What Can You Do at Winterthur?
Fellows can utilize the hundreds of thousands of American and European imprints, manuscripts, trade literature, ephemera, photographs, and archives of the Winterthur Library, an independent, world-class research collection. They can also examine Winterthur Museum’s expansive object collections of more than 90,000 artifacts that help us broadly understand four centuries of everyday life in America in a global context. They can look at these collections with specialists and experts and consult with conservators and scientific staff. They can explore 7,500 plant specimens and more than 1,000 acres of landscape and gardens, using these spaces and materials for research, or for respite and recharging. Fellowship privileges and policies can be found here.
Winterthur Research Fellowship staff are eager to talk with you about potential projects and your application. Please contact Academic Programs staff with any questions.
Applications are due January 15, 2025. Applications will be available online on November 1, 2024.
Selected fellows will be notified by April 1, 2025.
Fellowships can be completed between September 1, 2025 and August 31, 2026.
Fellowships Offered
Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowship
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Dissertation Fellowship
Short-Term Fellowship
• Faith Andrews Fellowships for the study of Shaker life and material culture
• William Seale Fellowship for research related to architecture and landscape
• The American Trust for the British Library (ATBL) Research Fellowship
Maker-Creator Fellowship
Remote Fellowship
Affiliated Researchers
Fellowship Requirements
- Fellows are asked to participate in Winterthur’s research community by attending weekly Research Fellowship Program talks.
- Fellows are required to give one presentation at the Research Fellowship Program weekly talks. We prefer this requirement to be completed during the residency but will work with fellows to schedule this at a mutually agreeable time after the fellowship is completed. If interested in offering a workshop or other public program, Research Fellowship Program staff are happy to discuss those ideas with you or connect you to relevant Winterthur staff in advance of arriving for the fellowship.
- Fellows are asked to compose one social media post about their research and share this via their personal social media channels, tagging #researchatwinterthur and the @winterthurmuse social media account.
- Fellows cannot accept teaching assignments or undertake any other major activities during their fellowship tenure.
- Residential fellowships require that fellows be on-site at Winterthur at least four days per week in order to fulfill the fellowship. Remote fellows are expected to spend the equivalent time dedicated to their projects.
- Fellows may hold non-Winterthur fellowships or grants during the fellowship tenure, including sabbaticals and grants from their own institutions so long as they do not impede their ability to meet the requirements of the Winterthur fellowship.
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowship
Stipend: $4,500 per month.
Applicants at any level or rank who complete their Ph.D. before September 1, 2025, may apply for a four-month fellowship to pursue advanced research or revise research for publication. Applicants may still be Ph.D. candidates at the time of the application (January 15, 2025). Please contact us if you have any questions about qualifying for this fellowship based on the timing in which your degree will be conferred. Hybrid completion of this fellowship may be possible, but we are unable to support fully remote postdoctoral fellowships.
NEH Postdoctoral Fellowship
Stipend: $5,000 per month.
The NEH Postdoctoral Fellowship supports a junior or senior scholar in residence at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library for a duration of four months. Suitable projects hold the potential for wider impact upon the humanities rooted in research using Winterthur’s collections.
The NEH Postdoctoral Fellowhip has has its own requirements:
• Applicants must have their Ph.D. in hand at the time the application is submitted on January 15, 2025.
Fellows must be continuously in residence at Winterthur for the entirety of their fellowship and on site four days per week. Hybrid or remote completion is not possible for this fellowship.
The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
“Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library Research Fellowship Program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.”
Dissertation Fellowship
Stipend: $2,500 per month.
Winterthur’s dissertation fellowships support doctoral candidates conducting research or writing their dissertation and receive four-to-eight-month fellowships. Partially remote fellowships are possible. Students completing an external Ph.D. (defined as those who conduct research independently and are not employed by a university) are not eligible for dissertation awards but may apply in the short-term fellowship category.
Short-Term Fellowship
Stipend: $2,500 per month.
Open to independent or institutional researchers and scholars of all levels, including graduate students completing Ph.D. and M.A. degrees. Applicants may apply for fellowship periods ranging from four to six weeks. Partially remote fellowships are possible; however, one half of the awarded fellowship time must be completed in residence.
