ISRF Newsletter – January 2026
Happy New Year! We're back and ready to take on 2026. Read this month's Director's Note on machine learning and human learning. Also included is our latest competitions, Fellows news & blog posts.
Contents
Director’s Note
AI and the Future of Human Learning
Christopher Newfield
I’ll remember AI in 2025 for three main developments: faltering use-cases, the investment bubble, and the learning crisis.
Now finally enjoying the dubious dawning of 2026, our research group, “Reframing AI,” is meeting this week to work on the relation between machine and human learning. So I’m starting my ISRF month with the question, what do we have to say about human learning that can help redirect machine learning towards enhancing human intelligence rather than threatening it?
Last year, research about the effects of chatbot uses of Large Language Models (LLMs) on cognition was more numerous than in previous years. The news was not good for people who don’t think intelligence should be offloaded to foundation models.
Mid-Career Fellowship competition (MCF8)
Deadline: 5pm GMT (6pm CET), Friday 30th January 2026
The Independent Social Research Foundation wishes to support independent-minded researchers to explore and present original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.
Applicants will normally hold a full-time or part-time salaried position – which may be permanent or fixed-term – at an Institution of Higher Education and Research. Candidates should be more than 10 years post-PhD award at the time of application. The awards are intended to provide full relief from all teaching duties and all associated academic administration for a period of (up to) one year.
Flexible Grants for Small Groups (FG12)
Deadline: 5pm GMT (6pm CET), Friday 13th March 2026
The Independent Social Research Foundation wishes to support independent-minded researchers to explore and present original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.
The Foundation intends to award on a competitive basis, to candidates of sufficient merit, a number of grants providing flexible support (for instance: relief from teaching and/or administration, research and travel expenses, fieldwork and practical work) for a period of (up to) one year for the activities of a small research group.
Racism never went away – it simply changed shape
Lars Cornelissen
With the rise of the far right in the UK and increasing racist rhetoric, politicians have warned against the return of attitudes that had long disappeared from British society. Lars Cornelissen argues that this narrative is much more complex - racism has never left public life. Rather it has assumed different shapes across time.
Cutting through the noise
Milan Babić
The most fundamental crisis of all – the breakdown of the biophysical conditions for modern human life – is continuing and accelerating. How can we not only cultivate our pessimism of the intellect, but also foster an optimism of the political will against all odds? In this Bulletin contribution, Milan Babić suggests three avenues that might help with this task.
New publication: ‘What Happens When Borders Reopen? Dematerialising the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan Boundary’ by Nick Megoran and Zalina Enikeeva
After many years, the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan were re-opened in 2016 to promote trade, cooperation and movement between the two countries. This article, co-authored by ISRF Mid-Career Fellow Nick Megoran, explores the economic and political consequences of border dematerialisation.
New publication: ‘Republics in the Commonwealth hiding under the Crown? A historical perspective’ by Manjeet Ramgotra
This blog post traces the transition across the British empire from Commonwealth Realms to republics. In doing so, Manjeet Ramgotra examines how the legacies of colonialism informed the question of republicanism as countries gained independence.
8th Mid-Career Fellowship Competition (MCF8)
Live now: deadline 5pm GMT, Friday 30th January 2026
Scholars more than ten years post-PhD are eligible to apply for support to complete a one-year piece of original research.
12th Flexible Grants for Small Groups Competition (FG12)
Live now: deadline 5pm GMT, Friday 13th March 2026
Funding support for small groups (2-10 scholars) to complete a piece of research or undertake face-to-face joint group work.