American Philosophical Society Library Resident Research Fellowship

The American Philosophical Society's Library & Museum in Philadelphia invites applications for short-term residential research fellowships. These funding opportunities provide 1- to 3- months of support for researchers in residence and are open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the Library & Museum’s collections for their project. Approximately 25-30 short-term fellowships are awarded each year.

The APS's Library & Museum’s collections make it among the premier institutions for documenting and exhibiting the history of the American Revolution and founding, the history of science from Newton to NASA, and Indigenous languages and cultures. The Society’s collections include more than 14 million pages of manuscripts, 275,000 bound volumes, 250,000 images, thousands of hours of audio tape, and 3,360 three-dimensional artifacts and fine art objects. It is home to three research centers: the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR), which has worked with over 80 Native American and Indigenous communities since 2014; the Center for Digital Scholarship, which interprets and expands access to APS collections through digital projects and open source data; and the David Center for the American Revolution, a partnership with the David Library of the American Revolution that formed a new research center for the American Revolution at the APS and brought the David Library’s collection of Revolutionary-era manuscripts, hundreds of rare books and pamphlets, 8,000 reference volumes, and 9,000 reels of microfilm to Philadelphia.

Comprehensive, searchable guides and finding aids to our collections are available online at www.amphilsoc.org/library and http://amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com/.

A stipend of $3,000 per month is awarded for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three months. The stipend is paid after the awardee arrives at the APS's Library & Museum to begin their fellowship. The duration of award is requested by the candidate, but the final decision is made by the Fellowship Committee. The purpose of the stipend is to defray the costs of working in Philadelphia. Awards are taxable income, but the Society is not required to report payments. It is understood that recipients will discuss their reporting obligations with their tax advisors.

Fellowships may be taken starting any day no earlier than June 1, 2025 and must be completed by May 31, 2026. Fellows are required to be in residence for four to twelve consecutive weeks, depending upon the length of the award. Fellows do not have to decide on the dates of their fellowship right away; they have one year to decide, although most take their fellowships during the summer period.

Deadline: March 3, 2025. Notifications will be sent in May 2025.

Application Guidelines

Qualifications

Applicants may be:

• Holders of the Ph.D. or its equivalent.
• Ph.D. candidates who have passed their preliminary examinations and are working on their dissertation research.
• Degreed independent scholars (without current academic affiliation).
• U.S. citizens or foreign nationals. Candidates who live 75 or more miles from Philadelphia receive some preference.

Applicants in any relevant field of scholarship may apply. Candidates who live 75 or more miles from Philadelphia receive some preference. The duration of award is requested by the candidate, but the final decision is made by the Fellowship Committee.

All application materials will be submitted online. All Applicants must submit:

• A cover letter 
• Curriculum vitae
• A research proposal (2 pages) that outlines the status of your work and what you will research at the American Philosophical Society's Library & Museum.  Special attention must be made to specific collections that will be of use during your fellowship
• Two confidential letters of reference

Application

To Apply: https://apply.interfolio.com/157595