Visiting research fellows play an integral part in the research culture of the Sainsbury Institute and its partner institutions. While working on their own publication and research projects, they contribute to seminars and conferences in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The Sainsbury Institute's two principal fellowship programmes are designed to encourage scholars in the fields of Japanese art and archaeology to complete a substantive piece of research. Former fellows have subsequently achieved considerable success in their careers, as demonstrated by their publication records and the posts they go on to hold. They often return to the UK, to take part in Sainsbury Institute activities. Since 2001 over 26 Fellows have benefited from the Fellowship programmes, their subject specialisms ranging from prehistoric artifacts to contemporary art in every genre and medium of Japanese material and visual cultures.

Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellowships

The Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellowships, established in 2000 through generous funding from Lord Sainsbury of Turville, are designed to strengthen academic ties with Japanese studies programmes in the US and Canada. The Fellowships provide recipients with an opportunity to work in a scholarly environment conducive to completing a publication project. The Institute offers two Fellowships on an annual basis to scholars who have either received a PhD from a North American university, or who are currently employed by a North American academic institution or museum. The Fellowships are awarded for a maximum period of a year, and fellows are provided with office space at either the Norwich headquarters or the London office based in Brunei Gallery Building of SOAS. To date SOAS has hosted 16 Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Fellows, who have contributed to the Japan Research Centre weekly seminar series and given talks in the Department of Art and Archaeology seminar series. In Norwich, the fellows give World Art Seminars in the School of World Art Studies and Museology at UEA, as well as Third Thursday lectures at the Sainsbury Institute.

Handa Fellowships in Japanese Archaeology

The Handa Fellowships in Japanese Archaeology are for scholars from Japan working with institutions affiliated with the Institute. The Fellowships are funded through the International Jomon Culture Conference, supported by Handa Haruhisa, a Japanese philanthropist and businessman. The Fellows are usually based at the Institute's headquarters in Norwich, and have unrestricted access to the collection of books, site reports and journals related to Japanese archaeology, unrivalled in Europe, housed at the Lisa Sainsbury Library. As well as undertaking their own original research while in the UK, Handa Archaeology Fellows past and present have worked with Institute staff on museum exhibition, conference and publishing projects sponsored by the Institute, and acted as ambassadors for Japanese archaeology in Europe.