Deadline: November 1, 2020

Applications for the 2020 Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP)- Predoctoral are now open.

Big Ten Academic Alliance Universities*

* The University of Chicago is participating in this program as the affiliate member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Background:

The Big Ten Academic Alliance established in 1958, is a consortium of research universities that collaborate on a wide range of academic and administrative initiatives to advance their academic missions, generate unique opportunities for students and faculty, and serve the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and collaborating on innovative programs.

The current members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance are: University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  The University of Chicago is participating in this program as an affiliate.

The Big Ten Academic Alliance universities share the Smithsonian’s goals and commitments.  Through collaboration, member universities build upon the strengths, assets and expertise of each member university, connecting scholars with resources and opportunities and exploring ways to promote greater strategic engagement across the spectrum of the research enterprise.

The goal of the program is to identify current students from Big Ten Academic Alliance universities who have been admitted into doctoral candidacy and satisfied all requirements except completion of dissertation. These doctoral candidates find appropriate advisers at the Smithsonian to conduct research and scholarship that will further the development of their respective theses.

Program Information & Eligibility:

Big Ten Academic Alliance applicants must propose research that is conducted at the Smithsonian in an area of research outlined in the publication, Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study (SORS). Applicants should contact staff members to help identify potential advisors, determine the feasibility of the proposed research being conducted at the Smithsonian Institution, and the availability of relevant resources such as staff, collections, archives and library materials during the proposed tenure dates. Current Smithsonian research staff members can be found in SORS.

Only students currently enrolled in one of the Big Ten Academic Alliance member universities are eligible. Students must have completed all course work for their programs, and must have been admitted into doctoral candidacy and satisfied all requirements except completion of the dissertation by the time their appointment begins in order to qualify. The program is open to US citizens and Non-US citizens. Applicants whose native language is not English are expected to have the ability to write and converse fluently in English. All application materials must be presented in English.

A Smithsonian fellowship may not be awarded to any person who has been employed by or under contract to the Institution in the previous year without the prior approval of the Office of Fellowships.

The Big Ten Academic Alliance universities will administer all the fellowship funds.

How to Apply:

You first need to create an account in SOLAA and then you will be able to apply. Applications for the Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship Program are not listed under the museum, research facility or office in which the applicant proposes to conduct research. Applicants for the Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship Program need to select the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP) - Predoctoral application found under the Office of Fellowships in SOLAA.  You may search on SIFP in the program name field. For more information go to the  Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP) page.

Your eligibility for the program will be identified by your current university affiliation listed in SOLAA.

More Information 

For a list of Smithsonian Fellowship contacts on Big Ten Academic Alliance campuses go here.