Smithsonian Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship

Name: Smithsonian Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship

Award Amount: Stipend: $45,000 per year. Research Allowance: up to $5,000 per year. Stipends are prorated for periods of less than twelve months.

Information And Eligibility:
The Smithsonian Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship is available to doctoral students from universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. Eligible applicants must have completed all degree requirements except the dissertation. The fellowship provides the opportunity for independent research in collaboration with a Smithsonian advisor, utilizing the Smithsonian’s extensive collections, archives, and resources.

The current members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance are:

• University of Illinois
• Michigan State University
• Pennsylvania State University
• Indiana University
• University of Minnesota
• Purdue University
• University of Iowa
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Rutgers University-New Brunswick
• University of Maryland
• Northwestern University
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• University of Michigan
• Ohio State University
• University of Chicago*
  *The University of Chicago is participating in this program as an affiliate.

The goal of the program is to identify current students from Big Ten Academic Alliance universities who have been admitted into doctoral candidacy and satisfied all requirements except completion of the dissertation. These doctoral candidates find appropriate advisers at the Smithsonian to conduct research and scholarship that will further the development of their respective theses.

Big Ten Academic Alliance applicants must propose research that is conducted at the Smithsonian in one of the following areas of research:

• Animal behavior, ecology, and environmental science, including an emphasis on the tropics
• Anthropology, including archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics, and physical anthropology
• Earth sciences and paleobiology
• Evolutionary & systematic biology
• Folklife
• History of science and technology
• History of art, especially American, contemporary, African, and Asian art, twentieth-century American crafts, and decorative arts
• Materials research
• Molecular biology
• Social and cultural history of the United States

The program is designed to help students make significant contributions to research at the Smithsonian, with a maximum duration of two years. Fellows benefit from access to Smithsonian experts and materials, and the flexibility to pursue research that aligns with their academic interests.

Deadline: October

Apply For This Grant/Fellowship: For more information on the Smithsonian Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship or to apply, please visit The Application Page. To find more grants and fellowships for college, search our Online College Grant and Fellowship Database.

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