Fellowship Program Description Template

Smithsonian fellowships are independent study programs or collaborative research in fields pursued by and of the interest to Smithsonian Staff. Smithsonian fellows are generally appointed to terms lasting between 1 to 3 years.

Below is a template that will not only be beneficial for you, but for your applicants as well. This templates helps clarify the fellowship and minimize the questions from the applicant.

Be sure to include a picture of a past or current fellow to attract some attention!

Background

This is where you put information useful to present under the background header is the history and origin of the office/unit.

How It Works

Here is where you discuss the fellowship in detail. Information such as what program the fellow will be in and the focus of that program. Because fellowships are independent be sure not to be too narrow with the field of studies. Also, here is where you will include stipend information. It also might be beneficial to add conditions of appointments and use of Smithsonian facilities here too.

Eligibility

The eligibility for fellowships is open to applicants such as, Graduate Students, Predoctoral Students, Postdoctoral Researchers and, Senior Researchers. One can not make a program eligible based on protected classes such as gender or race. However, you can specify the subject area. For example, we encourage applicants who are interested in women studies to apply. Below is a full example of eligibility:

• Applicants must be:
  • Graduate students, who are formally or informally affiliated with a Native American community or tribe
  • Must be interested in pursuing an independent research project related to Native American resources
  • Engaged in graduate study at the time of the appointment
  • In good academic standing with an overall G.P.A. of 3.0 or equivalent
  • Available full-time (40 hours per week) for a maximum of ten weeks during the summer, fall, or spring.

How To Apply

For this section, OFI recommends using the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment System(SOLAA). However, other options such as applying via pdf are acceptable too.

Application deadlines as well as contact information and application requirements are listed under this header too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here is it useful to specify questions such as, resources, requirements, or references.