Winterthur Research Fellowships

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library • Winterthur, DE

7d • $2,500 - $5,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Winterthur offers short- and long-term research fellowships that provide access to its library, museum, garden, and landscape collections for material culture research and creative projects across disciplines. Fellows may consult with collection specialists, conservators, and scientific staff. Fellowship types include NEH Postdoctoral, Winterthur Postdoctoral, Dissertation, Short-Term, Maker-Creator, and Conservation Residency opportunities, each with its own eligibility criteria and duration. Stipends are provided as specified for each fellowship. Fellows are expected to contribute to Winterthur’s scholarly community, share their research, and generally spend time on site. Fully remote fellowships are not supported. Fellows may not take teaching assignments or undertake other major work or research activities during their fellowship tenure, subject to the specific terms of each fellowship.

Requirements

• Eligibility depends on the fellowship type; applicants may include scholars and creative professionals at different career stages.
• NEH Postdoctoral applicants must have completed formal professional training; degree candidates seeking support for degree work are ineligible. Advanced-degree candidates must complete all requirements except degree conferral, including dissertation defense, by January 15, 2027.
• NEH Postdoctoral foreign-national applicants must have been U.S. residents for at least three years immediately preceding the application deadline.
• Winterthur Postdoctoral applicants must have completed their Ph.D. before September 1, 2027; applicants may still be Ph.D. candidates when applying by January 15, 2027.
• Dissertation Fellowship applicants must be doctoral candidates researching or writing their dissertations and enrolled at a university; those completing a Ph.D. independently without university enrollment are ineligible.
• Short-Term Fellowships are open to independent or institutional researchers and scholars at all levels, including graduate students completing Ph.D. and M.A. degrees.
• Maker-Creator Fellowships are intended for artistic and creative professionals.
• Conservation Residency applicants must be conservation professionals with an established project aligned with a listed departmental priority.
• NEH Fellows must be in regular and continuous residence at Winterthur for the entirety of the fellowship and may not hold another NEH-funded grant concurrently.
• Fellows may use institutional sabbaticals and grants only if these do not prevent them from meeting Winterthur’s fellowship requirements.

Responsibilities

• Present one 20–25-minute Research Fellowship Program lunchtime talk or lecture about their research at Winterthur, preferably during the residency.
• Attend weekly Research Fellowship Program lunchtime talks and participate in discussions.
• Share one social media post about their research, tagging #researchatwinterthur and @winterthurmuse, in a form suitable for reposting.
• Be on site at least four days a week; specified fellowship types may complete part of the fellowship remotely for equivalent time, but fully remote fellowships are not supported.
• Devote full time to fellowship study where required and refrain from teaching assignments or other major work or research activities during the fellowship tenure.
• Conservation Residency recipients must share their expertise with faculty, staff, and students in their identified area.

Benefits

• Access to Winterthur Library’s research collections, including imprints, manuscripts, trade literature, ephemera, photographs, and archives.
• Access to Winterthur Museum’s collection of more than 90,000 artifacts.
• Consultation with collection specialists, conservators, and scientific staff.
• Access to 7,500 plant specimens and more than 1,000 acres of landscape and gardens.
• Monthly stipends that vary by fellowship type.
• Conservation Residency travel and lodging are supported by alumni of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation.
• Conservation Residency recipients can access Winterthur conservation facilities, analytical equipment at the museum and University of Delaware, and Winterthur museum, garden, and library collections.

What This Job Offers

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