Vienna Centre for Advanced Studies
ViCAS is a new interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Studies at the University of Vienna
15 June 2026 - The call for ViCAS Fellowships 2027-2028 is now open.
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ViCAS offers a space of resonance. Borrowed from the language of music - and especially fitting in a city such as Vienna - the term evokes the emergence of new ideas through meaningful interaction. It captures the enrichment that occurs when diverse perspectives, experiences, and intellectual traditions encounter one another.
What ViCAS offers
Each academic year, ViCAS welcomes advanced and mid-career fellows from around the world and across all academic disciplines. Selected for their outstanding scholarly achievements and intellectual promise, fellows join a dynamic community of researchers committed to advancing knowledge through dialogue, collaboration, and independent inquiry.
ViCAS provides an environment for focused scholarly engagement: a setting in which fellows can pursue ambitious research projects while benefiting from sustained exchange across disciplinary, institutional, and national boundaries. During their stay, fellows advance ongoing projects, explore new questions, and develop ideas that may shape future research agendas.
Collaboration in the heart of Vienna
A central aim of ViCAS is to foster close interaction between fellows and researchers at the University of Vienna. Through formal and informal conversations and collaborative activities, fellows become part of a vibrant intellectual community whose diversity of perspectives stimulates creativity, critical reflection, and innovation. In this way, ViCAS creates the conditions for discoveries and collaborations that endure beyond the fellowship period. The ideas, relationships, and insights generated during a stay at the Centre continue to resonate, enriching future research and opening new avenues of inquiry.
Fellows are provided with dedicated workspace at the ViCAS premises in the Hofburg, located in Vienna’s historic city centre. Combining an exceptional setting with a focused research environment, the Centre offers ideal conditions for sustained reflection, writing, and scholarly exchange.
The Vienna Hofburg - The former imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty
ViCAS Cohort 2026-2027
We are excited to welcome the ViCAS inaugural cohort in Fall 2026.
This exceptional group of advanced and mid-career fellows - joining us from Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia - will bring their ideas and experience to the University of Vienna, sparking new connections between disciplines and departments.
Join us at ViCAS
In this video, the ViCAS leadership team shares the vision for the Centre and explains why a ViCAS Fellowship at the University of Vienna, in the heart of Europe, is a unique opportunity for scholars at different career stages.
