Apply for a funded fellowship at an international institution.
Fellowships are available at:
- US: Harry Ransom Center, Huntington Library, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, Yale Centre for British Art
- Japan: National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)
- China: Shanghai Theatre Academy
You will receive £1,000 for travel and visa costs (£1,200 for travel to Japan and China) and £1,925 for each month of the fellowship. You can apply for two to six months of funding.
Please refer to the ‘Additional Information’ for more information on the aims of the scheme and an overview of each host.
Who can apply?
This opportunity is open to:
- PhD students currently funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- early career researchers (ECR) in any arts or humanities subject
PhD students funded by Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) may apply for a fellowship at the Library of Congress.
AHRC applicants must apply to undertake primary research in an AHRC subject area for all hosts.
ESRC-funded PhD students are only eligible to apply to Library of Congress and must be applying to undertake primary research in an ESRC subject area.
AHRC applicants can apply for a fellowship at more than one institution in a single round, noting that separate applications need to be submitted. However, dates and applications must:
- be for separate and distinct research work packages
- not overlap
- take place in one continuous block of time
- not be interdependent
If applying for a fellowship at more than one institution, you should also check there are no visa restrictions on returning to the host country within the same year.
You can only hold a fellowship at the same institution once in each stage of your career, for example once as a student and once as an ECR.
Deferred entry applications are not permitted. Equally, if your application is successful but you cannot undertake your placement, you must reapply the following year.
Before applying, you must secure the approval of your UK research organisation and supervisor (for PhD students) or head of department (early career researchers and research assistants) to attend the placement in full, should the application be successful.
Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.
For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.
Who is eligible to apply
Individual eligibility for PhD students
AHRC-funded doctoral students can apply to any host. ESRC-funded doctoral students can only apply to Library of Congress.
Placements must be undertaken during the funded period of your doctoral award.
PhD students must include their doctoral training grant reference in the ‘About you’ section of the application form.
Because these fellowships are intended to enrich and form part of the period of doctoral study, no additional time will be added to the doctoral award end date.
Individual eligibility for ECRs
Applicants are expected to either:
- hold a doctorate by the start date of the fellowship
- demonstrate equivalent research or innovation experience, training or both
There are no eligibility rules based on years since PhD or whether the applicant currently holds a permanent or open-ended academic position or job role. However, individuals who currently hold a permanent position should be able to meet at least one of the following criteria:
- not previously been a project lead or lead on an externally funded project or led a significant programme of work in a commercial or non-academic setting
- precariously employed, for example currently employed via a temporary contract of employment
- recent returner from a career break, for example maternity, caring responsibility, sickness, unpaid sabbatical
- changing career track or returning after substantial administrative responsibility
- recent change in career, for example industry to academia or academia to industry
These durations should exclude any period of career break. We define a career break as an extended period when you have not been actively engaged in scholarly research or teaching at a higher education institution. The career break could be, for example, for family care or health reasons. See section two of AHRC’s research funding guide for further information on the eligibility criteria for early career researchers.
Doctoral level research assistants are eligible – you must:
- be of postdoctoral standing, having either a PhD qualification or equivalent research experience
- and have a contract with a UK research organisation at the time of application that extends beyond the end date of the fellowship
You will be asked to provide evidence of how you meet this criteria. Failure to do so could result in your application being rejected. Where previous AHRC funding has been held, ECRs must include their previous grant reference in the application form.
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
We invite applications from eligible doctoral students, and early career researchers in any arts and humanities discipline (and doctoral students in the social sciences for the Library of Congress) and from all regions and nations of the UK.
We are committed to promoting the values of equality of opportunity, diversity, and inclusivity. A dynamic, diverse and inclusive research and innovation system must be an integral part of UK society, giving everyone the opportunity to participate and to benefit. Therefore, we particularly encourage applications from persons who identify as:
- an ethnic minority
- people with health conditions or impairments
- persons of diverse gender identities and expressions
- persons identifying with other groups who are currently underrepresented
Where additional funding is essential for an individual to take up the fellowship (such as accessibility-related costs), this can be covered through the UKRI Disabled Students’ Allowance or through additional fellowship funding. Please contact AHRC to discuss any specific accessibility needs, and we will support integrating this request into the application process.
Applicants are invited to complete the EDI survey when setting up their UKRI account. Participation in this survey is voluntary and will not influence funding decisions, which are made solely based on merit.
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.
Host-specific eligibility
Applicants to NIHU, looking to work with the following collections, are required to speak and understand Japanese to an advanced level:
- National Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL)
- National Museum of Japanese History (NMJH)
- International Research Center for Japanese Studies (IRCJS): eligibility is determined by the specific requirements of the chosen research field
For all other NIHU institutes, a knowledge of basic (conversational) Japanese is useful, but not compulsory.
Applicants to the Smithsonian Institution must select, and approach a contact, at the institution in advance of submitting their application. This contact will act as an adviser should the respective application be successful. Please use the 2022 Smithsonian opportunities for research and study guide to contact an appropriate Smithsonian academic or staff member.
The Smithsonian has recently implemented a new review process for activities that engage with the US government’s ‘countries of concern’ (USGCOCs). The goal of this added layer of review is to support mission-driven work across all disciplines and Smithsonian units while ensuring appropriate institutional awareness and evaluation of risk regarding engagements with USGCOCs. The countries covered by the Smithsonian guidance, which draws from two US government lists, State Sponsors of Terrorism and the National Science Foundation’s NSPM-33 Definitions (PDF, 157 KB), are currently China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Syria. Please note that these countries may change over time as the US government adds or removes countries which the Smithsonian Institution will monitor.
