Funding for research trips to archives and libraries or to undertake fieldwork or training is available from many sources. Obtaining one or more of these small grants as a PhD student lays excellent groundwork for making more substantial grant applications as a postdoctoral researcher. This indicative list will give you an idea of where to begin looking for funding options:
- Your ‘home’ institution: Your department, school, faculty, graduate school, and/or university may provide funding for research trips. Start your search by exploring these internal options, and make sure you apply by the relevant deadlines. (It is quite common for funders to ask what internal funding is available for your project, and whether you have applied for it).
- AHRC/ESRC International Placement Scheme: For postgraduate ECRs and for doctoral students funded by these two research councils, this scheme supports research undertaken at select institutions in the US and Japan. For details, see: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/Funding-Opportunities/Pages/InternationalPlacementScheme.aspx
- British Academy: The BA (assisted by the Leverhulme Trust) has a scheme for which postdoctoral scholars normally resident in the UK (including independent postdoctoral researchers) are eligible. The scheme provides up to £10,000 per project, which can include funding for research trips. For more details, see http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/srg.cfm
- Delmas Foundation: The Delmas Foundation provides funding for historical research undertaken in Venice, the Veneto and European archives and libraries: http://delmas.org/grants/venetian-program-grants/#venice_research_within
- Economic History Society: The EHS funds a number of bursaries for postgraduate students studying in the UK who are researching economic and/or social history. For details, see http://www.ehs.org.uk/the-society/grants-and-prizes.html
- Entente cordiale: These scholarships fund periods of postgraduate research in France of, normally, a few months’ duration. For more details, see: http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Entente-cordiale-scholarships.html
- Paul Mellon Centre: This centre provided funds for research on topics relating to the history of British art and architecture. See http://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/179/
- Royal Historical Society: The RHS provides a limited number of grants to PhD students on a competitive basis. Research can be conducted within the UK or internationally. Recent PhD recipients are eligible to apply to the RHS for conference travel funding. For full details see our Grants menu.
- Specialist Libraries: Many specialist libraries (particularly in the US, but not exclusively for research in US history) offer full or partial support for short research trips to use their resources. Always check the website of libraries and archives in which you need to work to see if they offer any funding. Examples of such funding include: American Antiquarian Society, (American history, literature and visual culture: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/fellowships.htm ); Harry Ransom Center, Texas (strengths include for example African and African-American studies, British history and literature, Jewish studies and Latin America : http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/fellowships/ ); Hoover Institution, California (modern political, social and economic change, esp. 20th-century ideological movements, Russia and the Soviet Union: http://www.hoover.org/library-archives/fellowships ); Houghton Library, Massachusetts (US, continental European and English history and literature: http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/public_programs/visiting_fellowships.cfm#apply ) ; Huntington Library, California (medieval to modern British history, US history (esp. the Southwest),history of science, medicine and technology: http://www.huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=566 ); John Carter Brown Library, Rhode Island (history and literature of the Americas—both North and South—before c. 1825: http://www.brown.edu/academics/libraries/john-carter-brown/fellowships ); Lewis Walpole Library, Connecticut (18th-century Britain: http://www.library.yale.edu/walpole/ ); Newberry Library, Illinois (medieval, Renaissance and early modern history, American and American-Indian history, history of the book, maps, travel and exploration: http://www.newberry.org/short-term-fellowships ); Yale Center for British Art, Connecticut (British art: http://britishart.yale.edu/research/residential-scholar-awards ).
- Wellcome Trust: The Wellcome offers small grants to researchers in history of medicine and history of science who are based in, or travelling to, the UK or Republic of Ireland. See http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Medical-humanities/Funding-schemes/Small-grants/index.htm .