The Urban Studies Foundation (USF) is delighted to welcome twelve new International Fellows, its largest annual cohort to date, who will take up their fellowships over the coming year. USF International Fellowships provide dedicated time and institutional support for early-to-mid-career scholars from the Global South to develop publications from their existing research, deepen international collaborations, and contribute new perspectives to global debates on urban challenges.
The new Fellows are based in Brazil, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. Their research spans a wide range of themes concerning urban governance, planning, and finance, including digital procurement, development financing, logistical technocracy, municipal fiscal austerity, planning under uncertainty, and social housing knowledge infrastructures. Other Fellows will examine issues of everyday urban life and citizenship, including through research on climate resilience, informal economies, mobility justice, multispecies relations, and territorial cosmologies. Together, their publications promise to advance critical understandings of how cities are imagined, governed, and lived, reflecting the USF’s commitment to supporting inclusive and critical urban research.
The 2026–2027 International Fellows are:
- Dr Olusegun Akinsiku (University of Lagos, Nigeria) – visiting the Department of Construction Economics and Management, College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, under the supervision of Dr Oluwaseun Sunday Dosumu
- Dr Pedro Henrique Azalim Cunha (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil) – visiting the Centre for Development Studies, under the supervision of Prof Praveena Kodoth
- Dr Yi Feng (Nanjing University, China) – visiting the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, Newcastle University, under the supervision of Prof Andy Pike
- Dr Husnul Fitri (University of Indonesia, Indonesia) – visiting the Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr David Roberts
- Dr Pooja Kalita (Centre for Inclusive Societies, Media Law Forum, Sri Lanka) – visiting the Department of Historical Studies, University of Cape Town, under the supervision of Dr Bodhisattva Kar
- Dr Mamokete Modiba (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) – visiting the Centre for Contemporary African Studies, University of Naples – L’Orientale, under the supervision of Prof Antonio Pezzano
- Dr Enock Mwakalila (Mzumbe University, Tanzania) – visiting the Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, under the supervision of Prof David Simon
- Dr Renan Pereira Almeida (Center for Regional Development and Planning, Minas Gerais, Brazil) – visiting the Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, under the supervision of Prof Mildred Warner
- Dr Roberto Ponce Lopez (Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico) – visiting the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, under the supervision of Prof Robert Goodspeed
- Dr Bayartsetseg Terbish (National University of Mongolia, Mongolia) – visiting the Graduate School of Integrated Human and Social Welfare, Shukutoku University, under the supervision of Prof Josef Gohori
- Dr Christine Van Sluys (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Ecuador) – visiting the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Urbanismo, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, under the supervision of Prof Márcio Cotrim Cunha
- Dr Alexandre Yassu (Secretaria Municipal do Verde e do Meio Ambiente, Brazil) – visiting the Department of the Arts, University of Bologna, under the supervision of Prof Sandro Mezzadra
Each Fellow will be hosted by a leading international institution. Partner universities and research centres in Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, Rwanda, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States will provide mentorship, community, and opportunities for global exchange—ensuring that the Fellows’ work resonates across regions and disciplines. The Foundation expresses gratitude to the host institutions for their partnership and support.
The USF also extends warm thanks to the mentors supporting this cohort, whose expertise spans urban governance and planning, local government and fiscal federalism, political economy and migration, architecture and sustainable construction, urban anthropology and social policy, and postcolonial and Global South histories. This year’s mentors include Prof Márcio Cotrim Cunha, Dr Oluwaseun Sunday Dosumu, Prof Josef Gohori, Prof Robert Goodspeed, Dr Bodhisattva Kar, Prof Praveena Kodoth, Prof Sandro Mezzadra, Prof Antonio Pezzano, Prof Andy Pike, Dr David Roberts, Prof David Simon, and Prof Mildred Warner. Their commitment to collaborative mentorship and cross-regional dialogue will be central to the Fellows’ success.
The USF International Fellowship scheme is expected to reopen for applications in early 2027, and prospective candidates are invited to review the previous round’s application guidance on the USF website as they begin preparing their proposals.
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