Academy in Exile (AiE) began in 2017 as a joint initiative of the Institute for Turkish Studies at the Universität Duisburg-Essen, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen, and the Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin. The Volkswagen Foundation, the Chancellery and Dean’s Office of the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute of Advanced Study) provided initial funding and personnel support. Additional funding was made available by the New York-based Institute of International Education-Scholar Rescue Fund and the Freudenberg Foundation. The first call for Volkswagen Foundation-funded applications was published in October 2017 and was earmarked for scholars at risk from Turkey. Through AiE’s international academic contacts and, in keeping with communiqués from other programs catering to scholars at risk, the AiE Council became aware of emerging risk situations in other parts of the world.
Today, Academy in Exile—as a joint initiative of the Turkish Studies Department at the Universität Duisburg-Essen, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen, the Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien, and the Freie Universität Berlin—is open to scholars at risk from around the world. Thanks to funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, AiE was able to offer fellowships to a second cohort of eight scholars in 2018–19 for a residency program on Critical Thinking at the Freie Universität Berlin. Funding was renewed in 2019 for an extension period from 2020–2023 for a third cohort of fellows.
The Academy is chaired by a council representing the participating partner institutes. The Council of the Academy is responsible for setting the research agenda with its fellows and coordinating the selection of fellows. The Academy has recently established an Advisory Board. Contacts at the KWI are Volker Heins and Egemen Özbek.
For more information you can also visit the official website of “Academy in Exile”.