2019-20 Beckman Center Fellowship Opportunities at the Science History Institute

Ronald Brashear Announcement
Location
Pennsylvania, United States
Subject Fields
History of Science, Medicine, and Technology

The Beckman Center at the Science History Institute, an independent research institute, library, and museum in the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, life sciences and related fields in Philadelphia, PA, USA, invites applications for postdoctoral, dissertation, and short-term visiting fellowships in the history of science, medicine, technology, and industry.

2-Year 80/20 Postdoctoral Fellowship:
These fellowships reflect the Beckman Center’s commitment to providing career-launching fellowships for recent PhDs and its support for the career diversity initiatives of the American Historical Association and affiliated scholarly societies. The 80/20 postdoctoral fellowship program will allow the Beckman Center’s postdocs to build skills that can enhance their opportunities outside the academy or their work within it. Fellows will spend 20% of their time working closely with an Institute staff member from the library, archives, museum, public outreach team, Center for Applied History, Center for Oral History, or digital library team on developing skills in one of two areas: collections and curation, or outreach and exhibitions. The other 80% of their time, postdoctoral fellows will have access to the Institute’s considerable resources and ample time to develop and publish their own research. Applicants for postdoctoral fellowships must have their PhD in hand before the July prior to the start of the fellowship and must have earned that degree within the last five years. Postdoctoral fellowship stipends are US$45,000 per year, paid in monthly installments.  

Visiting Research Fellowships:
Short Term and Dissertation Fellows take part in the activities of a class of roughly 18 fellows each year, creating a vibrant international community of scholars whose work is in some way tied to the Institute’s collections (see below) in the history of chemistry, chemical technologies, modern life sciences, and related fields. Applications come from scholars in a wide range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. To see this year's list, go to: https://www.sciencehistory.org/current-fellows
    
Dissertation Fellowships
9 Months in Residence; open to graduate students at the dissertation stage • US$26,000

Short-Term Fellowships
1–4 Months in Residence; open to all scholars and researchers needing to use the Institute’s collections • US$3,000 per month

For more information or to apply, go to: https://www.sciencehistory.org/fellowships 

Collection Strengths:
The research collections at the Institute range chronologically from the fifteenth century to the present and include 6,000 rare books, significant archival holdings, thousands of images, and a large artifact and fine arts collection, supported by over 100,000 modern primary-source volumes and journals. Within the collections there are many areas of special strength, including: alchemy, mining & metallurgy, dyeing and bleaching, balneology, gunpowder and pyrotechnics, gas-lighting, books of secrets, inorganic and organic chemistry, biochemistry, food chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. The Library collections can be searched online at http://othmerlib.sciencehistory.org/. A number of subject guides and information on how to use the Library can be found at https://guides.othmerlibrary.sciencehistory.org. You can also explore a number of our digitized collections at https://digital.sciencehistory.org/

The deadline for all fellowship applications is January 2, 2019.  Please see our website for instructions on how to apply and the link to the online application: https://www.sciencehistory.org/fellowships/apply-for-a-fellowship 

Contact Email
rbrashear@sciencehistory.org