The last cut-off date for the Conny Kristel Fellowship Programme was 22 October 2023. At the moment there is no open call. A new call will follow in 2024-2025.

By facilitating international access to an unprecedented range of key archives and collections related to the Holocaust as well as access to archival and digital humanities expertise, the EHRI Conny Kristel Fellowships support and stimulate Holocaust research conducted by researchers, archivists, librarians, curators, and junior scholars, especially PhD candidates with limited resources. Projects funded concern the Holocaust broadly conceived, including its prehistory, its aftermath, and the role of antisemitism before, during and after World War II.

The Kristel Fellowships are funded by the European Union under the rules of transnational access and are thus especially intended for applicants working at institutions established in member states (the EU-27) and states associated to Horizon 2020. Candidates from Central and Eastern Europe are especially encouraged to apply. It is not possible to apply for a Kristel Fellowship at an institution in the same country where one works.

Stipend, duration, requirements

Kristel Fellowships include a stipend for housing and living expenses as well as travel to and from the inviting institution. These stipends follow the practices of the inviting institution or institutions. Recipients are responsible for securing visas if necessary.

Kristel Fellows will have access to the research infrastructure of the respective EHRI partner institution including access to a computer. The applicants can choose the lengths of their stay, with a minimum of one and a maximum of six weeks. (Fellows may extend their stay at their own expense and in accordance with the host institution and visa regulations.) Various host institutions can be combined in one fellowship. A regular presence at the hosting institution is expected. However, visiting other research institutions in the vicinity of the respective host institution is encouraged.

Successful applicants are expected to participate in a joint online introductory meeting, where Kristel Fellows can introduce themselves and their research, and familiarize themselves with the EHRI Portal as well as the other offerings of the EHRI Project.  Upon finishing the Kristel Fellowship, Fellows are required to provide either a report detailing the results of their stay and the impact upon their research/project, or contributing a (Blog Post) to the EHRI Document Blog.

Start dates of the Fellowship is decided by the fellow and the respective EHRI partner(s), but the tenure must take place before 30 September 2024.

EHRI partner institutions

EHRI is offering Kristel Fellowships at one or more of the following EHRI partner institutions; each will be awarded on a competitive basis.

• NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• State Archives of Belgium (CegeSoma/SAB), Brussels, Belgium
• Jewish Museum in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
• Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, Munich, Germany
• Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Jerusalem, Israel
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Washington (D.C.), United States of America. EHRI Conny Kristel Fellowships at the USHMM are restricted to two areas:
  • Collections infrastructure specialists, such as archivists, cataloguers, collection managers, conservators, curators, film and oral history specialists, librarians, digital curators, and others wishing to expand their knowledge and gain expertise in museum practices, collections access, and infrastructure development.
  • Scholars conducting research on the future of Holocaust studies. Topics could range from identifying trends in the field across disciplines; to identifying new approaches or methodologies, such as digital humanities and material culture; or envisioning programs to support the field. For USHMM fellowships designed for scholars to support significant research and writing about the Holocaust, please see here. 
• Bundesarchiv / Federal Archives, Berlin, Germany.
• The Wiener Holocaust Library, London, UK
• Arolsen Archives, Bad Arolsen, Germany
• Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute / Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. Emanuela Ringelbluma (ŻIH), Warsaw, Poland
• Mémorial de la Shoah / The Shoah Memorial – Museum, Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation, Paris, France
• Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Studien / Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI), Vienna, Austria
• Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, Bucharest, Romania
• Foundation Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center / Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (CDEC), Milan, Italy
• Dokumentačné stredisko holokaustu / Holocaust Documentation Center (HDC), Bratislava, Slovakia
• Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Research Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights, Mechelen, Belgium
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece *
• Jewish Museum Greece (JMG), Athens, Greece * 
• Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, Vilnius, Lithuania

* Each Fellow in Greece will be hosted by both the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Jewish Museum Greece.

Application

All application materials must be submitted in English. The application must include the following:

• A completed application form.
• A curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages).
• A four to five page (1,250 to maximum 1,500 words) detailed description of the project proposal related to the Holocaust (including its antecedents and aftermath) planned for the term of the fellowship as well as an explanation of which institution(s) and archival holdings are relevant for the research topic.
• A letter of recommendation from a reputable academic who is familiar with the applicant’s work. It should include an evaluation of the applicant’s proposed research as well as the overall quality of the applicant’s work. The letter may be sent by email as a scan (including the recommenders’ signature and letterhead) with the application, or directly by the recommender. The letter must be received before the application deadline.
• Applicants must also designate a second recommender in the application form. The recommender may be contacted directly by EHRI.

The last cut-off date for the Conny Kristel Fellowship Programme: 22 October 2023

The complete application package should be sent as an email attachment in DOC or PDF format to kristel-fellowships@ehri-project.eu. All proposals will be evaluated for scientific excellence by an independent panel of experts. EHRI aims at creating an equal opportunity environment and thus does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnic or national origin, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation or disability. Applicants will receive the results within 2-3 months from the cut-off date.

Watch a short video about the Conny Kristel Fellowship Programme:

Photo: Mark Nauwen for EHRI. Panel with former EHRI fellows at the conference Holocaust Studies in its Social Setting, 3 July 2019, Amsterdam.