The Nordic Africa Institute | Claude Ake Visiting Chair 2027

The Nordic Africa Institute | Claude Ake Visiting Chair 2027

The Claude Ake Visiting Chair is a three-month research opportunity in Uppsala for an internationally recognised senior social scientist working at an African university. The Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) describes the chair as a programme for scholars who champion social justice and work on subjects such as war, peace, conflict resolution, human rights, democracy, and development on the African continent.

The current status is important. The application call for 2026 is closed. The official Uppsala University page says that the call for the 2027 programme will open at the beginning of 2027. The NAI page also marks applications as closed and directs interested scholars toward the next call. There is no published 2027 deadline yet, and there is no 2027 application form or confirmed 2027 document checklist to complete at the time of this update.

This is therefore a preparation guide, not an open-call submission page. Do not treat the former February deadline, the former 2026 stay dates, or the detailed 2026 application instructions as a live 2027 requirement. Keep the official NAI page bookmarked and check it again when the new call opens.

Current status at a glance

What the chair offers

The NAI page presents the chair as a period in which the holder can pursue their own research in Uppsala. The core offer is time and an academic setting for concentrated work, rather than a generic travel award. The programme provides three months in Uppsala with a tax-free stipend or scholarship. It also lists travel and accommodation grants and other benefits. These are meaningful parts of the opportunity, but the current page does not state a numeric 2027 amount, so applicants should wait for the next call before budgeting from an old figure.

The chair is connected to both NAI and Uppsala University’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research. The official descriptions highlight access to an international network of researchers and opportunities for lecturing, seminars, and contributions to ongoing research activities at the two institutions. That combination suits a scholar who has a defined project to advance while also being ready to participate in an active research environment.

The programme honours Professor Claude Ake and links the visiting chair to scholarship with a strong commitment to social justice. The subject list is broad enough to include different social-science approaches, but it is not unlimited. A proposal should make a clear connection to African realities and to one or more of the areas named by the programme. A project that only uses Africa as a passing example will need a strong explanation of fit.

Who can apply

The current NAI eligibility statement is concise: the opportunity is for internationally recognised senior scholars with professorial competence, such as a professor or associate professor. The wider programme description specifies social scientists working at African universities. This means that the applicant profile is substantially narrower than “any researcher interested in Africa.” The relevant combination is senior academic standing, a position at an African university, and a research project that fits the chair’s themes.

Applicants should assess their status honestly before investing time in a full proposal. A strong fit would usually include:

• A current academic role at an African university.
• A senior record that demonstrates professorial competence or an equivalent level of responsibility.
• An established research agenda rather than a topic that is still at the idea stage.
• A project that can be advanced meaningfully during three months in Uppsala.
• A clear connection to social justice and to the chair’s African research focus.

The current public page does not publish a separate 2027 rule for nationality, discipline subfields, family support, or employment arrangements. Do not infer that an older call’s wording will automatically remain unchanged. When the 2027 call appears, read its eligibility section closely and contact NAI if your rank, institutional appointment, or research field does not fit the plain wording.

Research areas and project fit

The official programme page names war, peace, conflict resolution, human rights, democracy, and development. It also describes the chair as intended for scholars who champion social justice. These themes give applicants a useful test for early project design: can you explain the research question in terms that matter to African societies and to the programme’s intellectual commitments?

A suitable project might examine conflict prevention, peace processes, political institutions, rights, democratic practice, development policy, or another related question grounded in African experience. The specific method is less important than the quality of the question, the applicant’s expertise, and the feasibility of the work during the residency. A project can be empirical, theoretical, comparative, or policy-facing if the relationship to the chair is clear.

The strongest preparation is to define a small number of outcomes. For example, a scholar might plan to complete a journal article, develop a book chapter, analyse an existing dataset, prepare a policy-oriented research paper, or build a comparative framework. These examples are planning suggestions, not published 2027 requirements. The new call may ask for a different output or a different format, so keep the final plan adaptable until the official instructions are available.

Funding: what is confirmed and what is not

The current NAI page confirms a tax-free stipend or scholarship for the three-month stay, along with travel and accommodation grants and other benefits. It does not publish a 2027 currency amount or a detailed payment schedule. The amount field in this listing therefore deliberately avoids repeating the 2026 figure.

This distinction matters for practical planning. A past amount may be useful as historical context, but it is not a confirmed 2027 award. Applicants should wait for the new call or ask NAI for clarification before making commitments based on rent, flights, visa costs, dependants, taxes, or exchange rates. The public page also does not set out a complete policy for family members or additional personal expenses. Those questions belong in a direct enquiry once the new application information is available.

Travel and accommodation support are listed as grants, not as a promise that every possible cost will be paid in every circumstance. Read the 2027 terms for eligibility, booking rules, reimbursement limits, and timing. Until those terms are published, record the support as confirmed in principle and the detailed financial conditions as pending.

