Explore, research, create! Through short- and long-term research fellowships, Winterthur offers unparalleled access to a wealth of library, museum, and garden collections supporting material culture research for a wide range of disciplines. For more than five decades, Winterthur research fellows have produced new and innovative projects, advancing interdisciplinary scholarship and creative projects. We enthusiastically welcome scholars and creative professionals at all stages of their careers and particularly encourage researchers from historically underrepresented communities who bring critical perspectives to collections research.
At Winterthur, research fellows can:
Utilize the hundreds of thousands of American and European imprints, manuscripts, trade literature, ephemera, photographs, and archives of the Winterthur Library , an independent, world-class research collection.
Examine Winterthur Museum’s expansive object collections of more than 90,000 artifacts that help us broadly understand four centuries of everyday life in America in a global context.
Look at these collections with specialists and experts and consult with conservators and scientific staff .
Explore 7,500 plant specimens and more than 1,000 acres of landscape and gardens , using these spaces and materials for research, or for respite and recharging.
FELLOWSHIP TERMS:
Present one Research Fellowship Program lunchtime talk/lecture about your research at Winterthur (length: 20–25 minutes). We prefer that you present during your residency; if that is not possible, we will work to schedule this afterward.
Attend weekly Research Fellowship Program lunchtime talks and take part in discussion, contributing to the collegial atmosphere of our scholarly community.
Share one post about your research on your own social media and tag #researchatwinterthur and @winterthurmuse. Please make this shareable so we can repost it.
If you would like to present a public program or engage Winterthur’s visitors, please share your idea with Academic Programs staff before your fellowship begins. Our public programs are scheduled nine to twelve months in advance.
Fellows cannot accept teaching assignments or undertake any other major work or research activities during their fellowship tenure.
Fellows are expected to be on site at least four days a week. Short-Term, Postdoctoral, Dissertation, and Maker-Creator fellows may complete part of the fellowship remotely, for the equivalent time. We cannot support fully remote fellowships, but we will work with you on a flexible schedule as needed.
Fellows may use sabbaticals and grants from your own institutions during your fellowship tenure so long as they do not prevent you from meeting Winterthur’s fellowship requirements.
FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE:
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Stipend: $5,000 per month.
Fellowship must be completed by February 28, 2028 .
This 4-month fellowship supports residence at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library as a junior or senior scholar whose project holds the potential for wider impact upon the humanities rooted in research using Winterthur’s collections.
NEH fellowships are for scholars who have already completed their formal professional training. Degree candidates and individuals seeking support for work in pursuit of a degree are not eligible. Candidates for advanced degrees must have completed all requirements, except for the actual conferral of the degree, by January 15, 2027. This includes the dissertation defense. Foreign nationals who have been residents in the United States for at least three years immediately preceding the application deadline for the fellowship are eligible.
NEH Fellows are significant contributors to Winterthur’s intellectual community and are expected to be in regular and continuous residence at Winterthur for the entirety of their fellowship. They must devote full time to their study and may not accept teaching assignments or undertake…