LMU-UCB Research in the Humanities

In 2007, the University of California, Berkeley and LMU Munich established a joint program to pursue innovative, collaborative research in the Humanities. The program facilitates academic exchange of faculty members, graduate students and postdocs in the areas of the Humanities.

LMU faculties eligible for application are:

  • Faculty of Catholic Theology
  • Faculty of Protestant Theology
  • Faculty of History and the Arts
  • Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and the Study of Religion
  • Faculty for the Study of Culture
  • Faculty of Languages and Literatures

Fundable activities for LMU researchers are: research mobility for doctoral candidates and postdocs, conferences/workshops and short-term research workshops. Moreover, LMU professors can act as a host for an UCB visiting professors at LMU.

Call for Applications for 2025

The call for applications for the 2025 funding period is now open.

Detailed information regarding the amount of funding, the funding criteria and required documents can be found in the LMU-UCB Research in the Humanities Call for Applications 2025 guidelines (PDF, 247 KB).

Application deadline: Sunday, 23 June 2024

Please note that the application documents, which need to be submitted, differ for each research activity and that applications must be submitted online via the LMU application portal - strategic partnerships.

Visiting Professorships

Visiting Professorships to LMU Munich

The professorships are open to tenure and tenure-track UCB faculty in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences.

UCB departments and graduate programs eligible for application for LMU Visiting Professorships at LMU Munich

Arts & Humanities

Departments:

  • Art History
  • Classics
  • Comparative Literature
  • East Asian Languages and Cultures
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian Studies
  • Music
  • Near Eastern Studies
  • Philosophy
  • Rhetoric
  • Scandinavian
  • Slavic Languages and Literatures
  • South & Southeast Asian Studies
  • Spanish & Portuguese
  • Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
Groups and programs:
  • Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology
  • Buddhist Studies
  • Jewish Studies
  • Medieval Studies
  • Romance Languages and Literatures
Social Sciences
  • African American Studies
  • History
  • Linguistics

Visiting professors will be given the opportunity to dedicate their time largely to their own research projects and to collaborative projects with LMU faculty. They will be asked to present their current research projects at LMU in the form of a public lecture. Depending on the length of their stay, visiting professors are encouraged to contribute to teaching through one of the following options:

  • Teaching or co-teaching a class of graduate or postgraduate students
  • Participation in an LMU-UCB workshop
  • Giving a lecture

During their stay at LMU, visiting professors from UC Berkeley also give a lecture on their research project in the Center for Advanced Studies at LMU.

The duration of each professorship is flexible; it may vary from three to nine months depending on individual needs and interests.

For the duration of the visit, LMU offers funding for accommodation and living expenses at Munich. LMU will also cover travel costs for transatlantic travel and will provide assistance with accommodation. In addition, funding for research expenses and research assistance (student workers only) may be available.

The selection committee will assess applications based on the following:

  • Research project description
  • Curriculum vitae and list of publications
  • Invitation letter: Proof of contact with a LMU professor
  • Preferences with regard to giving a seminar, workshop or lecture at LMU
  • Preferred period of stay (you are welcome to give more than one option)

Preference will be given to Berkeley faculty who can demonstrate that Munich is a relevant location for their research and who have research partners at LMU.

Visiting Professorships to UC Berkeley

The professorships are open to tenure and tenure-track LMU faculty in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences. LMU faculties eligible for application for visiting professorships are the same as mentioned above.

UCB departments and graduate programs eligible for application for visiting professorships at UC Berkeley

Arts & Humanities

Departments:

  • Art History
  • Classics
  • Comparative Literature
  • East Asian Languages and Cultures
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian Studies
  • Music
  • Near Eastern Studies
  • Philosophy
  • Rhetoric
  • Scandinavian
  • Slavic Languages and Literatures
  • South & Southeast Asian Studies
  • Spanish & Portuguese
  • Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
Groups and programs:
  • Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology
  • Buddhist Studies
  • Jewish Studies
  • Medieval Studies
  • Romance Languages and Literatures
Social Sciences
  • African American Studies
  • History
  • Linguistics

Visiting professors will be given the opportunity to dedicate their time largely to their own research projects and to collaborative projects with Berkeley faculty. They will be asked to present their current research projects in Berkeley in the form of a public lecture. Depending on the length of their stay, visiting professors are also encouraged to contribute to teaching through one of the following options:

  • Offering or co-teaching a class to graduate or postgraduate students
  • Participating in an LMU-UCB workshop. Financial means for inviting doctoral students or colleagues from LMU will be available.
  • Giving additional lectures
The duration of each professorship is flexible; it may vary from 2 weeks to 9 months depending on individual needs and interests.

The Visiting Professor will receive a stipend of up to 6,500 USD per month, depending on the rank of the professor and length of stay. UC Berkeley will cover travel costs for transatlantic travel at a flat rate of 1,500 USD and will provide assistance with accommodation.

The selection committee will assess applications based on the following:

  • Research project description
  • C.V. and list of publications
  • Preferred period of stay (you are welcome to give more than one option)
  • Preferences regarding offering of a seminar, workshop, or lecture at Berkeley

Preference will be given to LMU faculty who can demonstrate that Berkeley is a relevant location for their research and/or who have research partners at UC Berkeley.

