CATS Fellowships 2026-27 at Germany

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Call for Applications for CATS Fellowships 2026/2027 is open now!!!!

The Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs, is offering fellowships to post-doctoral researchers, think tank members, and practitioners working on Turkey-related issues.

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For the funding period 2026–2027, CATS is offering fellowships on the following topics:

•  Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  Digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping economies, societies, and political systems worldwide. Turkey is no exception. The country has invested in digital infrastructure, set targets in its national AI strategy, and made digitalisation a cornerstone of its broader development agenda. Yet its capacity in these two areas lags far behind that of key players, such as China, the US, the UK, and the Gulf countries. For German and European decision-makers, the Turkish digital trajectory is of direct relevance: Turkey is a crucial trading partner, a NATO ally, and an ambitious regional actor, and how it governs and deploys digital technologies – from AI-driven public services to platform regulation and data governance – has tangible implications for European economic interests, regulatory standards, and security considerations. Developing a clearer understanding of Turkey’s digitalisation process – its drivers, constraints, and regional consequences – is important.
•  Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)
  Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) are becoming increasingly important for sectors such as green transition, digitalisation, defence, and the transformation of the automotive industry. Turkey claims to have the world’s second-largest rare-earth element deposit. It is a member of the Minerals Security Partnership, which includes the EU and the US as the group’s leading actors, and in 2024, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China on cooperation in natural resources and mining, including critical minerals. Turkish policy on CRMs, its relationship to the country’s foreign and domestic policy agenda, and the opportunities and challenges for cooperation with the EU are understudied topics.
• Energy Transition and Climate Change
  Energy transition and climate change have become increasingly central to Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy agenda, with direct implications for Europe. This year, Turkey will finally host the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 31). However, the country faces significant structural challenges in its energy transition, while the accelerating impacts of climate change – from water scarcity to extreme weather events – are increasingly putting pressure on its society, economy, and institutions. Understanding these dynamics and their broader regional consequences is a prerequisite for informed German and European engagement with Turkey on climate and energy issues.

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• Turkish Foreign and Security Policy amid Geopolitical Turmoil
  Situated at the intersection of Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East, Turkey occupies an important place within an evolving geopolitical environment characterised by intensified global power rivalry, renewed militarisation, and growing competition over energy corridors and connectivity routes. As NATO’s second-largest military power and with its significant operational experience and rapidly expanding defence-industrial base, Turkey has enhanced its capacity to project influence across multiple theatres. At the same time, its foreign and security policy reflects a complex interplay between so-called strategic autonomy, alliance commitments, regional activism, and domestic political and economic constraints. Though a longstanding NATO ally and an official candidate for EU membership – despite accession negotiations having been suspended since 2016 – Turkey has not shied away from pursuing a more diversified and pragmatic set of partnerships across both the Black Sea and MENA regions, at times risking tensions and frictions with its Western allies.