Postgraduate Information
The Royal Historical Society is committed to supporting postgraduate students. All postgraduate students registered at doctoral research level at a UK university are eligible to apply for Membership of the Society, which provides access to the full range of the Society's activities.
We also offer a number of research grants for those undertaking postgraduate research, whether they are Members of the Society or not. Funds are available to subsidise attendance at conferences and training courses, and to help defray the costs of archival visits. In addition, bursaries are available to help those organising conferences to provide subsidised rates for postgraduate attendees.
We also offer the Martin Lynn Scholarship to assist an historian pursuing postgraduate research on a topic in African history and the Marshall and Centenary Fellowships to assist those writing up dissertations. The Rees Davies graduate essay prize is open to any graduate student who has benefited from the Society's research support scheme.
Postgraduate Research Support Grants 2012
Royal Historical Society awards are intended principally for postgraduate students registered for a research degree at United Kingdom institutions of higher education (full-time and part-time); the Society will also consider applications under certain schemes from post-doctoral researchers.
i) for individual travel to conferences
ii) for research expenses within the United Kingdom
iii) for research expenses outside the United Kingdom
iv) for organisers of workshops and conferences to encourage the participation of junior researchers
(1) Support for short-course and conference attendance
Grants of between £50 and £500 are intended primarily to contribute towards travel costs to assist early career researchers in attending conferences relevant to their research, where the applicant has been asked to give a paper or presentation.
Download an Application Form
(2) Research expenses within the United Kingdom
(3) Research expenses outside the United Kingdom
Grants of between £50 and £500 are intended primarily to contribute towards travel costs to assist postgraduate students in making visits to archives and other site-visits away from their home institution which are necessary for their research.
Download an Application Form
(4) Organisers of workshops or conferences
These grants are made to conference organisers (of any status) to assist in the financing of small, specialised historical conferences where there is substantial involvement of junior (i.e. postgraduate and immediate postdoctoral) researchers. They are intended to subsidize registration fees (which in this scheme may include accommodation costs) and travel costs for these junior researchers.
Download an Application Form
Completed forms should be submitted by post to:
The Administrative Secretary, Royal Historical Society, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
Please contact 020 7387 7532 if you experience any problems downloading any of the Society's application forms.
Applications for all four schemes are considered by the Society's Research Support Committee. The closing dates for applications in the year 2011 are:
for schemes
i) for individual travel to conferences
ii) for research expenses within the United Kingdom
iii) for research expenses outside the United Kingdom
20 January 2012
20 April 2012
18 June 2012
7 September 2012
8 November 2012
for scheme
iv) for organisers of workshops and conferences to encourage the participation of junior researchers
20 April 2012
8 November 2012
Scholarships, Fellowships and Prizes
The Royal Historical Society also awards the following:
The Martin Lynn Scholarship
Thanks to the generosity of the family of the late Martin Lynn, the Society has pleasure in announcing the establishment of an annual award in his memory. Martin Lynn was Professor of African History in the Queen's University, Belfast, the first scholar to hold a chair in African history in Ireland. His scholarly career was devoted to the history of West Africa and he published most extensively and importantly on the 19th and 20th century history of Nigeria. His scholarly achievements were matched by the reputation he enjoyed as an exciting and concerned teacher and a delightful, generous colleague and friend. This award reflects the interests of the man it commemorates. Annually the Society will make an award of up to £1,000 to assist an historian pursuing postgraduate research on a topic in African history.
The next closing date for applications will be 18 June 2012.
Download an Application Form
Marshall and Centenary Fellowships
The Royal Historical Society is committed to supporting those at an early stage in their research careers. As a result, it provides funding for Fellowship tenable at the Institute of Historical Research in London.
Marshall Fellowship
This annual competition offers either one Fellowship worth £10,000 and tenable for one year, or two Fellowships, each worth £5,000 and tenable for six months. The Marshall Fellowships are supported by the generosity of Professor Peter Marshall, formerly Rhodes Professor of Imperial History at King's College London and former President of the Royal Historical Society.
Centenary Fellowship
Funded from the Royal Historical Society's own resources, this one-year Fellowship worth £10,000 is advertised annually.
Fellowships are open to candidates without regard to nationality or academic affiliation. The Fellowships will be awarded to doctoral students who are engaged in the completion of a PhD in history (broadly defined) and who will have completed at least two years' research on their chosen topic (and not more than four years full-time or six years part-time) at the beginning of the session for which the awards are made. These awards cannot be held in conjunction with any other substantial maintenance grant.
Applications for either the Marshall or Centenary Fellowships must be made on the prescribed form, which may be obtained from the Fellowship Officer at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, or downloaded from this address:
http://www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/junior
All queries concerning the Marshall and Centenary Fellowships should be directed to the IHR Fellowship Officer at James.Lees@sas.ac.uk
Rees Davies Prize
The Royal Historical Society has established a new graduate essay prize in memory of its former President and distinguished medieval scholar, Professor Sir Rees Davies (1938-2005).
The prize is open to graduates who have been awarded grants to attend conferences under the Society's research support scheme. The prize will be publication of the essay in the following year's edition of the Society's prestigious journal Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, three year's free membership of the Royal Historical Society (which includes subscription to the Transactions) and a cash prize of £100.