The Urban Studies Foundation (USF) is accepting applications for its 2026 International Fellowships, which fund a three to nine month visiting sabbatical for early-to-mid-career urban scholars from the Global South. The fellowship pays for your accommodation and subsistence at a host university of your choice, your return travel, some research costs, and a small budget for your mentor to help connect you with your home institution and networks.
You need a PhD awarded within the last ten years, and you must be a national of a country on the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients, currently based and affiliated with a research institution in one of those countries. The fellowship is specifically for writing up research you’ve already completed, not for starting new data collection, and your output must make a genuine contribution to urban studies, covering themes like housing, climate, governance, migration, or public health in cities across the Global South. You arrange your own mentor and host institution as part of the application, rather than choosing from a USF-provided list, and the deadline to apply is 6 July 2026 at 23:59 UTC+1.
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| Scholarship Name ⇒ | Urban Studies Foundation Fellowship |
| Host Country ⇒ | Gasglow |
| Study Level ⇒ | Fellowship |
| Benefits ⇒ | Accommodation| Funding & Resources |Mentorship | Return Travel Cost |
| Funded By ⇒ | Urban Studies Foundation |
| Eligible Countries ⇒ | OECD DAC list of ODA recipients |
| Application Deadline ⇒ | 6th July 2026 |
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About the Urban Studies Foundation and the International Fellowships 2026
The Urban Studies Foundation was founded in 2008 as a charity regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, but its roots go back further, to the Urban Studies Journal, which published its first issue in 1964 out of the University of Glasgow. The journal still funds the USF today: profits from publishing Urban Studies, now one of the leading peer-reviewed journals in the field and indexed in Scopus and the Social Sciences Citation Index, are donated to the Foundation, which then redistributes that funding as grants to researchers working on cities around the world. The International Fellowship scheme has already supported more than 80 Fellows from over 20 countries, with the most recent cohort working across Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, and South Africa on topics ranging from housing financialisation to participatory upgrading. You can browse profiles of current and past International Fellows on the USF website before you apply, to get a sense of the kind of research the scheme has funded.
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What the International Fellowships 2026 Cover
The fellowship’s financial support is built around three core needs:
- Accommodation and subsistence costs while you’re based at your host university
- Return travel to and from your host institution
- A contribution toward some of your research costs
There’s also a small separate budget for your mentor, intended to help them engage with your home institution, networks, or research site during your fellowship. If you face extraordinary costs linked to caring responsibilities or disability, you can apply for a small supplemental grant, but only if you contact the USF in advance of submitting your application to discuss your situation. Family members can travel with you, but the USF expects you to arrange and fund that yourself; it will only consider modest dependent-care costs in strongly justified cases, and these go through a separate request rather than your main budget.
There’s no fixed budget ceiling and no template, since costs vary enormously by location. What the USF does require is evidence: flight prices, accommodation costs, and visa fees for any single item above GBP 500, collated into one tidy PDF alongside your application. Mentor fees are not eligible at all, and equipment such as computers is normally excluded unless you can justify an exceptional need before applying.
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Eligibility Requirements for the Urban Studies Foundation and the International Fellowships 2026
You must be:
- An early-to-mid-career urban scholar holding a PhD awarded within the preceding ten calendar years by the submission deadline. If it’s been longer due to a justified career break, such as parental leave or unemployment, you can still apply, but you must contact the USF in advance to discuss your case
- A national of a country currently on the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients
- Formally affiliated with, and based in, a research organisation in one of those countries. Being a national of an eligible country isn’t enough if you’re now based somewhere else, including a high-income territory associated with an ODA-listed country
- Someone who has already completed their primary data collection and analysis, ready to write that work up as publishable outputs rather than start new research
A few details worth knowing before you plan your proposal: your host institution can be anywhere in the world, including another country in the Global South, and the USF actively welcomes this kind of “South to South” mobility. You’re technically allowed to choose a host in your own city, but it isn’t recommended, since the point of the fellowship is time away from your home institution and a chance to build new collaborations. You also cannot name a USF Trustee as your mentor under any circumstances, and you can only name one as a referee if that Trustee was your sole PhD supervisor, with written USF permission obtained in advance.
