ARI-Luce Collaboratory

The gap no one talks about.

The path from PhD to a stable academic or professional appointment has never been straightforward. For early-career scholars of Southeast Asian and Asian Studies––particularly those returning to the region after doctoral training abroad––the gap is sharper and the support thinner. Access to mentorship, scholarly networks, and career development during these critical post-PhD years remains scarce, affecting not just individual careers but the diversity and vitality of the field itself.

The ARI-Luce Collaboratory was built to address this directly. Drawing on two decades of ARI's experience supporting postdoctoral scholars and PhD students from around the world, the Collaboratory brings together early-career researchers and the senior scholars, institutions, and networks that can help them move forward at precisely the moment it matters most.

Collaboratory at a glance

For elements. One program. Everything you need to move your career forward.

Academy

Build the skills that move careers forward through Academy Sessions designed and led by senior scholars from across the region and beyond, who have navigated the same path –– and know what it takes to succeed.

Writing Residency

Work closely with a senior scholar (and peers) to develop and refine your current writing or publication project with dedicated time, expert guidance, and focused feedback.

Showcase

Present your research to an audience that matters: scholar-peers, senior scholars, institutional leaders, journal editors, and potential employers from across the region and beyond.

Networking

Expand your scholarly network through meaningful connections with scholars, institutional leaders, and peers from across the region and beyond — building the professional networks that will shape your career.

Collaboratory Academy

The Collaboratory draws on a wide range
of themes for its Academy Sessions

Collaboratory Writing Residency

The Collaboratory offers the time, support,
and community to advance your writing

The Writing Residency pairs you with a Senior Scholar-Mentor in a small peer group, giving you dedicated time and expert guidance to advance your current writing or publication project.

Through regular group meetings, focused writing time, and access to NUS Library's rich online and physical resources, you leave with real, measurable progress on your work.

Collaboratory Showcase

The Collaboratory creates dedicated spaces
for scholars to present and share their
research with the audiences that matter

Meet the
Collaboratory Convenors

© NUS ARI | Photography by Lionel Lin
Maitrii Victoriano Aung-Thwin
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Asia Research Institute,
National University of Singapore
 
 
Maitrii V. Aung-Thwin (he/him) is Associate Professor of Myanmar/Southeast Asian history and Convener of the Comparative Asian Studies PhD Program at the National University of Singapore. His research is concerned with nation-building, law, knowledge production, and resistance in Asia. His publications include A History of Myanmar since Ancient Times: Traditions and Transformations (2013), The Return of the Galon King: History, Law, and Rebellion in Colonial Burma (2011) and A New History of Southeast Asia (2010). Between 2017-2025, he served as Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (2017-2025).
 
He is currently the incoming President of the Burma Studies Foundation (USA), Board Member of the SEASREP Foundation, and Deputy Director of the Asia Research Institute (NUS). He has held research grants from the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Japan Foundation, and the Henry Luce Foundation.
ID Photo 26022026
Aishah Alhadad
Asia Research Institute,
National University of Singapore
 
 
Aishah Alhadad (she/her) is a Research Associate (Program Manager) with the ARI-Luce Southeast Asian Studies Collaboratory, a Henry Luce Foundation–funded initiative hosted by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She has an M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies (NUS) and a B.A. in History (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore). Her dissertation projects reflect a sustained interest in how Islamic frameworks, feminist thought, and institutional power shape––and are shaped by––Muslim women's lives in the region.
 
Aishah is a researcher, writer, and community worker, whose work explores the intersections of gender, race, class, and Islam in Singapore, bridging academic research with community-based engagement and realities. She is involved in community-led organisations and initiatives, most of which center local Muslim-raised women experiences.

The ARI-Luce Southeast Asian Studies Collaboratory is funded by the

The Henry Luce Foundation seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding in pursuit of a more democratic and just world. Established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time, Inc., the Luce Foundation advances its mission by nurturing knowledge communities and institutions, fostering dialogue across divides, enriching public discourse, amplifying diverse voices, and investing in leadership development.