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Academic Visitors

The Department of Sociology welcomes applications from a wide range of individuals. Visitors to the department come under three main categories:

1. Visiting Fellows: academics at Assistant Professor level, early career researchers, or non-academic practitioners of equivalent standing.

2. Visiting Senior Fellows: academics at Associate Professor level, or non-academic practitioners of equivalent standing.

3. Visiting Professors: Full Professors, or non-academics who have achieved prominence in public life or attained distinction in their profession.

Due to high demand, visiting appointments are for a maximum of two years.

We welcome applications from early career researchers.

We also welcome research students from other universities to spend from one term up to one academic year at LSE as a Visiting Research Student (VRS).

All visitors are required to make a significant and substantial contribution to teaching, research and the intellectual life of the department. This may include the following: giving lectures or seminars to undergraduate, postgraduate or research students; participating in the research seminar series; giving a public lecture. All visitors are expected to contribute a blog post to the Researching Sociology blog series.

Visitors are part of the intellectual life of the department and are able to meet all staff here and elsewhere in LSE. Visitors are also welcome to join in the many talks, debates and public lectures held across LSE. Visitors will be provided with access to hot desks in shared office space, an LSE IT account and email address, as well as access to LSE’s library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science.

Please note that the department does not reimburse visitors’ travel or accommodation expenses, nor does it provide administrative or secretarial support. Visiting appointments are unpaid and are not faculty positions.

Visitors are required to use the exact visitor title when referring to their LSE affiliation in any written or electronic correspondence.

If you are interested in visiting the Department of Sociology at LSE you are advised to contact a member of faculty in the first instance, who might be willing to act as the departmental sponsor for the duration of your visit. Please note all applicants must have a sponsor.

To make an application please fill in the form, following the guidelines: Visitors Application Form.

Completed applications, together with an up-to-date CV, must be submitted to the departmental sponsor at least one week before the deadline for departmental submission:

Earliest Visiting Appointment Start DateDeadline for Submissions to DepartmentDepartments Informed of OutcomesOutcome Letter Distributed
07/09/202629/06/202614/08/202626/08/2026
24/11/2026*21/09/202606/11/2026*18/11/2026*
02/03/2027*07/12/202605/02/2027*17/02/2027*
05/05/2027*15/02/202709/04/2027*21/04/2027*
06/07/2027*19/04/202704/06/2027*16/06/2027*

*Date to be confirmed by Human Resources in August 2026

No visit can commence before the official notification is issued.

Applications will be assessed by the Research Committee according to the following criteria:

  • The applicant’s fit with departmental research clusters and the research interests of individual academics
  • The applicant’s international standing in the discipline
  • The applicant’s potential contribution to teaching and research culture in the department and/or the School more broadly
  • The availability of office space in the department

Please note that the departmental Research Committee panel reviews applications during specified times following the deadlines listed above. Applications submitted late will not be considered until the next meeting, except in exceptional circumstances. Once approved by the departmental Research Committee, applications are then submitted to the School for confirmation. The process can take several months, and we therefore advise prospective visitors to apply well before they intend to come.

Visitors are required to have eligibility to work in the UK. Please check the Human Resources Overseas Visitors webpage for more information.