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Required Application Materials for the Urban Studies Foundation and the International Fellowships 2026
Your application must include:
- Your contact details, recent education, recent academic roles, a short career statement, proof of nationality, and the names and contact details of two academic referees
- Details of your proposed fellowship dates, mentorship, and host organisation arrangements
- A full budget with evidence for every item above GBP 500
- A research proposal outlining your planned work, intended outputs, why you chose your host organisation, and how your mentor will support you
- Your own CV, listing academic achievements and publications, up to 3 pages
- A short CV from your mentor, including any previous mentoring experience, up to 3 pages
- A supporting letter from your mentor confirming their willingness to act as mentor and explaining why the host organisation suits your proposed fellowship, up to 2 pages
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If you want to list forthcoming publications on your CV, you can only do so with clear evidence of acceptance, such as correspondence from a journal editor or book publisher, attached one page per publication, and kept in a separate “Forthcoming publications” section rather than mixed in with your completed work. After you submit, you’ll also be asked to complete an anonymous Equality and Diversity monitoring survey, which is used only for aggregate tracking and has no bearing on your application’s assessment.
How to Apply for the Urban Studies Foundation and the International Fellowships – Step By Step
- Read the Further Particulars document and the Frequently Asked Questions in full before contacting the USF with any queries.
- Identify your mentor and host institution yourself. The USF does not provide a list of approved mentors or hosts, though you can review previous Fellows’ profiles for context on who has mentored past cohorts.
- Prepare your application offline first, using the application template (.docx) the USF makes available, since this is their own recommended approach.
- Research your budget independently, starting with your largest cost items such as travel and accommodation, then working through smaller incidental costs like visas or health insurance.
- Complete the online application form before the deadline.
- Complete the anonymous Equality and Diversity survey once you’ve submitted, if you’re asked to.
- Wait for a decision. The USF normally responds within twelve weeks of the closing deadline, and all applicants are contacted regardless of outcome. No feedback is given on individual applications, and all decisions are final.
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Application Deadline
The deadline is 6 July 2026 at 23:59 UTC+1. If your application is successful, your fellowship must begin no earlier than four months after this deadline, and no later than fourteen months after it, so plan your proposed dates with that window in mind rather than assuming you can start immediately.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply if I’ve submitted my PhD but haven’t had my viva yet?
No. You must have fully completed and passed your PhD, including any post-corrections, at the time you apply. Since this scheme typically runs annually, you can apply in a future round once your PhD is finalised.
Can I apply if my PhD is more than ten years old?
Not normally, unless you can document a justified career break, such as parental leave or unemployment, that brings your effective time since the PhD below ten years. You must contact the USF in advance to discuss this before applying.
Is the Urban Studies Foundation Fellowship fully funded?
It covers accommodation and subsistence at your host institution, return travel, and some research costs, plus a small mentor engagement budget. It is not unlimited, and your budget must be researched and evidenced rather than assumed.
Can my fellowship be remote or virtual?
No, not normally. The fellowship is built around a genuine sabbatical away from your home institution for three to nine months. The USF may consider some flexibility during an active award if exceptional circumstances arise, but this isn’t something you can plan for at the application stage.
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Does my research topic need to fit a specific theme?
It needs to sit within the broad field of urban studies, covering any theme connected to understanding urban life in or across the Global South, such as housing, governance, climate, or public health. Familiarity with the wider discipline, including journals like Urban Studies, strengthens your case that your work fits.
Can I get feedback on my proposal before I submit?
No. The USF does not review proposals, CVs, or writing samples in advance of a submission, and there’s no sample proposal you can request either, since every application differs by field and circumstance.
Disclaimer: All fellowship details, deadlines, award values, and eligibility criteria were verified from the official Urban Studies Foundation website and its International Fellowships 2026 FAQ document as of June 2026. Information is subject to change without notice. Always confirm the latest details directly on the official source before submitting your application.
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