Smithsonian Fellowship Program

Smithsonian Fellowship Program
Name	Smithsonian Fellowship Program
Established	196?
Type	Fellowship program
Location	Washington, D.C.
Administered by	Smithsonian Institution

Contents

Smithsonian Fellowship Program

The Smithsonian Fellowship Program offers short- and long-term research appointments at the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research centers, and archives, attracting scholars, curators, and practitioners from institutions such as the National Museum of Natural History, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of American History, National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Fellows work on collections-based projects alongside staff from the National Gallery of Art-adjacent curatorial teams, collaborate with researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and contribute to exhibitions that may involve partners like the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration.

Overview

The program places postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, independent scholars, and visiting professionals in residency at Smithsonian units including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Zoological Park, the Anacostia Community Museum, and the Freer Gallery of Art. It supports research tied to collections management at repositories such as the Smithsonian Institution Archives, scientific investigation at centers like the Marine Station at Fort Pierce, and public-facing projects coordinated with the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and the National Postal Museum. The Fellowship Program intersects with initiatives like the Huntington Library and the American Philosophical Society through collaborative grants and visiting appointments.

Applicants typically hold degrees from institutions such as Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Oxford University, Yale University, or international universities like the University of Cambridge and the University of Tokyo. Categories include graduate, predoctoral, postdoctoral, senior, and short-term fellowships, and applicants often provide dossiers referencing mentors at centers like the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the National Museum of the American Indian. Application materials mirror formats used by funders including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation, with project narratives, CVs, and letters from curators at the Cooperstown National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum or conservation scientists from the Getty Conservation Institute.

Fellowships span disciplines reflected across Smithsonian units: paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History's fossil collections; art history at the Renwick Gallery and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; aerospace history at the National Air and Space Museum; anthropology at the National Museum of the American Indian; and biodiversity studies with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Other areas include conservation science aligned with methodologies from the Getty Research Institute, exhibition design practices paralleling the Cooper-Hewitt, and archival studies akin to work at the New York Public Library and the Bodleian Library.

Selection panels include curators and scientists from units such as the National Museum of African Art, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and advisors with affiliations to the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Council of Learned Societies. Awards provide stipends, access to collections at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and in some cases travel funds comparable to awards from the Fulbright Program or the Rhodes Trust. Competitive review considers project feasibility, curator endorsements from the National Portrait Gallery or the Anacostia Community Museum, and relevance to institutional priorities including digitization efforts similar to projects at the Digital Public Library of America.

Fellows conduct object-based research in facilities like the Sant Ocean Hall and laboratories at the National Museum of Natural History's Department of Entomology, participate in seminars with staff from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the National Museum of American History, and contribute to public programs in partnership with organizations such as the Smithsonian Associates and the Cooper-Hewitt. Benefits include access to conservation labs used by the Getty Conservation Institute, mentorship from curators akin to those at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and opportunities to publish in outlets such as the Smithsonian Magazine and scholarly journals affiliated with the American Antiquarian Society.

Past fellows have included historians, scientists, and artists whose work connected with institutions like the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Freer Gallery of Art. Projects have resulted in exhibitions, catalogues, and monographs comparable to collaborations with the Museum of Modern Art, major digitization projects like those undertaken by the Library of Congress, and long-term collections research paralleling studies at the Field Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.

Administration is handled by the Smithsonian's Office of Fellowships and Internships in coordination with curatorial offices across the Smithsonian Institution. The program furthered institutional priorities including collection access, research dissemination, and public engagement—objectives shared with partners like the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and cross-institutional collaborations with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and external research universities.