Berlin Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Berlin (Historical Reference)

Berlin Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Berlin (Historical Reference)

Cycle status

The American Academy in Berlin marks applications for the 2027–28 Berlin Prize as closed. Its official fellowship application page gives the deadline as Friday, September 25, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (6:00 p.m. Central European Time), and says it plans to open the 2028–29 competition in July 2027. That is a planned opening, not an active application window or a newly published deadline. No deadline for the 2028–29 round is announced on the official page, so this record preserves the completed 2027–28 cycle rather than presenting a future date as available.

The September deadline and the separate reference-letter deadline of Friday, October 2, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (6:00 p.m. Central European Time) have both passed. The Academy says it will notify applicants of the 2027–28 competition outcome by email in late March 2027 and announce recipients in May 2027. Those dates concern the completed competition and should not be read as application dates for the next round.

What the Berlin Prize supports

The Berlin Prize is a residential fellowship of the American Academy in Berlin. The Academy awards roughly two dozen semester-long fellowships each year to people based in the United States who pursue independent work in the arts, humanities, social sciences, law, journalism, and public policy. The program’s stated purpose is to strengthen cultural and intellectual ties between the United States and Germany. Fellows are expected to live in Berlin for the semester and take part in the Academy’s transatlantic public and intellectual life.

For the 2027–28 competition, fellows were offered a monthly stipend of $5,000, round-trip airfare, accommodation at or near the Hans Arnhold Center, partial board, access to in-house library services, and professional networking opportunities. The monthly stipend may be paid directly to a fellow or through a home institution. The Academy says it does not withhold taxes and treats the stipend as taxable income; fellows receive IRS Form 1099. If a home institution receives the stipend, it may not charge or deduct institutional overhead or indirect costs from it. Applicants with questions about individual tax or institutional arrangements should consult the Academy and an appropriate tax adviser rather than assume the stipend is tax-free.

The residency lasts one entire academic semester, or four months. The fall semester runs from mid-August to mid-December, and the spring semester from late January through late May. Candidates indicate semester preferences in the online application. Fellows reside in furnished private apartments at or near the Hans Arnhold Center, a historic lakeside villa in Berlin’s Wannsee district. Apartments have en suite kitchenettes; most can accommodate couples, and the Academy can accommodate a limited number of families with children at the Center or in nearby apartments. Pets are not permitted at the Center.

The award includes participation in the Academy’s community as well as financial support. Fellows present work to audiences in and around Berlin through activities such as lectures, readings, public discussions, performances, and film screenings. They should be willing to engage with relevant German institutions, organizations, and media. The Academy describes these activities as part of its mission, so applicants should consider how they would share their work and participate in a residential community, not only what they hope to accomplish alone.

Who was eligible

Fellowships are restricted to citizens and permanent residents of the United States. Candidates must explain any limited periods spent outside the country, such as a sabbatical or foreign assignment. The Academy accepts independent scholars who meet the general requirements. It also accepts proposals for collaborative projects, but each collaborator must submit a separate application; external reviewers consider each applicant’s merits alongside the joint project.

The competition spans several professional paths. Recipients include established and emerging scholars, writers, journalists, and policy experts working independently within an interdisciplinary residential community. Emerging scholars should hold a PhD and have a strong record of peer-reviewed work beyond the dissertation. The Academy says it will not consider work that has not advanced significantly beyond the candidate’s dissertation project. Applicants in fields such as journalism, filmmaking, and public policy need a significant record of publication or production. Fiction and nonfiction writers must have published at least one book with a reputable press by the time of application.

The Academy welcomes work in the humanities, social sciences, law, journalism, and various areas of public policy. It generally encourages projects addressing pressing issues such as democracy, security, technology and society (especially artificial intelligence), energy and climate, and global order. Dedicated fellowships are available in Jewish studies, German studies, and public health and biotechnology. A proposal need not focus on Germany, but candidates should explain how living and working in Berlin would enhance the work. The Academy does not accept project proposals in mathematics or the natural sciences. Visual artists and composers are considered through separate, invitation-only competitions, rather than this open fellowship application. A person who has already received a Berlin Prize is not eligible to apply for another except under exceptional circumstances; previously unsuccessful applicants may reapply and are encouraged to revise their materials substantially.

Materials and submission process for the closed round

Applicants to the 2027–28 round completed an online application in SlideRoom and uploaded English-language PDF materials. The application form had three sections: Forms, Attachments, and References. Candidates could save their work and resume before submitting. The Academy uses SlideRoom’s European platform at review.slideroom.eu; it recommended Chrome for the interface and discouraged Safari. These details describe the closed cycle and are included to help readers understand the process if the Academy retains a similar format for a future round. The official application page should be checked again when a new competition opens.

The required uploaded materials were:

• A project proposal of 1,500 to 1,750 words, with a short bibliography of no more than one page. The proposal and bibliography were combined into one document.
• A curriculum vitae of no more than 10 pages.
• Two writing samples totaling no more than 60 pages.

Applicants also entered the names and contact information of three referees. Referees needed to submit letters in English through instructions emailed by SlideRoom. The Academy advised applicants to confirm each referee’s willingness before entering their information. References should know the candidate’s recent work, especially the proposed project, and be able to address the candidate’s ability, career achievements, and, if possible, ability to thrive in an interdisciplinary residential setting. The Academy discouraged writers from listing literary agents as referees. Applicants using a dossier service such as Interfolio still had to complete the reference invitation section and use the dossier-assigned email address for each letter.

For this completed round, the main application was due September 25, 2026, at noon Eastern Time / 6 p.m. Central European Time. Recommendation letters were due October 2, 2026, at the same times. The Academy said it would not contact candidates or referees about missing letters, so timely submission was the applicant’s responsibility. Since both deadlines have passed, prospective applicants should not attempt to submit to this cycle; they should wait for the Academy to publish the next competition’s materials and dates.

Preparing for a future competition

The Academy has not yet announced the application deadline, award terms, or detailed instructions for 2028–29. Anyone considering a future round can use the previous cycle’s criteria as preparation, but should verify every requirement against the new official call once it appears. Do not assume the next round will preserve the same deadline, word limits, materials, or portal workflow without checking.

A strong proposal should define a tractable independent project for a four-month residency. Explain the question or creative problem, what work will be completed during the semester, why it matters, and how a Berlin residence would make a meaningful difference. The Academy’s selection process draws from a range of disciplines, so the central stakes should be understandable to readers outside the applicant’s specialty. A project may concern a subject beyond Germany, but the applicant should make a specific case for why the Academy and a Berlin semester are a suitable setting.

Writing samples should offer persuasive evidence of the work described in the proposal. Applicants can review the official discipline and eligibility limits before investing in a full application, and should make sure their career record matches the applicable standard: doctoral and post-dissertation scholarship for emerging scholars, significant publication or production for many other professional fields, and a published book for fiction and nonfiction writers. Referees should be selected for their direct knowledge of the applicant’s recent work and proposal, then asked well ahead of the next deadline. If the future application again allows candidates to indicate a semester preference, consider travel, family, and project timing before submitting.

Official information

The official source is the American Academy in Berlin’s Fellowship Application page. It is the authority for the closed-cycle notice, the planned July 2027 opening of the 2028–29 competition, stipend and residency terms, eligibility, application materials, reference process, and schedule. Check that page for updated information before acting on any future opportunity. This page is retained as a historical guide to the 2027–28 Berlin Prize cycle, not as an open call.