SSSHARC Visiting Fellowships support outstanding early- and mid-career researchers to collaborate with humanities and social science researchers at the University of Sydney.
They are designed to foster high-impact projects strategically positioned to attract further research funding or investment from industry, philanthropy or international sources.
Our Visiting Fellowships are funded by named bequests that determine their broad research area. Fellows are awarded grants-in-aid toward travel and accommodation costs in Sydney.
The inaugural Ukrainian Studies Fellowship supports a project led by an outstanding early-career researcher in collaboration with an academic host at the University of Sydney. Research supported under this scheme seeks to advance knowledge on Ukraine’s culture and society and make it accessible to a broader audience. Projects should fall within the social sciences and humanities and involve activities focussed on research communication, translation, and social impact, whether in Ukraine, Australia, or a third country where the applicant might be based.
This Fellowship is funded through the Ukrainian Studies Foundation of Australia.
Funding
This fellowship is funded by the Ukrainian Studies Foundation in Australia. The recipient will receive funding of up to $25,000 AUD as a contribution towards their travel and accommodation expenses. The value awarded will depend on the Fellowship’s duration and the availability of additional funding secured through the applicant’s institution. One fellowship is awarded per year.
How to apply
The Visiting Fellowship scheme has an annual application round for visits in the following year.
Applications for 2027 have now closed.
The Hunt-Simes Visiting Chair of Sexuality Studies Fellowship supports outstanding early- and mid-career researchers in sexuality studies (broadly understood) to collaborate with researchers at the University of Sydney.
This Fellowship is funded by the Hunt-Simes Bequest.
Funding
Recipients of the Hunt Simes Visiting Chair of Sexuality Studies Fellowship will each receive funding of up to $10,000 AUD as a contribution towards their travel and accommodation expenses. The value awarded will depend on the Fellow's city of origin and the length of the Fellowship.
How to apply
The Visiting Fellowship scheme has an annual application round for visits in the following year.
Applications for 2027 have now closed.
Designed with the aim of establishing opportunities for collaboration, the John Mitchell Kirtley Creative Practice Fellowship recognises the contribution creative practitioners make to the wider research environment and provides a platform for interdisciplinary and cross-institutional exchange.
This fellowship is funded by the John Mitchell Kirtley Bequest.
Funding
Recipients of the John Mitchell Kirtley Creative Practice Fellowship will each receive funding of up to $10,000 AUD as a contribution towards their travel and accommodation expenses. The value awarded will depend on the Fellow's city of origin and the length of the Fellowship.
How to apply
Please contact us at sssharc@sydney.edu.au for more information.
Hunt-Simes Fellowship in Sexuality Studies
Katrina Leclerc (University of Winnipeg) will work with Professor Laura J. Shepherd (SSPS) to develop a comparative dataset examining how LGBTQI+ perspectives are integrated into the United Nations' Women, Peace and Security and Youth, Peace and Security agendas. These findings will be shaped through lectures and workshops for researchers working across policy, sexuality studies, and peacebuilding studies
Dr Ying Wang (The University of Auckland) will collaborate with Professor Michael Anderson (SSESW, CREATE) to host a series of events and workshops mapping how sexuality education and wellbeing are understood and supported among Asian migrant families in Australia
Dr Muhamed Alif Bin Ibrahim (National University of Singapore) will work with Dr Lik Sam Chan (SACE) to investigate how LGBTQ+ couples living with HIV negotiate and navigate HIV in their relationships and within their broader socio-political contexts
Dr Lyu Azbel (Yale School of Medicine) will work with Professor Alan McKee (SACE) to examine how sexual environments shape the equitable exercise of desire across digital and embodied sexual cultures, with plans for joint publications
Ukrainian Studies Fellowship
Funded by the Ukrainian Studies Foundation of Australia
Dr Nataliia Laba (University of Groningen) will collaborate with Dr Olga Boichak (SACE) to further understanding of how generative AI imagery impacts public engagement with the Russia-Ukraine war, with plans for an interdisciplinary workshop on AI imagery and digital media as well as joint publications
Dr Natalia Tsybuliak (Berdyansk State Pedagogical University) will work alongside Dr Michelle Peterie (SSPS) to examine how universities and academic communities adapt to prolonged wartime disruption and changing social conditions. Dr Tsybuliak will deliver a seminar exploring displacement, resilience, and institutional continuity in academia in times of conflict
John Mitchell Kirtley Creative Practice Fellowship Funded by the John Mitchell Kirtley Bequest
Dr Georgia Phillips (Adelaide University) will develop a new novel manuscript, The Aesthete: A Novel, and deliver lectures and masterclasses on queer literary aesthetics to Creative Writing students with Dr Briohny Doyle (SACE)
Gilbert Humanities Fellowship
Professor Stefan Pfeiffer (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg) will collaborate with Professor Julia Kindt on Herodotus’ account of Egyptian religion, exploring its ethnographic and anthropological dimensions, with plans for joint publications, grants, and digital teaching using University of Sydney museum collections.
