Global Call for Innovative Practitioners: 2025 OBEL Award Teaching Fellowships

For this third edition, the foundation will grant two fellowships of up to €75,000 each and invites prospective fellows from around the world to apply in partnership with a host institution. The proposed courses should preferably begin in 2026 (or shortly thereafter) and revolve around the 2025 OBEL Award theme: Ready Made. The aim is to foster deeper exploration, development, and dissemination of knowledge on this key topic within the built environment.

The 2025 cycle of the fellowship program aims to provide universities with the resources to incorporate new voices into their institutions through the development of impactful courses. This year's focus challenges applicants to rethink, reinterpret, and repurpose existing resources within the built environment.

“Supporting influential ideas and approaches that can drive architectural discourse is a key focus for the foundation,” explains Jesper Eis, Executive Director of the OBEL Award. “We are excited to welcome applications from around the world to gain diverse perspectives on the Ready Made agenda. Ultimately, we seek fellows who explore how new value—and new values—can be discovered through the materials and mechanisms of what already exists. Just like the Ready Made agenda, education works in a similar way: the essence of a fellowship is to take an existing body of knowledge and build upon it with new ideas and contributions,” he adds.

The OBEL Award Teaching Fellowships seek to bridge the gap between professional practice and academia to enrich the dialogue and learning around each year’s chosen award theme. By supporting the development of new courses within accredited academic programs, the fellowship brings fresh voices into academia, reinforcing a commitment to innovation and the core mission of the OBEL Award.

Joint applications from potential fellows and host institutions are due by midnight CEST on August 1, 2025. [Apply now here]

Previous Editions

2024 Teaching Fellowships Recipients

2023 Teaching Fellowships Recipients