PBI Visiting Professorship

Reestablished 2021

Application Deadline: July 31

The Catholic Biblical Association of America announces the re-establishment of annual visiting professorship at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome where tenured established scholars of the CBA have the opportunity to teach one course to an international cohort of students, equivalent of the US PhD course work, offer a public lecture on their research, interact with a renowned faculty and take advantage of the outstanding library resources.

Applications for the second semester (January-June 2026) of the 2025-26 academic year will be begin being accepted on May 1st of 2024.

APPLICATIONS GUIDELINES

Eligibility

Applicants should be tenured established scholars with a record of published research and professional contributions. Retired or Emeritus faculty are welcome to apply. The Visiting Professorship is reserved for CBA members in good standing. (The Visiting Professorship is not intended for Early Career scholars).

Semester Time Frames and Flexibility

The Visiting Professorship is for one semester. Applicants should be advised that:

The full autumn semester of the PBI spans (typically) the beginning of October to mid-February (including an exam period)--hence, a five month period.
The full winter (or spring) semester of the PBI spans (typically) mid February to end of June--around four and a half months.
Holders of European passports could teach for the full five month period.
Holders of US passports are limited to a teaching period/stay in Italy of 90 days within a six-month period.
The PBI will work with applicants who are not able for reasons of visa restrictions to be present (in person) for the full duration of the semester. Similarly the PBI will work with applicants from North American institutions with differing calendar years, so that they may teach the autumn semester and return for their institution’s spring semester.

Indicate your preference for semester and year and also your flexibility (whether you are open to the Visiting Professorship for both semesters of a given academic year).

Deadlines

Applications are to be submitted to the CBA Office (cba-office@cua.edu) by July 31st.
Committee on Research Support decision September 1st.
PBI makes final decision.
Applicants notified by October 31st.

2025-26 Areas of Teaching

Teaching areas of need and interest for the second semester (January-June 2026) of the 2025-26 academic year are:

Letter to the Hebrews or
one of the Pauline Letters.

Application Process

Interested applicants should complete the entire process to be considered for the pool of candidates submitted to the Pontifical Biblical Institute, including:

The CBA/PBI Visiting Professor Application Form,
A Curriculum Vitae
A Letter of Intent not to exceed two pages that presents:
- Interest in the position and fit for teaching in an international milieu,
- Current research area(s), and potential course offerings.
Checklist

Send the above documents as email attachments to the CBA Office (cba-office@cua.edu) on or before July 31st.
N.B. if within a week of submitting your application, you have not received from the CBA Office an email response confirming receipt of the application, please call the office (202-319-5519) and leave a message.

Selection Process

A CBA subcommittee on the Visiting Professorship at PBI will assess applications based upon the following criteria and present a pool of eligible applicants to the PBI for consideration.

Applicants are established scholars and a members of CBA in good standing
Applicants’ teaching proposal coincides with PBI curricular needs as well as applicants’ research.
Applicants are able or express an interest in teaching international students.
Applicants are prepared to teach at the doctoral level.
Applicants possess working knowledge of the biblical languages.
Applicants’ research interests would be an enriching addition to the PBI community.

Administration of the Visiting Professorship

A $30,000 stipend per semester and related expenses (travel, lodging, etc.) up to $25,000 will be funded by CBA..

Lodging and Health Insurance

The applicant can come with his/her spouse or family and according to their needs the PBI will provide an apartment. Therefore in the application it is necessary to mention whether the applicant needs an apartment and if so, to indicate the number of people who would come.

The applicant and the family members need health insurance. If their US health insurance covers expenses abroad, it is not necessary to buy a European health insurance. If not, it is necessary to purchase the latter. The applicant and family members should consult their health insurance agent and add whether they need to acquire health insurance.