The Leiden Institute for Area Studies ( is committed to the integration of disciplinary and regional-historical perspectives. LIAS has as its aim the advancement of teaching and research of Area Studies at Leiden University and in the wider academic community. LIAS comprises the Schools of Asian Studies (SAS) and Middle Eastern Studies (SMES). Area specializations in SAS include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, South & Southeast Asian and Tibetan Studies. LIAS staff have disciplinary expertise across the humanities and the social sciences.

The Ph.D. fellows is expected to conduct research leading to a Ph.D. thesis under the supervision of Professor Pieke on a topic that includes, but is not limited to, administrative reform, public policy, state-society relations, international or domestic migration, ethnicity, gender, kinship, ritual, religion, life styles, social structure and social stratification, consumption and popular culture, poverty and poverty alleviation. The project will have to be firmly embedded in a relevant discipline in the social sciences or humanities, such as anthropology, political science, sociology, history or sinology. Research ought to have a strong fieldwork component and should include the use of modern spoken and written Chinese.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 1 April 2011

Further Scholarship Information and Application