Academic appointments for foreign nationals of USGCOCs are included in this process of institutional review. Therefore, applicants bearing any of these nationalities should be advised to account for, and expect, an additional processing period of a minimum of three weeks in advance of any official fellowship letter being issued, a step which must be completed before the Smithsonian can initiate the visa process.
What we’re looking for?
We’re looking to fund eligible PhD students and early career researchers to complete a research fellowship at an international cultural institution for two to six months.
The International Fellowships for PhD and Early Career Researchers
programme provides early career researchers, and AHRC-funded and ESRC-funded doctoral students, with inclusive and dedicated access to internationally renowned collections, programmes and expertise held at host institutions.
The scheme aims to enhance the depth, range, diversity, and quality of research activities conducted by scholars, including research exploring under-represented and under-researched cultures and histories.
The fellowship provides unique opportunities for networking with other international scholars based at these world-renowned institutions and can have a transformational impact on personal development and career progression.
The host institutions for this round are:
- Harry Ransom Center
- Huntington Library
- Library of Congress
- National Institutes for the Humanities, Japan
- Shanghai Theatre Academy, China
- Smithsonian Institution
- Yale Centre for British Art
Your fellowship must be based on your area of current research (including your doctoral research if you are a PhD student). The proposed research activities and outputs from your fellowship should complement, strengthen, or build on your current area of research. You will need to propose a distinct package of research in your application and explain how this project relates to both your current research and the collections and expertise of your prospective host institution.
Full details of the documentation required can be found in ‘How to apply’, and the assessment criteria for applications to this scheme are available under ‘How we will assess your application’.
Duration
Please refer to the Available Fellowships document (PDF, 110KB) for information regarding the number of fellowships expected to be awarded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) at each host, as well as the eligible period for undertaking a placement.
Funding available
The following should be noted with regards to costs and the application process:
- all fellowship placements will be between three and six months, except for the Harry Ransom Centre and Shanghai Theatre Academy (which can be between two and six months)
- the total awarded will be a £1,000 one-off stipend for travel and visa costs (£1,350 for applicants to NIHU and STA) and a living stipend of £1,925 for each month of the fellowship
- limited additional support may be agreed by AHRC on a case-by-case basis for applicants with disabilities, to support inclusive and accessible participation
- the full stipend will be paid directly to the submitting UK research organisation (RO). It is a condition of the award that the RO pays funds to fellows in full, in advance of the placement, to allow flights and accommodation to be booked by the fellow in advance of their placement. The RO will then recoup the funds when these are paid to them by AHRC
- fellows will continue to receive any stipend or salary they receive as part of any current AHRC or ESRC award funding. PhD students will not be allowed additional time to be added to the AHRC or Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) award end date or submission date to account for time spent on their placement
- you should discuss your work plan with your supervisor (if a PhD student) or head of department (if an early career researcher (ECR) or research assistant) and the host institution to ensure your proposed research can be completed within a realistic timescale and will appropriately feed into your current research or any AHRC parent project
- there is no cap on the number of applications that can be submitted by a UK RO
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.
Additional Information
Successful applications
Once outcomes are issued, successful applicants will have 10 working days to confirm their start and end dates. Failure to do so will result in Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) using the dates originally selected in the application. Beyond this, applicants will be required to contact the host institution directly to discuss the feasibility of any changes before contacting AHRC to approve and process any changes.
Around 30 days from the first successful notification, the UK research organisation responsible for submitting the application will receive an official offer document from AHRC via our grants system confirming the dates and funding amount. This should be sent on to the successful applicant.
Finally, the applicant will receive documentation from their placement institution. Further details of this will be provided if their application is successful.
If successful, fellows are responsible for booking travel and accommodation (including any travel insurance) and securing appropriate visa arrangements themselves. Local accommodation is available close to each host institution. Further information regarding accommodation options will be provided if you are successful.
The offer letter issued by AHRC and the paperwork from individual placement institutions will be sufficient to support a visa application, and the UK research organisation may be able to offer support for this process. Successful applicants are advised to start the visa application process as early as possible, and to be aware that there is a short turnaround time between outcomes being issued and the earliest possible placement start dates.
Reporting outputs and impacts
All recipients of research council funding are required to enter the details of their outputs and impacts through the Researchfish system. Students are only required to enter details in Researchfish from the third year of their PhD onwards.
Early career researchers (ECRs) are required to enter details from the first year of their main research grant. Invitation emails will be sent to award holders at the point at which they are required to start using Researchfish.
See more details regarding Researchfish
For further information on supporting training awards please see:
- UKRI training grant guide
- UKRI training grant terms and conditions
- find studentships and doctoral training page
Research and innovation impact
Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.
Additional disability and accessibility adjustments
UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process if required.
Webinar for potential applicants
We will hold a webinar on 23 January 2025 at 2:00pm to 3:00pm UK time. This will provide more information about the funding opportunity and a chance to ask questions.
Research disruption due to COVID-19
We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:
- breaks and delays
- disruptive working patterns and conditions
- the loss of ongoing work
- role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic
Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.
Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.
Supporting documents
Available Fellowships document (PDF, 110KB)
Visit funding web page
(https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/international-fellowships-for-phd-and-early-career-researchers-2025/)