Qualifications for Application
Applicants are encouraged to propose to conduct research in-residence at the Smithsonian in one of its areas of research as outlined in the publication, Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study, for a period of three to twelve months, or ten weeks for the Graduate Student Fellowship. Past or current fellowship recipients are eligible to apply for another award.
No employee or contractor of the Smithsonian Institution may hold a Smithsonian fellowship during the time of his/her employment or contract, nor may an award be offered to any person who has been employed by or under contract to the Institution in the previous year, without the prior approval of the Office Academic Appointments and Internships (OAAI).
Applicants whose native language is not English are expected to have the ability to write and converse fluently in English. All application materials must be presented in English (foreign transcripts may be translated, see below).
Graduate Student Fellowships: When they apply, students must be formally enrolled in a graduate program of study at a degree-granting institution. Before the appointment begins fellows must still be enrolled and must have completed at least one full-time semester or its equivalent. Graduate Student Fellowships are intended for students who have not yet been advanced to candidacy if in a doctoral program.
Predoctoral Fellowships: Students enrolled in a university as candidates for the Ph.D. or equivalent are eligible for predoctoral fellowships. By the time the appointment begins, the university must approve the undertaking of dissertation research at the Smithsonian Institution and certify that requirements for the doctorate, other than the dissertation, have been met.
Postdoctoral Fellowships: The doctorate degree must be completed by the time the fellowship begins.
Senior Fellowships: Applicants must have held a Ph.D. or equivalent for at least 5 years. Applicants who have received the Ph.D. or equivalent before June 1, 2020 are eligible to apply for senior fellowships. If you have taken a “leave of absence” from research and wish to apply under the postdoctoral fellowship application instead of senior fellowship application you will need to provide a justification in the additional information section at the end of the application.
Please find a visual guide on eligibility here.
Criteria for Selection
Applications are evaluated and fellows are selected, by scholars in appropriate fields, on the basis of the proposal’s merit, the applicant’s ability to carry out the proposed research and study, the likelihood that the research could be completed in the requested time, demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the extent to which the Smithsonian, through its research staff members and resources, could contribute to the research and professional goals of the fellow. The number of appointments made each year is determined by the availability of funds for the program.
The Smithsonian Institution does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information, parental status, or military service.
Conditions of Appointment
Predoctoral fellowships are awarded for periods of three to twelve months. Postdoctoral and senior fellowships are awarded for periods of three to twenty-four months.* Appointment periods are in accordance with the applicant’s proposal for the research, unless the length of tenure requested is considered by reviewers to be more than required. All graduate student fellowships are ten weeks long. In accepting an appointment, the fellow will be expected to devote full-time effort to the research proposed and to be in residence at the Smithsonian except for approved absences.
Financial support, in addition to a Smithsonian fellowship, for such purposes as research travel and equipment may be received from other sources provided that no special demands are made upon the fellow’s time. Permission to receive additional stipend support must be requested in writing from the Office of Fellowships & Internships.
Fellowship tenures must begin between June 1, 2026 and May 30, 2027. It is important that applicants consider the following factors carefully when choosing the dates for the proposed fellowship: their academic schedule; completion dates of their preliminary exams, coursework, or dissertation (if applicable); the schedule of their proposed advisor/host and the availability of required resources.
Appointments must begin on either the 1st or 3rd Monday of the month. The dates of tenure proposed in the application (and any change of dates if the fellowship is awarded) should be selected in agreement with the proposed principal advisor.
In submitting an application for a fellowship at the Institution, the applicant does not incur any obligation to accept the appointment if selected.
Use of Smithsonian Facilities
Fellows will be provided with space to conduct their research within the department in which they are working. Applicants should consult in advance with their proposed advisor(s) regarding the availability of facilities and necessary equipment. The amount of support services available to the fellow will be determined by the workload of the department and the policy of the department chairperson and/or unit director. Fellows have access to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries with privileges which include borrowing library materials, interlibrary loans, interlibrary loans, document delivery, database searching, and reference assistance.
