office space), covering costs for travel and accommodation, for two weeks in the second half of August 2026 (extendable with own funding).
Dedicated time for discussion to help the fellows make their own research ready for publication and to develop new collaborative research ideas with the Decades of Peace team.
Participation in a two-day workshop on institutions and violence with external guests and peace and conflict researchers based in Switzerland (August 2026). Fellows present their research in the workshop and receive feedback from senior scholars in the field.
Integration in informal activities at the Department of Political Science.

Who University of Zurich is looking for:

Early-career researchers (particularly suited for advanced PhD students and postdocs) from any country with a background in political science and expertise in peace and conflict studies.
Interested in collaborating with the Decades of Peace team, with a view to developing joint research beyond the stay in Zurich.
University of Zurich aim to select a small number of fellows with demonstrated research quality, thematic fit with the Decades of Peace research agenda, and clear interest in collaborative research.

Applications should include:

short motivation letter (maximally one page)
curriculum vitae (including publications and working papers)
one writing sample (for example, a published article, thesis chapter, or advanced draft).

Applications should be submitted as one combined PDF file to Laura Zúñiga Ordóñez: [email protected]