NYPL Short-Term Research Fellowships 2013 - 2014 (4/8/2013)

The New York Public Library is pleased to offer Short-Term Research Fellowships to scholars from outside the New York metropolitan area engaged in graduate level, post-doctoral, and independent research.  Scholars needing to conduct research in the Library’s special collections for humanities projects including but not limited to art history, cultural studies, history, literature, performing arts and photography are welcome to apply. Applicants must be United States citizens or permanent residents with the legal right to work in the U.S.  Stipends are $1,000 per week for up to four weeks.  Researchers must be in residence at the Library for a minimum of two weeks between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. 

In 2013-2014, the Library will offer additional fellowships to support the study of food and society focusing on manuscript cookbooks and related archival collections held by the Library. With support from the Pine Tree Foundation, the Food Studies Fellowships are intended to support multidisciplinary research and expose individuals working in the area of food studies to manuscript recipe books and archival collections held at the Library. Applicants should follow the same guidelines as the Short-Term Research Fellowship program.

Application Deadline:  April 8, 2013
Notification:  May 3, 2013
Award Period:  July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014

Questions about the fellowships should be directed to the curatorial staff in the applicant’s area of interest; see http://www.nypl.org/research-collections for e-mail addresses of the collections, and for information about the collections of The New York Public Library.

Application:  Complete applications consist of: an abbreviated c.v. with current contact information; a research proposal, including desired length of residency and intended use of the collection(s); a letter of recommendation for the project to be received atshort.term@nypl.org by April 8, 2013.

Read carefully the Application Guidelines [below] to ensure applications are complete before submission.

Research proposals: The proposal should include a general description or abstract of the research project, its title and genre, e.g. dissertation, book, or article. Applicants should then identify specific materials to be consulted during the desired dates of the fellowship. Successful applications will also include a detailed explanation of how collections unique to the New York Public Library are essential to the project.

Announcement: Fellowship awards will be announced by May 3, 2013. Fellows and their research projects will be acknowledged on the New York Public Library website and in Library publicity.

Residency: Fellows must take up residency between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.Fellows are expected to be in continuous residence for the duration of the  award period as specified in the proposal. The maximum proposal length is four weeks.

Fellow’s Report: Each fellow is required to write a brief statement about his or her project and work completed at the Library by the end of the award period. 

Application Guidelines

Follow these instructions to ensure your application to NYPL’s Short-Term Research Fellowship meets the submission guidelines. Then submit the 5-page application as a single pdf or Word file to short.term@nypl.org by April 8, 2013

page 1 Contact information

Give preferred email address, mailing address, phone numbers

Include project title and format (i.e. dissertation, book, article)

page  2 Abbreviated cv

Summarize positions held and scholarly accomplishments

List citations and activity related to proposed research

page  3 Abstract or summary of the research  project

Introduce the research project as clearly as possible

State its particular significance to a larger discipline

Describe potential results of the project

pages  4-5 Collection use statement

List or describe material at The New York Public Library to be consulted during residency

Explain how these materials or collections are relevant to your project

A complete application requires a letter of recommendation to be sent directly to short.term@nypl.org by the referee by April 8.

If anyone is interested in applying for a Food Studies Fellowship at the Pforzheimer Collection, we have Thomas Love Peacock's ms. recipe books, a manuscript of his entitled "The Science of Cookery," in addition to a number of published cookbooks (including vegetarian cookbooks and volumes promoting vegetarian diet).