General Description

Salary: Postdoctoral Fellowship: $73,000.00

2026 - 2028 Postdoctoral Fellowships

at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)

Johns Hopkins University

Washington, DC

Thanks to the generosity of the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation, the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, located within the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, is pleased to announce generous fellowships for visiting Postdoctoral Fellows pursuing scholarly research in historically informed statecraft and strategy. In addition to being part of SAIS, the Postdoctoral Fellows will join an exciting, international consortium, the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy (AJI). The other members of the AJI are the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, the Centre for Grand Strategy in the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, and the Center for Statecraft and Political Communication at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Postdoctoral Fellows will work closely with the faculty and affiliates of the Kissinger Center and will have opportunities to participate in the Center's activities and the broader intellectual communities of SAIS and JHU. The new scholars will also collaborate with faculty, affiliates, students, and Fellows from the other institutes in the consortium, creating a multi-institutional, multi- national intellectual community that spans the Atlantic, and will have publishing opportunities through Engelsberg Ideas.

The program will build and expand upon the Kissinger Center and SAIS's strengths in diplomatic and military history, strategic studies, security studies, international relations, and economics and international political economy. SAIS is interdisciplinary and policy-engaged, and its location in Washington, DC, allows scholars easy access to major instruments of government, think tanks, and federally funded research and development centers, as well as important archives. SAIS also has campuses in Bologna (Italy) and Nanjing (China), providing additional opportunities to engage with the scholarly and policy communities in Europe and Asia.

Up to three Postdoctoral Fellows will be awarded a two-year fellowship that includes health insurance, research funding, and a competitive salary of $73,000 per year.

Qualifications

Postdoctoral Fellows are expected to start in the summer/fall of 2026 and continue for two calendar years, although a later start date can be negotiated for exceptional applicants. Please state your availability in your application letter. The Postdoctoral Fellow will be expected, in addition to pursuing his or her own research and writing, to contribute to the intellectual life of the Kissinger Center as well as the AJI consortium and to participate in their programming.
 
Applicants for AJI Postdoctoral Fellowships must have completed their PhD by the time they take up the fellowship and have a track record of excellent historically-minded research in statecraft, diplomacy, or strategy. Postdoctoral fellows are expected to remain in residence at the Kissinger Center for the duration of their fellowship. We encourage candidates with PhDs in history, political science, and international relations to apply, but other disciplines are also welcome. Applications from women and minority candidates are especially encouraged.

Application Instructions

• Each applicant should submit the following:
• An application letter explaining why you are applying, why and how your research interests align with the objectives of the AJI initiative, what you hope to accomplish during your time at the Kissinger Center, and your desired start date;
• A Curriculum Vitae;
• An article or writing sample on statecraft or strategy, broadly defined, which demonstrates a historically-minded approach to research;
• Three Letters of Recommendation.

The Applicants is responsible for collecting all materials and submitting them before 23:59 EST on January 2, 2026.

 Applicants will be notified of their acceptance in February 2026.

About Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University remains committed to its founding principle, that education for all students should be grounded in exploration and discovery. Hopkins students are challenged not just to learn but also to advance learning itself. Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and entrepreneurship are all encouraged and nourished in this unique educational environment. After more than 130 years, Johns Hopkins remains a world leader in both teaching and research. Faculty members and their research colleagues at the university's Applied Physics Laboratory have each year since 1979 won Johns Hopkins more federal research and development funding than any other university. The university has nine academic divisions and campuses throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the School of Education and the Carey Business School are based at the Homewood campus in northern Baltimore. The schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing share a campus in east Baltimore with The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Peabody Institute, a leading professional school of music, is located on Mount Vernon Place in downtown Bal...timore. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies is located in Washington's Dupont Circle area.

Show more

Show less

Connections working at Johns Hopkins University