The institute offers advanced research facility for international scholars of all of the humanities and social sciences.

[5] Each year NIAS welcomes around fifty fellows who stay at the institute for five to ten months.

Fellows are prominent researchers and senior scholars with a PhD and who have made an important contribution in their fields.

NIAS also hosts theme groups, which bring together scholars of different backgrounds with specific expertise to work together on a daily basis.

Fellows include and have included: Svetlana Alpers, David E. Apter, Tito Boeri, Gerrit Broekstra, Jaap R. Bruijn, Arif Dirlik, Edgar L. Feige, Lewis Goldberg, Richard Goldstone, Bernd Heine, Martin Hellwig, Anne-Lot Hoek, Ernst Homburg, Henkjan Honing, Fred Inglis, Lisa Jardine, Bruce Kapferer, Ronald Kaplan, David Mitchell, Wolfgang Mommsen, Henry Schvey, Frits van Oostrom, Benjamin Radcliff, Bruce Russett, Hein Schreuder, Alex Verrijn Stuart, Henk Wesseling, Robert S. Wistrich, John Woods, Nasr Abu Zayd, and Gerard de Zeeuw.