Smithsonian Fellowships: Amazing Opportunities for Independent Research
So you want to do a fellowship at the Smithsonian?
Good for you! We’d love for you to apply!
Smithsonian fellowships are awarded competitively to graduate, pre-doctoral, or post-doctoral students - or granted non-competitively to visiting professionals, students, scientists, or scholars - are offered to individuals who design and develop proposals for independent study or collaborative research in fields pursued by and of interest to Smithsonian staff. Smithsonian fellows are generally appointed to terms lasting between 1 to 3 years.
How you apply…
Smithsonian fellowships offer an incredible range of research opportunities. Because experts in the Smithsonian’s various units (Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Libraries, American Art Museum, etc) understand their respective subject areas, collections, and opportunities for research best, the selection process for different fellowships varies.
Find out more about the variety of fellowship opportunities available at the Smithsonian here:
Fellowship OpportunitiesFellowship Application Deadlines:
January:
1/9/17 The Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (SARF) - Application Deadline
1/15/18 The James Smithson Fellowship - Application Deadline
1/15 (yearly) National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History Fellowship - Academic Year Application Deadline
1/15 (yearly) National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Fellowships - Application Deadline
1/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Libraries (SIL) Baird Society Resident Scholar Program - Application Deadline
1/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Libraries (SIL) The Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program - Application Deadline
1/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Libraries (SIL) Margaret Henry Dabney Penick Resident Scholar Program - Application Deadline
February:
2/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) Minority Awards Program - Summer and Fall Application Deadline
2/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) Native American Community Scholar Awards - Summer and Fall Application Deadline
2/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) Native American Visiting Student Awards - Summer and Fall Application Deadline
2/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce (SMS) Link Foundation/Smithsonian 12-Week Graduate Research Fellowships - Application Deadline
March:
3/1: National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Engen Conservation Fellowship - Application Deadline
3/15: Latino Museum Studies Fellowship Program - Application Deadline
April:
4/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) Short Term Fellowship - Summer Application Deadline
May:
June:
No current application deadlines.
July:
7/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Gardens (SG) Enid A. Haupt Fellowship in Horticulture - Application Deadline
7/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) Short Term Fellowship - Fall Application Deadline
7/15 (yearly) Advisory Council on Historic Preservation & Smithsonian Cultural Heritage Fellowship - Fall Application Deadline
7/15 (yearly) Travel Research in Equity Collections (TREC) - Fall Application Deadline
August:
8/15/17: The Center for Tropical Forest Science – Forest Global Earth Observatory Fellowships - Application Deadline
September:
No current application deadlines.
October:
10/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) Minority Awards Program - Spring Application Deadline
10/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) Native American Community Scholar Awards - Spring Application Deadline
10/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) Native American Visiting Student Awards - Spring Application Deadline
10/15 (yearly) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) short term Fellowship Deadline - Spring Application Deadline
10/30 (yearly) Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA) SMA Postdoctoral Fellowships – Application Deadline
10/30 (yearly) Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Clay Postdoctoral Fellowship - Application Deadline
10/31/16 The Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (SARF) - Nomination Deadline
November
No current deadlines
December:
12/1 (yearly) The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP) - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) George E. Burch Fellowship in Theoretical Medicine and Affiliated Sciences - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) The Smithsonian Mpala Postdoctoral Fellowship - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Stable Isotope Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowship - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) The Smithsonian Biodiversity Genomics Postdoctoral Fellowship Program - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) Earl S. Tupper 3-Year Postdoctoral Fellowship
12/1 (yearly) The Smithsonian Postgraduate Fellowships in Conservation of Museum Collections Program - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Lemelson Center Travel to Collections Awards - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Lemelson Center Fellowships - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Lemelson Center Arthur Molella Distinguished Fellowship - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Smithsonian Fellowship - Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery (SAAM) Joe and Wanda Corn Fellowship - Fellowships Beginning On/After June 1 Application Deadline
12/1 (yearly) James Renwick Fellowship in American Craft (SAAM) - Fellowships Beginning On/After June 1 Application Deadline
12/15/16: Smithsonian National Zoological Park (NZP) Reptile Discovery Center Internship Application Deadline
12/15 (yearly) Freer Sackler Galleries (FSGA) The Anne van Biema Fellowship - Application Deadline
12/15 Global Genome Initiative Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship Program - Application Deadline
12/15 MarineGEO Postdoctoral Fellowship - Submission Deadline
Rolling Basis:
Anacostia Community Museum (ACM)
Archives of American Art (AAA)
Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowships (CFCH)