The St.Gallen Collegium seeks fellows for the academic year 2027-2028 on the annual theme "Performance: The What, How, and Why of Optimization"

Über den Job

The call for “more performance” has returned with force across European business and politics as a reaction to perceived decreasing productivity of many economies. It simultaneously reflects changing values and preferences of their societies as to what, how, and why shall be optimized. Companies announce this openly: Nestlé declares it wants to be more performance-driven; UBS insists that performance must again be at the center. Politics has followed suit. The "Schweizerischer Arbeitgeberverband" warns of a spreading culture of "Lifestyle Freizeit". The German CDU campaigns "Leistung muss sich wieder lohnen" - performance must pay. Commentators demand “work instead of woke.” The word does considerable heavy lifting. The concept itself is rarely examined.

Application

Please note that the Hans Christoph Binswanger Fellowship requires different documents. Please see the link quoted above.

Please note that the Outreach Fellowship requires different documents. See https://short-url.cc/1zDI2 , Page 6.

For all other research fellowships, please include the following documents in your application:

• CV; please highlight any experience you may have in interdisciplinary collaborative projects.
• List of publications; please highlight three key publications pertaining to the annual theme.
• Letter of motivation (max. 2 pages).
• Short outline (max. 2 pages) of the research you plan to pursue during your Collegium year.
• If you are an advanced doctoral student or postdoctoral scholar, please include two letters of recommendation as well.

Please combine all documents in one PDF file and submit it by Sunday, October 18, 2026, 2026 via e-mail to E-Mail schreiben. Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview via Zoom in October/November. Fellows will be notified after the final selection by the Advisory Board by the end of November.

Fellows will work on the annual theme "Performance: The What, How, and Why of Optimization". Fellows are expected to be in residence in St.Gallen or in its environs during the academic year 2027/2028 and spend their work days on the campus of the University of St.Gallen. They will be provided shared office space and access to all campus amenities. During their Collegium year, fellows must be free from any obligations at their home institutions so that they can focus on their research in St.Gallen.

Fellows will be able to dedicate two-thirds of their Collegium time to their own research projects related to the annual theme. The Collegium will also make sure to introduce the fellows to St.Gallen faculty who share their interests and whose research endeavors might be relevant to them.
In addition, the seven research fellows will spend a third of their time establishing and developing a joint project with the support of a St.Gallen faculty member who acts as convenor and moderator. Fellows are thus expected to interact regularly, to be willing and keen on learning from each other, to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries, and to engage with invited faculty and guests who can contribute to the joint project.

St.Gallen Collegium will organize events throughout the academic year to engage with the University community and the public. Fellows are expected to join select events, to present and discuss their own work as well as aspects of the joint project.
The working language at St.Gallen Collegium is English.

We offer two types of Fellowships:

Research Fellowships:

3 Senior Fellowships: senior fellows are established scholars of any field; Associate Professors/Readers, Full Professors, emeriti/emeritae, as well as independent scholars are welcome to apply.

2 Junior Fellowships for young scholars from the global south: two fellowships are designated for advanced doctoral students or early postdoctoral scholars who are currently working at a university in the global south, preferably at an African university.

Hans Christoph Binswanger Fellowship for a post-doctoral scholar: see separate application procedure.
https://www.unisg.ch/de/forschung/forschen-an-der-hsg/preise/hans-christoph-binswanger-fellowship-und-preis/

Outreach Fellowship:

Each year, an outreach fellow joins St.Gallen Collegium and works with the research fellows in the context of the joint project. The outreach fellow is part of the collaborative process and simultaneously a bridgebuilder who makes the work and findings of the Collegium more accessible to a broader audience.

Link to the details of the Fellowships, about the theme and the Application: https://short-url.cc/1zDI2

"A place where knowledge is created" - As one of Europe's leading universities of economics and business administration, the University of St.Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, is committed to the education of over 10'000 students. The HSG is one of the largest employers in the region and provides an attractive and innovative environment for more than 3'800 researchers, educators and professional staff.