Doctoral candidates and postdocs

As part of the research cooperation with the University of California, Berkeley, doctoral candidates and postdocs from LMU can apply for funding of a research stay at the partner university. A fundamental funding criterion is that the applicant is either an LMU employee or, for doctoral candidates, that the applicant has an LMU professor as first supervisor. Postdocs must be employed at LMU.

Further requirements:

  • Research project in an advanced state
  • Detailed information about the research context at UCB in which the project will be presented
  • Contact with the appropriate tenured professor at UCB
  • LMU doctoral candidate or postdoc status at the time of application and during the research stay at UCB

The researchers will have the opportunity to present their projects to the relevant reading groups/colloquia at UCB.

Research visits at UC Berkeley can be funded for up to three months for doctoral candidates and six months for postdocs.

  • Doctoral candidates: daily allowance and accommodation up to 2,700 euros per month
  • Postdocs: daily allowance and accommodation up to 3,500 euros per month
  • Travel expenses up to 1,100 euros (flight costs, transfer to/from the airport)
  • Visa and registration fees at UC Berkeley, limited to a maximum of 2,500 euros

The costs of the research visits will be reimbursed by LMU in accordance with the Bavarian Travel Expenses Act (Bayerisches Reisekostengesetz).

  • Short description of the research project, as well as previous studies and research work relevant to the proposed project
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Letter of recommendation from a professor at LMU
  • Proof of existing contact with a professor at UCB in whose seminar the research project will be presented. If your contact person at UCB (primary collaborator) is not institutionally connected to the College of Letters & Science, you need to locate a second, co-collaborator in that College
  • Signed Declaration of consent (PDF, 164 KB) (please download and sign the document)
In addition to the qualifications of the applicant and his/her research project, it is important that the project should be received with interest at UCB – contacts with professors at UCB are therefore essential.


Academic Party responsible for the program

Prof. Dr. Martin Schulze Wessel
Professor of Eastern European History
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Conferences and workshops

Application

As part of the Academic Cooperation Program with UC Berkeley, LMU Munich can support conferences and workshops conducted jointly by researchers from LMU and UCB with funding of up to 20,000 euros.

In order to promote new and innovative research areas within the Humanities, LMU and UCB researchers are invited to submit joint proposals for one or a series of workshops and/or conferences. Applications for a series of workshops can be envisaged for up to two years.

Please note that with regard to travel expenses, in general, the sending institution pays for the travel costs of its employees and the hosting institution takes over costs for catering etc. Therefore, please consider that travel expenses for UCB researchers need to be claimed at UCB.

Target group: Postdocs and professors employed at LMU on a fixed-hours basis in collaboration with their research partners from UCB. Existing contacts with UCB researchers are a prerequisite. Applications from doctoral students are welcome. In this case, letters of recommendation from LMU supervisors are required in addition to the regular documents.

Documents

  • Description of the conference or workshop (max. 3 pages), including the expected outcome and the planned timeline
  • Curriculum vitae of the cooperating partners at LMU and UCB
  • List of planned project participants (in particular, name and position/rank of persons for whom travel expenses are to be reimbursed)
  • Budget plan, justifying the funds required and including other sources of funding (if applicable)
  • For doctoral candidates: letters of recommendation from the LMU supervisor

Application

As part of the research cooperation with LMU Munich, the University of California, Berkeley, can support conferences and workshops in Berkeley conducted jointly by researchers from LMU and UCB with grants of up to 8,000 USD.

Eligibility

Faculty members in the Arts and Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences together with their research partners at UC Berkeley are eligible to apply. Existing contacts with LMU researchers are a prerequisite. The application must indicate at least one faculty member from Berkeley and one from LMU.

Contact

Debarati Sanyal
Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry

c/o Victoria Jaschob

Application deadline for the 2025 funding period is May 17, 2024

Short-term research workshop

Target group: Academic staff who want to expand existing research contacts and/or investigate the potential for future cooperation with UCB. Applications by doctoral candidates need to be accompanied by letters of recommendation from faculty supervisors.

Within the framework of the Academic Cooperation Program with the University of California, Berkeley, funding is available for so-called “Short-term research workshops” (small-scale, bilateral research workshops) conducted by researchers from LMU and UC Berkeley (UCB). It is meant to serve as kick-off funding for joint research projects. One proposal can provide funding for up to two short-term research workshops with up to three researchers per workshop.

Funding

Funding of up to 3,000 euros per person includes reimbursement for a stay of up to one month by LMU researchers at UCB and/or by UCB researchers at LMU Munich (minimum length of 7-14 days).

  • Reimbursement for flight costs up to 1,100 euros (economy class) as well as transfer to/from the airport, hotel costs up to 182 euros/night and daily allowance.

Documents

  • Description of the short-term research workshop (max. 3 pages), including the expected outcome and the planned timeline
  • Curriculum vitae of the cooperating partners at LMU and UCB
  • Budget plan, justifying the funds required and including other sources of funding (if applicable)
  • List of planned project participants (in particular, name and position/rank of persons for whom travel expenses are to be reimbursed)
  • For doctoral candidates: letters of recommendation from LMU supervisor

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact the team International Networks by email via network.international@lmu.de.

Porträt von Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess, Vizepräsident für den Bereich Forschung
Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess

Vice President for Research

Send an email

+49 89 2180-2260

Juliane Gierach

International Office

Strategic Partnerships: Cambridge, NYU, UCB, Harvard, Bordeaux

Send an email

+49 89 2180-6712

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