Faculty Fellowship

The Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good (ECG)—formerly the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study—convenes a multidisciplinary community to advance moral understanding and develop compelling responses to the most pressing ethical issues of our era.

Each year the institute awards 6-8 residential Faculty Fellowships annually to researchers whose work addresses the Institute’s yearly research theme.

During the 2025-26 academic year, ECG is sponsoring research projects that investigate The Future of Virtue Ethics: Strengthening Foundations and Exploring Applications.

These fellowships will bring together ethicists from across many disciplines—including philosophers, theologians, humanities scholars, social scientists, policy analysts, and legal scholars—to discern future directions of virtue ethics.

One Faculty Fellowship will be co-sponsored by the History of Philosophy Forum at Notre Dame, in connection with the Forum's Historical Traditions of Ethics Research Cluster beginning in 2025. This fellowship will fund a project that investigates a topic in the history of ethics.

Faculty Fellows typically have a faculty appointment at their home institution, but the fellowships are also open to independent researchers, public practitioners, postdoctoral scholars, those who have recently received their Ph.D. (or equivalent terminal) degree, those who are pursuing the creative arts, and faculty from Notre Dame. Scholars from outside the U.S. are welcome to apply—there are no citizenship requirements for these fellowships.

Current graduate students are eligible to apply only if they will receive their terminal degree by August 1, 2025.

Faculty Fellows receive half of their base salary per academic year (up to $80,000), subsidized housing (for those who currently reside outside of the South Bend area), a research allowance of $1,000 per year, and a private office at ECG. Fellows' home institutions provide the remainder of their salaries as well as all benefits, including health insurance.

Postdocs are welcome to apply and receive a stipend of up to $80,000 paid directly to them (rather than to a home institution). Postdocs are also provided health insurance benefits.

All Faculty Fellows are expected to reside in the South Bend area and to remain in residence at the University of Notre Dame during the period of their fellowship (except for vacation periods, holidays, and University breaks). Faculty Fellows are expected to attend weekly seminars, present their research twice during these seminars, and attend ECG retreats, communications workshops, and other special events.

Applications for Faculty Fellowships must be submitted through Interfolio and should include the following:

1) Cover letter

2) Curriculum vitae (no more than four pages, single-spaced)

3) Proposal abstract (no more than 400 words)

4) Fellowship research proposal (no more than six pages double-spaced; research proposals may include a works-cited or bibliography page, which does not count toward the six-page limit). In the research proposal, applicants should provide an explanation of the project they intend to pursue at ECG, including:

• How the proposed research aligns with the  research theme and mission of the Institute (see https://ethics.nd.edu/about)
• Preliminary objectives for the research to be conducted (i.e., whether the research might result in a book, journal article, art work, etc.)
• The proposed work plan (including what research or work has already been accomplished, what will be done during the fellowship period, the methodology to be employed, and the organization of the scholarly project, book, or other work)

5) Public-engagement proposal (no more than two pages, double sided). In the public-engagement proposal, applicants should explain how they plan to engage a public audience with their proposed research project (e.g., through a newspaper op-ed, public discussion, podcast episode, etc.).

6) Two letters of reference. The letters should address the strength of the applicant’s proposed research project, its fit with the 2025-2026 theme of The Future of Virtue Ethics, and the applicant’s collaborative potential and collegiality.

7) (Optional) Up to two pages of non-text materials supporting the research proposal.

All 2025-26 ECG Faculty Fellowship applications, including letters of reference and supporting documentation, must be received by 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Monday, October 14, 2024.