Winterthur Research Fellowships

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library • Winterthur, DE

6d

About The Position

Winterthur offers short- and long-term research fellowships providing access to its library, museum, garden, and landscape collections for material culture research across disciplines. Fellows may work with hundreds of thousands of imprints, manuscripts, trade literature, ephemera, photographs, and archival materials; examine more than 90,000 museum artifacts; consult with collection specialists, conservators, and scientific staff; and use the institution’s plant specimens, gardens, and landscape for research. The program welcomes scholars and creative professionals at all career stages and particularly encourages applicants from historically underrepresented communities.

Fellows are expected to present a 20–25-minute lunchtime talk about their research, attend weekly fellowship talks and discussions, and share a social media post about their research. Fellows generally must be on site at least four days per week. Short-Term, Postdoctoral, Dissertation, and Maker-Creator fellows may complete part of their fellowship remotely for equivalent time, but fully remote fellowships are not supported. Fellows may not accept teaching assignments or undertake other major work or research activities during their tenure. Institutional sabbaticals and grants may be used if they do not prevent fulfillment of fellowship requirements.

Available fellowships include a four-month National Endowment for the Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship ($5,000 per month), a four-month Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowship ($4,500 per month), four- to eight-month Dissertation Fellowships ($2,500 per month), four- to six-week Short-Term Fellowships ($3,000 per month), four- to six-week Maker-Creator Fellowships ($3,000 per month), and Conservation Residencies of up to four weeks ($3,000 per month). The fellowships have distinct eligibility criteria: NEH applicants must have completed professional training and meet specified degree and residency rules; Winterthur Postdoctoral applicants must complete a Ph.D. before September 1, 2027; Dissertation Fellowships support enrolled doctoral candidates researching or writing dissertations; Short-Term Fellowships are open to independent or institutional researchers and scholars at all levels; Maker-Creator Fellowships are for artistic and creative professionals; and Conservation Residencies are for conservation professionals with established projects aligned with departmental priorities. The 2027–2028 Conservation Residency priorities include upholstery conservation, ceramic stain reduction, historical glass analysis, painting mechanics and structural treatments, 20th-century synthetic textiles, dye analysis, leather tanning analysis, plant-material microscopy, and conservation of photo albums and scrapbooks. Conservation Residency recipients have access to conservation facilities, analytical equipment at Winterthur and the University of Delaware, and collections, and are expected to share their expertise with faculty, staff, and students.

Requirements

• Meet the eligibility criteria for the specific fellowship applied for.
• NEH Postdoctoral Fellowship applicants must have completed formal professional training; degree candidates and those seeking funding for degree work are ineligible.
• NEH advanced-degree candidates must have completed all requirements, including the dissertation defense, by January 15, 2027, with only degree conferral outstanding.
• Foreign nationals applying for the NEH fellowship must have been U.S. residents for at least three years immediately preceding the application deadline.
• Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowship applicants must have completed their Ph.D. before September 1, 2027.
• Dissertation Fellowship applicants must be doctoral candidates researching or writing dissertations and enrolled at a university.
• Short-Term Fellowship applicants may be independent or institutional researchers and scholars at any level, including graduate students completing Ph.D. or M.A. degrees.
• Maker-Creator Fellowship applicants must be artistic or creative professionals.
• Conservation Residency applicants must be conservation professionals with an established project aligned with a stated departmental priority.
• Meet Winterthur’s fellowship participation and residency requirements; fully remote fellowships are not supported.

Nice To Haves

• Applicants from historically underrepresented communities who bring critical perspectives to collections research are particularly encouraged.

Responsibilities

• Present a 20–25-minute Research Fellowship Program lunchtime talk or lecture about the research.
• Attend weekly Research Fellowship Program lunchtime talks and participate in discussion.
• Share a post about the research on personal social media, tagging #researchatwinterthur and @winterthurmuse.
• Be on site at least four days a week, subject to the stated flexibility for eligible fellowship types.
• Devote full time to the fellowship study and refrain from teaching assignments and other major work or research activities during fellowship tenure.
• For Conservation Residency recipients, share expertise with faculty, staff, and students in the identified area.

Benefits

• Monthly stipends are provided, varying by fellowship: $5,000 for the NEH Postdoctoral Fellowship, $4,500 for the Winterthur Postdoctoral Fellowship, $2,500 for Dissertation Fellowships, and $3,000 for Short-Term, Maker-Creator, and Conservation fellowships.
• Conservation Residency travel and lodging are supported by alumni of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.
• Access to Winterthur’s library, museum, garden, landscape, collections specialists, conservators, scientific staff, conservation facilities, and analytical equipment.
• Short-Term applicants who receive a Winterthur fellowship may elect consideration for an American Trust for the British Library Research Fellowship, which provides a $2,500 stipend for research using British Library collections.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed