Deadline: 06 February 2026
The Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) and the Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine (IRASEC) are offering 2 to 3 month mobility grants for young researchers who have defended their thesis no earlier than 2020 to carry out a research project in a country in Southeast Asia.
Financial assistance of €1,700 per month (paid at the beginning of each month) is awarded to the laureates. It is intended to cover travel and accommodation costs.
Eligible applicants must be nationals of a European Union country residing in France, have defended their thesis in 2020 or later, and be associated with a research centre or laboratory in France.
Candidates must present an original research project in the humanities or social sciences involving fieldwork in one or several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, or Vietnam. Particular attention will be paid to exploratory fieldwork, and proficiency in the language of the fieldwork country will be appreciated.
Researchers hosted at IRASEC are required to submit a 10,000-character report (including spaces and notes) to the FMSH and IRASEC at the end of their stay, detailing the activities carried out and their contribution to the research project.
Laureates will also have the opportunity to submit a publication proposal to IRASEC. It is important to note that this fellowship does not cover compulsory insurance, which must be arranged by the researcher in advance to ensure coverage for illness, hospitalisation, or repatriation.
The application must include a completed form and a scientific dossier written in French. The research project should be between 10,000 and 20,000 characters and must outline the state of the art, theoretical and methodological framework, planned steps during the stay, and institutional partners involved.
Required enclosures include a signed letter of motivation, a two-page CV with a list of publications, and a letter from the director of the applicant’s affiliated research centre in France. No additional letters of recommendation should be included.
A selection committee comprising members of the FMSH, IRASEC, and external experts will evaluate the applications based on the quality of the scientific file and methodology, the relevance of travel to a Southeast Asian country for the proposed project and career trajectory, and the applicant’s ability to identify local scientific contacts. Preference will be given to researchers who have not previously benefited from the scheme.
Applications will be reviewed between February and March 2026, with results announced at the end of March 2026. Mobility periods will last two to three months and must take place between April and December 2026, within the six months available for this call.
Applications must be submitted through the online platform, accessible until 6 February 2026 at 17:00 (Paris time).
For more information, visit FMSH.
