Research and study

Discover more about our Visiting Fellowships and PhD opportunities.

Study

There are many opportunities to study with us:

• We welcome PhD projects in modern Jewish history, Israel Studies and Holocaust Studies.
• Our biennial Max and Hilde Kochmann Summer School for PhD Students in European-Jewish History and Culture creates an interdisciplinary network of new scholars engaged in these areas.

Our staff teach on modules including:

• 1942: the History of the Holocaust;
• 1938: The History of Kristallnacht;
• The History of the Arab Israeli Conflict;
• The History of US Israel Relations;
• Paying for the Past: Reparations and Restitution in Global Context;
• Europe in the 20th Century

Visiting Fellowships

At the heart of the Institute is our Visiting Fellows’ programme that brings together internationally leading scholars from a variety of related disciplines to undertake Jewish studies research. Such an interdisciplinary approach to Jewish studies – placing the Jewish experience centrally within the major questions of our time, has not been attempted before in Europe. We are confident that this approach will complement the work of other Jewish Studies centres in the UK, thus further enhancing their combined influence and transformative impact.

Through its activities, the Institute aims to improve awareness of the Holocaust, to ensure its lessons remain relevant today and take account of the corrosive impact of ever-present antisemitism. Themes such as ‘the challenges of antisemitism’, ‘expulsion and forced migration’, ‘European integration and the Jewish experience’ are being investigated from historical, cultural and socio-political standpoints.

The Institute’s research is underpinned by a deep commitment to public engagement, outreach and discourse, both within communities local to the University and with wider audiences, nationally and internationally. As part of this outreach agenda, we are partnering with external organisations to explore and celebrate the contribution of Jewish people to broader culture and civic society.

The Isaacsohn and André Families’ Visiting Fellowship

The Sussex Weidenfeld Institute of Jewish Studies sponsors a prestigious Visiting Fellowship programme, for scholars in Jewish, Holocaust and Israel Studies.

The Isaacsohn and André families’ Visiting Fellowship was launched in 2023 in memory of the Isaacsohn and André families who perished in the Holocaust. This Visiting Fellowship programme will initially run for ten years and will see leading academics from universities around the world joining Sussex experts in Jewish, Holocaust studies and Israel Studies as Visiting Fellows, for a period of up to three months. This will deepen Sussex’s research in the field and enrich the programmes offered to students. Fellows will join the Weidenfeld Institute and will have the opportunity to form affiliations with other research centres across the University to promote greater collaboration on the broad topic of Jewish studies.

The Isaacsohn and André Families’ Visiting Fellowship offers a stipend of £7000 to participating faculty for the duration of the Fellowship (or part of it, depending upon the length of the stay.)

For further information on the programmes please contact Professor Gideon Reuveni (g.reuveni@sussex.ac.uk) or Professor David Tal (d.tal@sussex.ac.uk)

Please note that this call is closed for 2023, and will re-open in 2024 

APPLY FOR THE isaacsohn and andre families visiting fellowship

The Weidenfeld Faculty Exchange Programme with the University of Tel Aviv

The Weidenfeld - Tel Aviv exchange programme, launched in 2023, is a collaboration between the University of Sussex and Tel Aviv University and will host one faculty member from each institution for a period of up to a semester. Visiting faculty will have the opportunity to present research and engage in discussion with faculty members from the host institute, and will contribute to the teaching programme by presenting a lecture or teaching on a course of their choice.

For further information on the programmes please contact Professor Gideon Reuveni (g.reuveni@sussex.ac.uk) or Professor David Tal (d.tal@sussex.ac.uk)

APPLY FOR The Weidenfeld - TEl aviv exchange progamme