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, Canada, Asia and Europe. The Fellowships provide recipients with an opportunity to work in a scholarly environment conducive to completing a publication project.

The Institute is offering one Fellowship for a maximum period of one year and two or three short-term Fellowships, of three months to half a year each, to scholars who have either received a PhD from a North American, Asian or European university, or who are currently employed by an academic institution or museum. Any area of Japanese culture is eligible, although preference will be given to applications focusing on the history of art, cultural heritage, archaeology or architecture, or research with a strong visual component.

The appointed fellows are provided with office space at the Norwich headquarters. Previous Robert and Lisa Sainsbury fellows have given World Art Seminars in the School of World Art Studies and Museology at the University of East Anglia, as well as Third Thursday lectures at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures. In London, they have contributed to the Japan Research Centre Seminar Series at SOAS. Fellows will also be encouraged to organise a workshop in Norwich towards the end of their tenure.

The one year Fellowship will commence in September 2012.

The short Fellowships will be for either three or six months and start dates and the preferred Fellowship length are subject to negotiation. Please state these in your application.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit the following documents by email to sisjac@sainsbury-institute.org (postal applications will not be accepted):

• Curriculum Vitae (please include date PhD is expected to be conferred, if not already conferred).
• Plan of research in the UK (maximum 2 pages).
• Sample of writing (preferably something published, or a core chapter of PhD) in the form of either an attachment with a maximum size of 1 MB or a link to an online file.

Receipt of applications by SISJAC will be acknowledged by email.

In addition, two letters of reference should be sent by email or mail to arrive by the application deadline. If sent by mail, they should be signed and sealed and sent directly by the referee to the Sainsbury Institute, 64 The Close, Norwich, NR1 4DH, UK.

If they are sent by email, they should be emailed directly by the referee to the Sainsbury Institute.

The closing date for applications for the 2012-13 Sainsbury Fellowships is 1 March 2012.