Applicants need not apply for a named fellowship, but we do periodically designate the following awards:
- Faith Andrews Fellowships for the study of Shaker life and material culture
- William Seale Fellowship for research related to architectural, landscape and gardens, and White House/Presidential history.
Beginning in 2025, Winterthur’s Research Fellowship Program is a partner institution with the American Trust for the British Library Research Fellowship Program.
The ATBL’s Research Fellowship Program is a short-term, $2,500 research stipend that supports research projects that make use of collections in any department in the British Library.
The Program partners with American collections-based institutions that currently have established, competitive short-term research fellowships or stipends on offer. This is an add-on option to Winterthur short-term research fellowship applications, ensuring that ATBL’s research program candidates conduct research in dialogue between an American collection and that of the British Library. If awarded a short-term research fellowship at Winterthur, the incumbent can later be considered for an ATBL fellowship. ATBL Fellowship recipients will be notified directly by ATBL on or before May 1, 2025.
Please direct any questions about the ATBL Research Fellowship Program to fellowships@atbl.us and check the organization’s website for information about this year’s competitive cycle.
“My lunchtime talk gave me the opportunity to pose very specific questions to a very knowledgeable audience… hearing from a group of experts has made me feel more confident about my own understanding and interpretations.”
Cambra Sklarz, Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Riverside, 2023-2024 Short-Term Research Fellow
Maker-Creator Fellowship
Stipend: $2,500 per month.
HOW WILL WINTERTHUR INSPIRE YOU?
Our four-to-six-week research fellowships are designed for artistic and creative professionals to examine, study, and immerse themselves in Winterthur’s vast collections to inspire their practices . Past fellows have utilized the museum’s landscape, gardens, museum collections, and library for inspiration, precedent, instruction, and material for their creations. See our Current and Past Research Fellows page for a list of all Maker-Creator Fellowship recipients. The Winterthur Fellows’ Projects page has more information on the range of creative projects shaped by experiences at Winterthur.
Winterthur does not have dedicated studio space, but program staff are available to talk through your needs to occasionally accommodate some modest on-site creation.
Maker-Creator applicants are encouraged to contact Academic Programs staff with any questions about project feasibility or the application process and will review drafts of application narratives received before December 1.
Directions to apply can be found here. Maker-Creator Fellowship applicants will need to supply work samples in addition to the application form, essay, bibliography, CV, and letters of reference required for the other fellowships.
“The duet of primary source research and object-driven house tours grounded my time and provided me with a solid, sturdy footing for the next step of translating research into artworks. Without Winterthur’s Maker-Creator Fellowship and all that it encompassed, I know my project might not be a reality.”
Brece Honeycutt, artist and 2023-2024 Maker-Creator Fellow
Remote Fellowship
First created to maintain vital access to collections for fellows during the pandemic, we recognize that other obligations and limits to budgets and time can be barriers to residential research. A limited number of remote fellowships may be available. Research Fellowship Program staff are happy to discuss remote possibilities with you. Please contact AcademicPrograms@winterthur.org before you apply for this option.
“[Winterthur staff] did an incredible job with planning my fellowship and assisting me with finding people and resources that could guide my study… [They] pointed me towards seminal information for this last chapter of my dissertation which has enhanced the chapter greatly.”
Camille Davis, Ph.D. Candidate, Southern Methodist University, 2020-21 Fellow
Affiliated Researchers
We reserve a limited number of spaces for Affiliated Researchers who can provide their own financial support to be in residence. We welcome affiliated researchers at any stage of their career or artistic practice. Benefits of Affiliated Researcher status mirror those of funded researchers with access adjusted to the scope and needs of the project.
There is no application form. An email of interest should be sent to Academic Programs staff with the following information:
- details of your current project or research subject
- dates of intended time in residence at Winterthur
- a copy of your current resumé or curriculum vitae
- and a letter of reference that addresses your project, record of accomplishment, and ability to work with a collegial group. If you are working closely with Winterthur staff as part of your project, the letter of reference should come from that staff member.
Requests are reviewed by staff on a rolling basis. Please allow at least two months for processing a status request before the intended start date of your research here.