Apply Online

How to Apply for a Consortium Fellowship

1. Select the member institutions of interest 
2. Access their catalogs and online resources to identify materials
3. Contact the member institutions for further reference support and state your interest in applying for the NERFC fellowship
4. Review the Application Rubric for guidance in preparing your application
5. Submit your application materials through the Application Portal

NERFC strongly encourages applicants to discuss their projects with the staffs of the repositories they plan to visit before submitting their proposals; the Consortium requires contact with staff and participating organizations to gain wider scope of the collections they wish to visit. Candidates will be notified of the outcome of the competition approximately eight weeks after the application deadline.

Deadline: February 1, 2026

Where to apply: Application Portal

Requirements:

• A cover letter
• A current, short curriculum vitae, (no more than 2 pages)
• Name of staff member(s) contacted at selected research institution(s)
• 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
      d) an indication of project’s intended deliverables
      e) if using digitized materials from selected institutions, offer a justification of why         in-person use is necessary
• 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 six weeks; include at least three different member institutions; and include at least two weeks at two of these institutions; and designate one week at a third institution . The remaining weeks may be completed at any of these institutions 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.