The John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship was established in 1967 as an endowment with funds from the Federal Republic of Germany and German industry as a lasting legacy to the memory of the slain U.S. president.
Each year, up to three fellowships are granted on a competitive basis to post-doctoral German scholars who are in the process of writing the Habilitation or an equivalent work.
Fellowships provide a stipend of $65,000 for 10 months of residential research between September and June; other benefits, such as health insurance, are included. Fellows join other visiting researchers at CES as part of the Visiting Scholars Program. Fellows must begin their tenure on September 3, 2025 and appointments cannot go beyond June 30, 2026. Requests for tenure dates that deviate from this will be considered only in exceptional circumstances. Fellows are expected to attend the weekly New Research on Europe Seminar, where work in progress is presented to colleagues for feedback.
This Fellowship is administered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Final selections are made by the CES Steering Committee.
Applications for the 2025-2026 academic year have closed.
To be eligible for a John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellowship, applicants must:
Preference is given to applicants who intend to have academic careers in Germany. Applicants currently living in the United States are not eligible. Harvard graduates or recipients of previous residential fellowships are eligible to apply after seven years.