The memorial lecture and academic participation

The Claude Ake Visiting Chair has a distinctive public-facing element. The programme’s official description says that holders can lecture, hold seminars, and contribute to ongoing research activities at NAI and the Department of Peace and Conflict Research. The Uppsala University page further explains that chair holders give a public Claude Ake Memorial Lecture at the end of their stay and prepare a paper for the lecture; the paper is subsequently published jointly by the department and NAI.

This makes the chair a better fit for someone who can share research in more than one form. Your project should be capable of supporting sustained individual research as well as a public lecture or seminar discussion. You do not need to invent a lecture title before the 2027 call exists, but you can identify the central argument, the audience that would benefit from it, and the evidence you expect to develop during the stay.

The lecture is also a useful feasibility test. If the proposed project needs several years of fieldwork before it can produce a coherent argument, it may be too broad for a three-month residency. A focused question, a defined source base, and a realistic writing plan will make it easier to participate in the programme’s academic life.

What to do before the 2027 call opens

Because the 2027 call is not open yet, there is no current application form to submit. Use the waiting period to prepare materials that are likely to remain useful while avoiding assumptions about unpublished requirements.

1. Confirm your institutional position. Make sure your CV clearly identifies your university, department, academic rank, current research role, and contact details.
2. Define one project. Write a short internal summary with the research question, African relevance, methods or sources, expected contribution, and a plausible three-month work plan.
3. Review your publication record. Select work that demonstrates expertise in the proposed topic and shows that you can complete substantial scholarly outputs.
4. Identify institutional support needs. Consider who at your university would need to approve leave or confirm your ability to spend three months in Uppsala. Do not draft a letter to an old specification; wait for the 2027 instructions for the exact wording.
5. Prepare a concise research outline. Keep it easy to adapt if the new call changes page limits, questions, file types, or required attachments.
6. Note questions for NAI. Ask about the 2027 amount, application deadline, travel and accommodation rules, required documents, residency dates, and any eligibility issue that is not answered by the published call.
7. Monitor the official page. The NAI page is the correct external URL for this listing and should remain the first place to check for the application form and new terms.

Do not submit a 2026 form or rely on the expired deadline. The official Uppsala University page says that the next programme call will open at the beginning of 2027, but it does not provide a more precise opening day or a closing date. Once the call is posted, replace this preparation workflow with the exact instructions in that notice.

How to read the 2027 call when it appears

Start with the eligibility section, then check the residency period and funding terms. Next, compare the requested project format with the outline you prepared. Confirm whether the new call requires a CV, abstract, proposal, publications, references, institutional approval, or additional forms. Those items may resemble a previous cycle, but they should not be treated as confirmed until the 2027 notice says so.

Check every deadline and time zone. A form can close before a document arrives, and an unsigned institutional letter can make an otherwise strong submission incomplete. Create a private checklist from the new notice and keep copies of the final files. If the application route is an online form, make sure attachments open correctly and that the submitted project title matches the title in your supporting documents.

The application should explain why Uppsala is useful for this particular project. Mention the research environment, possible scholarly conversations, and the way the residency will improve the work. Avoid presenting the chair as general funding for a long list of ambitions. Give the selection committee a manageable project, a credible applicant, and a clear reason the three-month setting is timely.

Questions applicants should not assume

The current official pages do not answer every practical question. They do not publish a 2027 deadline, a numeric stipend, a full expense policy, a new application form, or a current list of required attachments. They also do not establish that every term from the former 2026 call will be copied into 2027.

That uncertainty is not a reason to abandon preparation. It is a reason to keep the listing precise. Treat the three-month Uppsala research stay, tax-free stipend or scholarship, travel and accommodation grants, research-network access, and senior-scholar profile as confirmed programme features. Treat the exact amount, date range, closing date, application fields, page limits, supporting documents, and payment mechanics as pending.

If you need an answer before the call opens, use the contact details on the official NAI page. Ask a short, specific question and identify your university, academic rank, research area, and the issue you need clarified. This is especially useful for applicants whose seniority is equivalent to a professor or associate professor but uses a different title, or whose university structure makes institutional leave unusual.

Bottom line

The Claude Ake Visiting Chair remains a strong opportunity for an established social scientist at an African university whose research speaks to peace, conflict, rights, democracy, development, or social justice. The confirmed programme model is a three-month period in Uppsala with a tax-free stipend or scholarship, travel and accommodation grants, access to an international research network, and opportunities to participate in seminars, lectures, and related activities.

The 2026 application is closed. The next call is expected at the beginning of 2027, but no 2027 deadline or numeric funding amount has been published yet. Prepare your academic profile and a focused project now, retain the official NAI page as the source of record, and wait for the 2027 application notice before treating any old deadline, amount, dates, or document list as current.

Official sources:

• Nordic Africa Institute: Claude Ake Visiting Chair
• Uppsala University: Claude Ake Visiting Chair