Isaac Alfred Ailion Fellowship

The Isaac Alfred Ailion Fellowship will support scholars to work with the extensive Special Collections of Leiden University in the field of Japanese culture and language for a period of maximum three months.

Fellowship program

The program will support scholars to work with the extensive Special Collections of Leiden University in the field of Japanese culture and language for a period of maximum three months. The allowance is € 3.000 a month for a senior fellow and € 2.000 a month for a junior fellow. They will be invited to share their research through public lectures and publications.

Fellowship applications will be reviewed by a special board consisting of: prof. dr. Ivo Smits (Professor of Arts and Cultures of Japan at Leiden University and member of the board of the Isaac Alfred Ailion Foundation), Nadia Kreeft MA (Curator and Subject Librarian Japanese and Korean at Leiden University Libraries) dr. Kasper van Ommen (Curator and Coordinator Scaliger Institute).

The deadline for sending in the application form is 1 April 2025.

Conditions

Applications for an Isaac Alfred Ailion fellowship have to comply with a number of conditions:

• Fellows are expected to conduct their research in Leiden University Libraries and/or The Scaliger Institute during the period of the Fellowship.
• Fellows are responsible for ensuring they have the correct visa to support a research trip in the Netherlands for the duration of the Fellowship.
• An invitation to take up a Fellowship will be made subject to agreement on the dates of the visit. Applicants should indicate their preferred dates on the application form.
• All Fellowships are to be started and completed during the year of application, except when a special agreement is made.
• It is the fellow's responsibility to find an accommodation for living (with the support of the Housing Department of the University) and to fund all the costs of the visit with the support of the funds awarded. Applicants should be aware that accommodation costs in Leiden may exceed the funds offered.
• The fellow will provide the Scaliger Institute with a written research report at the completion of the Fellowship.
• The fellow will provide Leiden University Libraries with a copy of every publication resulting from the research visit.

Applicants are reminded that if they require a visa in order to start a Fellowship in the Netherlands, they must secure the appropriate visa and, once a proposal has been accepted, awarding of the Fellowship will be on the condition of fulfilling this requirement.

Applications must include:
• A completed application form stating personal details, the name of the Fellowship, the title of the proposed research project, the preferred dates of the intended visit and the names and addresses of two academic referees;
• A proposal for research to be carried out in the Special Collections of Leiden University Library during the term of the Fellowship (1,200 words or fewer). Applicants should indicate how the proposed study advances their own research goals and how the study satisfies any particular aims of the award;
• The research proposal must specify the relation between the proposed research and the primary sources, which are to be researched and consulted in the Special Collections Department of the library;
• A list of manuscripts, editions of other items to be consulted in the library, supplied with shelf marks;
• A start and end date of the proposed research;
• A curriculum vitae;
• A list of relevant publications;
• Two letters of recommendation from the academic referees named in the application form. Applicants should ask the referees to comment on their professional knowledge of the applicant and the contribution the proposed research would make to scholarship. The referees should be asked to send their letters directly to the Coordinator of the Fellowship Programme, by email to scaliger@library.leidenuniv.nl or by post to the following address: K. van Ommen, Scaliger Institute, P.O. Box 9501, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands;
• Researchers who have yet to obtain their doctoral degree also need to have a letter of recommendation from their supervisor(s);
• Fellows who have previously received a fellowship from the Scaliger Institute, cannot obtain this grant a second time.

The Isaac Alfred Ailion fellow is expected to contribute to the activities of the Scaliger Institute, and to give a public lecture in the series of Asian Library at Leiden University Libraries.