Network Call for Proposals: Research Fellowships in Digital Leadership

ICOM IMREC invites ICOM members to submit proposals for the Research Fellowships in Digital Leadership (2026–2027), an international programme designed to strengthen research-informed digital practice and build a new generation of digital leaders in museums.

ICOM IMREC will award 10 Research Fellowships for the 2026–2027 cycle. The programme aims to foster a cohort of museum professionals who will continue to exchange knowledge, collaborate internationally, and champion meaningful digital transformation.

Selected Fellows will benefit from:

• Collaboration with world-leading experts in digital heritage and museum practice
• The opportunity to implement an innovative digital project within their institution
• One-to-one mentoring with experienced scholar-practitioners
• Paid travel to Shanghai/Suzhou to present project results in 2027
• A certificate of completion
• The opportunity to disseminate project outcomes online through ICOM IMREC

The programme is open to English-speaking CEOs, directors, and senior managers of medium-to-large sized museums (not sole-charge or small institutions) who have a current digital project in preparation.

Projects should:

• Be at an early stage of development
• Be feasible and of an appropriate institutional scale
• Have institutional approval and financial support
• Be capable of evolution and change

Applicants must either hold individual ICOM membership or be employed by an institution that holds institutional ICOM membership.

• Digital transformation is ‘both the process and the result of using digital technology to transform how an organisation operates and delivers value. It helps an organisation to thrive, fulfil its mission and meet the needs of its stakeholders’.
• Digital maturity is the ‘ability to use, manage, create and understand digital, in a way that is contextual (fit for their unique setting and needs), holistic (involving vision, leadership, process, culture and people) and purposeful (always aligned to the institution’s social mission)’

The applications must include the following:

• Curriculum vitae
• Project proposal
• Letter of support from the institution
• One reference
• Cover letter explaining the value of the programme for the applicant, institution, and regional/local museum sector

Selection will be based on the applicant’s role, digital experience, past record of digital work, and the alignment of the proposed project with programme objectives.

The fellowship combines:

• A series of six intensive online workshops (two hours each) covering history and theory, leadership, strategy, engagement, ethics, and best-practice models
• Four one-to-one mentoring sessions with an assigned international mentor
• A final presentation and evaluation at Shanghai University and Suzhou Museum

• Application deadline: 31 March
• Notification and mentor matching: May
• Online workshops: June–July
• Mentoring period: August 2026 – February 2027
• Final presentations in China: March 2027
  

Apply here

Niloofar Yazdkhasti, member of ICOM Iran and Vice-Chair of ICOM-COMMS, participant to the 2025 ICOM-IMREC Research Fellowship, reflects:

“The Digital Leadership Programme helped me understand that digital transformation is not primarily about technology, but about people, values, and resilience. For a museum working under conditions of uncertainty, the programme offered not only practical tools, but a conceptual framework for building human-centred digital maturity and long-term institutional resilience.”