The Institute is currently housed in downtown Lisbon, in the award-winning Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation main building, a national monument.

We will move into our permanent headquarters, located in the town of Oeiras, 10 mi West of Lisbon and ½ mi from the ocean, by Fall 2029. The building, a historic 18th Century palace, surrounded by a large park and other historic buildings, is currently undergoing extensive restoration and remodeling.

We expect most of our applicants to be active academics.  However, we also consider applications from emeriti, independent scholars, and practitioners of all the arts. While most applicants hold a PhD, this is not a formal requirement. We hope to achieve in our cohorts a balance of well-known and established scholars and young promising intellectuals; but no preset proportion exists.

We have no field restrictions as such. We will fund projects in most fields of inquiry, provided that the proposed work does not require laboratory or experimental facilities and is not primarily practice- or application-oriented.

No knowledge of Portuguese or specific academic degrees are required. There are no restrictions of nationality, and no other formal prerequisites apply.

Fellowships are preferably awarded for the full academic year, September 15 through May 15 (eight months). However, we might also consider applications for three month fellowships (fall semester), and four month fellowships (spring semester).

Fellowships require continuous residency, in keeping with the spirit of the Institute, which encourages generous time for reflection and exchange. However, short absences may be exceptionally allowed.

We expect to award up to 15 fellowships each year.  The final number will depend on the actual duration of individual fellowships. 

Applications will be open July 1 through October 15. Please see the Application section for details.

The proposal should not exceed three pages. It should offer a concise outline of the research project, including its main themes, scholarly context, novelty, and the objectives for your stay at the GIAS.

Candidates must provide the names of two referees in their application. Referees will be contacted directly by the Institute as needed, and requested to submit their letters of recommendation via the MyGulbenkian platform. Reference letters sent by email are not accepted.

Once submitted, your application and all uploaded documents will be visible in the “Applications” section of your MyGulbenkian account. Please note that no automatic confirmation email is sent.

Applicants are typically notified of the outcome of their applications by early February. The final list of fellows for the following academic year is announced by April 15.

Fellowships include a monthly stipend, travel expenses, family health insurance, and a partial housing allowance. The final amount of the fellowship will be determined upon consideration of the circumstances of individual fellows.  We may help fellows in finding accommodation, as well as schools for accompanying children, when required.

The GIAS fellowship is awarded as a grant and is not treated as employment income under Portuguese law. As such, it is not subject to tax withholding. Fellows should nevertheless check possible tax implications for their country of residence.

At the Institute, fellows will have individual offices. They will also have access to seminar rooms, electronic resources, and to a number of on-campus restaurants, where coffee and lunch are generally available on weekdays, and where they may bring guests on occasion. They will also have borrowing privileges from university libraries in the Lisbon area, as well as from the Gulbenkian Art Library.

GIAS does not provide accommodation directly (a partial housing allowance is included in the fellowship); however, we are happy to offer guidance and suggestions about suitable accommodation in the Lisbon area.

For visa purposes, the Institute will issue a formal letter, confirming the fellowship and its conditions.

Fellowships are not renewable, although fellows may reapply to the Institute after at least five years since their last residency.

Weekday lunch attendance is recommended, but not mandatory. However, each fellow is expected to conduct at least one lunchtime presentation during their stay. There are no other specific obligations.

The possibility exists to organize internal seminars and discussion groups. Some of these may be open to the public or to outside guests: small-scale conferences, lectures and workshops, also in association with colleagues at other institutions.

Although travel restrictions apply (see above), fellows may participate in activities not sponsored by the Institute at their own discretion.

English speakers will likely pronounce it /ˈdʒʌɪəs/. Others might pronounce it differently. No specific pronunciation is expected.