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*Announcement: NERFC will offer its full slate of research fellowships in the 2025-2026 application cycle. The deadline for applications will be February 1, 2025.

How to Apply for a Consortium Fellowship

NERFC strongly encourages applicants to discuss their projects with the staffs of the repositories they plan to visit before submitting their proposals; online catalogs, while useful, cannot replace talking to a knowledgeable curator. Candidates will be notified of the outcome of the competition approximately eight weeks after the application deadline.

Deadline: February 1, 2025

Where to apply: Application Portal

Requirements:

• A cover letter.
• A current, short curriculum vitae, (no more than 3 pages).
• A project proposal approximately 1,000 words in length. 
      The proposal should include:
      a) a description of the project; 
      b) a statement explaining the historiographical significance of 
      the project; 
      c) an indication of the specific collections at each institution the applicant
      wishes to consult.
• A short project description approximately 100 words in length.
• A short schedule of the institutions to be visited along with the collections to be studied at each. NOTE: PROPOSALS THAT ARE VAGUE ABOUT MATERIALS TO BE USED ARE RARELY FUNDED.
  Each itinerary must: be a minimum of eight weeks; include at least three different member institutions; and include at least two weeks at each of these institutions. The remaining weeks may be completed at any of these institution or additional sites.
• Applicants who have not completed their professional training, ordinarily including an earned doctorate, must provide one letter of recommendation from a faculty member familiar with the project. Please note that the letter is due at the application deadline. You may initiate your recommendation request through our application portal at any time - you do not need to wait until your application is complete.
• Applicants who do not reside in the U.S. must indicate their citizenship. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or already hold the J-1 visa or equivalent documents that will allow them to accept the stipend. Foreign nationals must consult with MHS staff about eligibility to receive a stipend before submitting an application.

Please direct questions to fellowships@masshist.org, (617) 646-0577.