Dear Friends,
I'd like to bring the 2026 call for FWO postdocs at the Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies to your attention. We've had a good deal of success with this funding scheme in previous years and are looking for folk with projects they'd like to do that fit with the research community here. Indological or Tibetological projects are always welcome. I would advise interested parties to get in touch sooner than later as we are only supporting a certain number of applicants this year. Details below:
The Ghent Centre for Buddhist Studies (GCBS) (www.cbs.ugent.be ), located at Ghent University, Belgium, is seeking candidates for postdoctoral fellowships which run between 3 and potentially 6 years. This fellowship is open to scholars worldwide. There are two fellowship opportunities: the Junior FWO Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is open to those who have received their PhDs within the past three years and the Senior FWO Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is open to those who have received their PhD no earlier than three years ago and no later than six. Those who have successfully obtained a Junior Fellowship are automatically eligible to apply for a Senior Fellowship after thus offering a total fellowship length of six years. The GCBS is a thriving community for Buddhist Studies and offers an international research environment with faculty and staff from all over the world. Our research focus spans the historic regions of Buddhist transmission from South and Central Asia and on to East Asia across a number of historic periods favoring textual methodologies in the primary sources of the traditional languages of Buddhist Transmission (Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, etc.). We are pleased to support projects focused on South/Southeast/Central Asian, Tibetan/Himalayan, and East Asian Buddhist manifestations.
Interested candidates do not apply to the university itself, but instead use the portal of the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship. These prestigious and generously compensated fellowships represent international competitions within a broad number of fields spanning the humanities and sciences. A number of successful applicants have submitted Buddhist Studies projects and GCBS has a track record of supporting positive Buddhist Studies applications for multiple years. Funding for each fellowship is up to 3 years for (with a renewal application possible from junior to senior). Administrative and teaching duties are minimal although teaching is always possible for those who wish to do so. Strong applications that are unsuccessful in obtaining FWO funding will also be reviewed by the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Ghent University proper. This year's application cycle will open on September 17, 2026 with a deadline of November 16, 2025 at 17.00 CET. After the initial deadline, positively reviewed applicants are invited to participate in an interview process in the spring. Results will be announced on May 13, 2027 with successful applicants able to choose a starting date of either October 1 or November 1, 2027. Due to the rigor of the application process, we wish to stress the importance of connecting early with us as all applications must be supported by a professor. The application is somewhat lengthy and demands greater detail than many other postdoctoral applications, but the rewards are also highly attractive, and we can potentially help navigate the application process more efficiently. Anyone interested in applying should mail: charles.disimone@ugent.be, please include a CV and a brief description of a potential project topic. If your project is suitable, you will be paired with a professor who will support your application and guide you through the application process. In addition to the FWO postdoctoral fellowships, there are a number of other funding opportunities for researchers as well as PhD funding schemes. Details may be found on our page dedicated to funding resources here.