Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Predoctoral Fellowship

The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program offers opportunities for independent research or study related to Smithsonian collections, facilities, and/or research interests of the Institution and its staff. Fellowships are offered to graduate students, predoctoral students, and postdoctoral and senior researchers to conduct independent research and to utilize the resources of the Institution with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff serving as advisors and hosts. 

• Predoctoral Fellowships – Term: 3 to 12 months
• Fellowship tenures must begin between June 1, 2025 and May 30, 2026.

Award Type: $45,000 stipend per year and up to $5,000 in research allowance

Eligibility Requirements

• Students enrolled in a university as candidates for the Ph.D. or equivalent
• Doctoral candidate conducting dissertation research
• By the time the appointment begins, the university must approve the undertaking of dissertation research at the Smithsonian Institution and certify that requirements for the doctorate, other than the dissertation, have been met.

The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program offers fellowships for research and study in the following fields and encourages applications of an interdisciplinary nature:

Animal behavior, ecology, and environmental science, including an emphasis on the tropics; Anthropology, including archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics, and physical anthropology; Astrophysics and astronomy; Earth sciences and paleobiology; Evolutionary & systematic biology; Folklife; History of science and technology; History of art, especially American, contemporary, African, and Asian art, twentieth-century American crafts, and decorative arts; Materials research; Molecular biology; Social and cultural history of the United States.

Applications are evaluated and fellows are selected, by scholars in appropriate fields, on the basis of the proposal’s merit, the applicant’s ability to carry out the proposed research and study, the likelihood that the research could be completed in the requested time, demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the extent to which the Smithsonian, through its research staff members and resources, could contribute to the research and professional goals of the fellow.