Dr Margaret Hutchinson (UNSW Canberra) will work with Professor Stephen Garton (History) on the cultural dimensions of war, trauma, and veteran suicide in Australian history, extending her research and developing joint publications.
Dr Kush Patel (Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design, and Technology) will join the HISS Collective to collaborate on Queer School Pedagogy: A Design Handbook, focusing on digital humanities, queer/trans-feminist technologies, and critical pedagogy.
Professor Yuko Itatsu (University of Tokyo) will also join the HISS Collective to co-develop Queer School Pedagogy: A Design Handbook, with a focus on AI, gender, and power.
Hunt-Simes Fellowship in Sexuality Studies
Professor Amanda Denes (University of Connecticut) is a returning Hunt-Simes Visiting Chair and will continue her collaboration with Dr Mandy Henningham (Sociology) on bi+ students’ health and well-being, in the form of a research project and exhibition.
Professor Meredith Weiss (University at Albany, SUNY) will work with Dr Shawna Tang (Gender and Cultural Studies) to formalise a Southeast Asian queer studies network, support regional collaboration and mentorship, and co-convene a workshop on intersectional queer activism toward a co-edited book proposal.
Dr Eric Layland (University of Delaware) will collaborate with Associate Professor Kellie Burns (Education) on LGBTQ+ youth flourishing, co-author a research manuscript, and deliver a postgraduate workshop on research methods in LGBTQ+ and family studies.
Dr Alan Santinele Martino (University of Calgary) will work with Dr Jessica Zanuttini (FASS) and Associate Professor Roxanna Pebdani (FMH) on “Cripping” the Curriculum, a project reimagining sex education through the lived experiences and desires of Autistic young adults.
Professor Pamela Lannutti (Widener University) leads the 2026 HISS Collective and has played a central role in HISS 2024 and 2025 through workshops on sex education, selection committee service, and multiple related research outcomes.
Dr Nic M. Weststrate (University of Illinois Chicago) co-facilitated a workshop on LGBTQ+ intergenerational dialogue in HISS 2025 and brings expertise in LGBTQ+ aging, storytelling, and community-based pedagogy and well-being.
Dr Adam J. Greteman (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) has been involved in HISS since 2023, contributing as a workshop facilitator, community leader, and member of the 2024 and 2025 selection committees.
Dr Martin Torres (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) contributed to HISS 2024, sharing his expertise on trans cultural geographies, labour, equity, and inclusion in Chile.
James Social Sciences Fellowship
Professor Alistair Fraser (University of Glasgow) will collaborate with Professor Greg Martin (Sociology) on youth justice in NSW, focusing on youth criminalisation, violence reduction, and policy. He will deliver public talks and student masterclasses.
Dr Maria Adams (University of Surrey) will work with Dr Michelle Peterie (Sociology) and local community organisations on the role of food in carceral spaces, including immigration detention and prisons, with a focus on lived experience and social justice.
John Mitchell Kirtley Creative Practice Fellowship
Dr Kiki Loveday (Smith College) will collaborate with Dr Susan Potter (Film Studies) on queer historiography and early cinema, delivering an artist talk and screening, and launching the together studio—a co-research collective exploring archival materials through experimental practice.
Applications for 2027 are now closed.
Applicants must be:
Applicants must agree to the following requirements:
Note that additional requirements may apply to the respective fellowship schemes. Please read through the relevant guidelines carefully.
Applicants must secure the support of a current FASS academic staff member to host their proposed visit. The academic host should have similar or complementary research interests to those of the applicant. University affiliates (including honorary, adjunct, and emeritus professors) are not eligible to sponsor international visitors and cannot be nominated as your primary academic host.
How to identify relevant FASS staff
Applicants who do not have an existing connection to the University can:
When contacting a potential academic host, please provide:
Applicants must agree to a program of work with their academic host before completing their application.
Visiting Fellows are responsible for ensuring they hold a valid visa for entry into Australia that will allow them to engage in all the activities they wish to undertake during their stay.
The University's Immigration and Global Mobility (I&GM) team can recommend the most suitable visa for each Visiting Fellow based on the nature and duration of their visit. They will also provide Visiting Fellows with an invitation letter and instructions on how to lodge their visa application.
The I&GM team advises that tourist and visitor visas (e.g. 600, 601, and 651) aren't suitable for the recipient of a Visiting Fellowship payment or for visitors who plan to undertake or collaborate on research. Visiting Fellows will typically require a 408 Temporary Activity - Research Activities visa or 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visa.
As some visas can take up to several months to be approved, it's important for applicants to consider visa processing times when planning the dates for their proposed visit.
Through my fellowship with SSSHARC, I was able to foster lasting collaborations with my Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture at USC.
University of Southern California
My fellowship with SSSHARC connected me with an international network of sexuality studies scholars whose conversations sharpened my thinking and sparked enduring collaborations around queer pedagogy.
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
