Postdoctoral Fellowships on British Art and Architecture
Postdoctoral Fellowships are offered annually for the purpose of supporting continuing postdoctoral research in the field of British art and architectural history or supporting the start of a new research project that has arisen out of a successfully submitted doctoral dissertation.
They are designed for applicants who have had their doctoral theses successfully examined within the five years prior to January 2024.
The Fellowship is an award of £15,000 to cover a period of six months.
The Paul Mellon Centre is an educational charity that champions new ways of understanding British art history and culture. Through all areas of our work, including our grants and fellowships programme, we promote activities that enhance and expand knowledge of British art and architecture. As an institution, we pledge ourselves to ensuring that the histories of British art are enriched and made more relevant to a broader range of people in the future. The inclusion of voices, narratives and experiences that have been marginalised or excluded in the past will have a transformational impact on the future of the Centre and upon British art studies. Accordingly, the Paul Mellon Centre particularly welcomes applications from those who are under-represented within the academic field of the humanities in the UK.
Scope
Six-month full-time Postdoctoral Fellowships are specifically designed to either:
- Support a Fellow whilst they undertake further postdoctoral research in the field of British art or architectural history
- Support a Fellow undertake a new research project which has arisen out of a successfully submitted doctoral dissertation
This Fellowship is designed to encourage further in-depth research which could potentially result in a book, a series of articles, curatorial project or further study. It is not a requirement for the Fellow to state a single concrete outcome for the research project. However, the application should outline a carefully planned programme of research.
Funding
Postdoctoral Fellowships are awards of £15,000, this can be taken as either:
- Replacement teaching or staff costs and paid directly to either the Fellow’s University or institution
- A lump-sum grant if the Fellow is an independent or freelance scholar
The Centre does not pay full economic costs.
If an independent Fellow accepts full-time employment during the period of the Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Centre will request an appropriate reimbursement of the award.
There is flexibility in regards to the individual working part-time and receiving a Postdoctoral Fellowship, this will be dealt with on a case by case basis, please contact the Grants & Fellowships Manager Manager for more information.
Eligibility
Our funding programme supports scholarship, academic research and the dissemination of knowledge in the fields of British art and architectural history, and of British visual culture understood more broadly, from the medieval period to the present day. All supported topics must have a clear art-historical perspective, including those that focus on recent or contemporary artistic practice. All applications must demonstrate that British art, architecture or visual culture provides a substantial focus for their project. Applications will be assessed according to their academic rigour, originality, and contribution to scholarship. We do not fund research projects focusing on archaeology, current architecture practice, or the performing arts.
To apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship applicants must have had their doctoral theses successfully examined within the five years prior to January 2024.
Postdoctoral Fellowships are for the academic year 2024/2025 and may be taken between September 2024 and September 2025. Fellowships cannot be deferred to later academic years nor can they run concurrently with a Fellowship awarded by another institution.
Applications for shorter periods than six months will not be accepted.
For further questions on eligibility please contact the Grants & Fellowships Manager.
Application
Postdoctoral Fellowships are offered in our Spring round of funding.
Applications are currently open, closing date for applications is 31 January 2024 at 11:59pm. Closing date for referees is 11 February 2024 at 11:59pm.
To apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship you must use our online system at grants.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. Once registered you will be able to fill out the online application form (example of which can be downloaded below) and provide the details of two referees. The option to provide the referee details will be available once the application is submitted. We will then contact the nominated referee with details on how they submit their reference which must be completed through our online system and must be no more than 500 words.
Referees should have first-hand knowledge of the applicant’s academic career and the subject area for which funding is being sought. Advisory Council would like to be informed of the originality of the subject matter and the applicant’s suitability to pursue such research.
Applications and nominated referee details must be received by 31 January 2024, referees have until 11 February 2024 to submit their references.
Requirements
- Once confirmed, the Postdoctoral Fellow must inform the Grants and Fellowships Manager of the dates of their Fellowship by the end of the year the award was made.
- On completion the Postdoctoral Fellow must submit a comprehensive written report: this would typically be around 500 words (1 page) but may be longer if required. The report should detail the research activity undertaken during the funded period and the impact of this work on the larger project. The report must be submitted within three months of the completed Fellowship, this will then be shared with the Advisory Council. If there are any further future outcomes of the project outside of the Fellowship period (eg. publication, exhibition, academic papers) then the Postdoctoral Fellow should send the details of these to the Grants and Fellowships Manager.
