Call for Expressions of Interest.
As a leading research cluster in the UK, the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts (CCVA) at Birmingham City University aims to foster new understandings and perspectives of Chinese contemporary arts, design, media and visual culture through curating exhibition, interdisciplinary practices and academic research. Within a vibrant research environment, we host the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (Intellect) and our influential annual conference. We also enjoy a strong cohort of senior academics, post-doctoral researchers, PhDs and postgraduate students, and welcome contributions from our Research Associates and Visiting Scholars.
Following the success of securing three Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship awards at CCVA, Dr. Lauren Walden (Surrealism in the People’s Republic of China: 1949-present, 2021-24), Dr. Federica Mirra (The City as Art: Living Aesthetics in Twenty-First-Century China, 2022-25) and Dr. Shiyu Gao (Emerging Surveillance Culture in Xi Jinping’s China: Art and Visuality since 2012, 2024-26), we are inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI) from candidates to apply for the 2025 round.

For our future Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships, we can support proposed research projects in the following areas:
• Contemporary art and visual culture in East Asia (China, Japan, and South Korea)
• Urban art, design and culture in contemporary China
• Art and the everyday in Chinese society
• Chinese modern art and the avant-garde
• Further research interests are reflected in our thematic journal issues (Volume 4 onwards), which can be consulted from https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-contemporary-chinese-art.

CCVA will conduct an internal competition before putting forward a selection of high-quality applications for submission to the Birmingham City University selection panel for consideration. Those supported by the university selection panel will then be invited to further develop their proposals with a view to submission to the Leverhulme Trust. Proposed Project should be 36 months, to start between 1st September 2025 and 1 May 2026.
To apply, please submit an EoI to comprise the following (no more than 3 sides of A4):
Project Title, Summary Description of the Project (150 words), Research Questions, Research Context, Aims and Objectives, Research Methods, Project Management and Outline Work Plan, Outputs, Impact, Dissemination, and Beneficiaries of the research.

Once complete, please email your application and an academic CV to Professor Jiang Jiehong (Joshua.Jiangbcu.ac.uk) and ccvabcu.ac.uk by 15th October 2024. We hope to confirm by the end of October 2024 those EoI’s approved to progress to develop a full application towards the Leverhulme Trust deadline on 4pm, 20th February 2025 and will issue selected applicants with a timetable and guidance accordingly to support this process.

This highly prestigious scheme for early career researchers offers 50% funding towards the salary costs of a three-year academic research position (with the other 50% funded by the university), as well as offering research expenses up to £6,000 per annum to facilitate the Fellow’s research activities. The purpose of the scheme is to enable its Fellows to undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, increasing their potential to secure a more permanent academic position beyond the fellowship.

For more Information about the scheme, including detailed eligibility criteria, see: https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/grant-schemes/early-career-fellowships. Please note you are responsible for determining your eligibility.