The Royal Historical Society is very pleased to announce the 30 recipients for the following six funding programmes hosted by the Society. Calls for these programmes were held over the summer for projects taking place in the academic year 2026-27.
1. Master’s Scholarships, 2026-27
Awarded annually, Masters’ Scholarships support students studying for a Master’s degree in History at a UK university. Scholarships of £5000 are reserved for early career historians from groups currently underrepresented in academic history:
- Zainab Abari (first degree Durham) to study for an MPhil in Economic and Social History at the University of Oxford
- Poppy Harris Bloomer (first degree Birmingham) to study for an MA in History at the University of Birmingham
- Annie Gaskell (first degree Liverpool) to study for an MA in History at the University of Manchester
- Ahsan Rashid (first degree Cardiff) to study for an MA in History at Cardiff University
The Society is very grateful to the Scouloudi Foundation for its support of the Master’s Scholarships programme in 2026-27.
2. Centenary PhD Fellowships, 2026-27
Held for 6 months, jointly with the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, the Centenary Fellowships provide £8500 per person and enable graduate students to complete their PhDs and receive research training:
- Isla Cartney (University of East Anglia) to support completion of her PhD thesis: ‘The Royal Household Stewards of Henry III (1216-1272)’. You can read more about Isla’s research here.
- Liudmila Lyagushkina (University of Nottingham), ‘From Arrest to Arrest: Experiences of the Re-Convicted Victims of Stalinist Terror in the USSR, 1929-1953’. You can read more about Liudmila’s research here.
3. Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships, 2026-27
Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships provide support of up to £1250 per award for historians to trial new approaches in teaching history in UK higher education, or to undertake surveys of current aspects of history teaching. The Fellowships are named for the Dame Jinty Nelson (1942-2024), President of the Society, 2000-04.
- Matthew Adams (Loughborough University) for ‘Anarchists and Aliens: Walking the Radical East End’
- Tracey Loughran (University of Essex) for ‘Developing Neuroinclusive Teaching and Assessment Practices in History’
- Jan Machielsen and Paul Webster (Cardiff University) for ‘Undergraduate Assessment, Public History, Creativity and Employability’
- Alesia Mankouskaya (University College London) for ‘Teaching Eastern European History in the Seminar Room: Physical Sources in a Digital Age’
- Keira Williams (Queen’s University, Belfast) for ‘Pop Culture and the Protest in US History’
The Society is very grateful to the Scouloudi Foundation for its support of the Teaching Fellowships programme in 2026-27.
4. RHS / Scouloudi Public History Grants, 2026-27
Public History Grants support innovative practice in public history and provide grants of £1000 per award for defined projects by historians working together in and beyond higher education.
- Katherine Cross (York St John University) and Louise Mudd (Kirkbymoorside History Group) for ‘Stories in Stone: Materialising Kirkbymoorside’s Viking Past through Community Research’
- Merve Fejzula (University of Missouri) and Xavier Pillai (British Film Institute, London) for ‘Sounding It Out: Black Broadcasting in the Caribbean and West Africa before and after Independence’
- Jane Hamlett (Royal Holloway, London) and Sophie Mew (For the Love of Things) for ‘Decluttering: Past and Present Perspectives – A Collaborative Workshop’
- Kathryn Steenson (University of Nottingham Archives) and Jem Bloomfield (University of Nottingham) for ‘Parish Libraries Regained’
- Brandon Taylorian (University of Lancashire) and Jess Dyson-Houghton (Liverpool City Library and Archives) for ‘Photo Detectives on Tour: Dating Antique Photographs Workshops Across Liverpool’
The Society is very grateful to the Scouloudi Foundation for its support which makes possible this programme, now in its second year.
5. RHS / Scouloudi Panel Grants, 2026-27
Panel Grants support the formation of panels to present, in-person, research on a shared historical theme at an academic conference, or equivalent event, in history or a cognate discipline. Two awards of £1500 each support panellists without alternative sources of funding for conference participation.
- Kate Smith, Anna Harrington, Karen Harvey and Ben Jackson, for the panel ‘Identities, Circulations, Migrations – a Cultural History’, International Congress of the Association for the Development of Cultural History and the International Society for Cultural History. Paris, September 2026. To support participation by the postgraduate and early career researchers, Anna Harrington and Ben Jackson.
- Deanna Lyn Cook, Liz Egan and Taylar Carty for the panel ‘Envisioning Freedom: Caribbean Childhood through Enslavement, Apprenticeship and Emancipation’, Association of Caribbean Historians Conference in Panama, Panama, May 2027. To support participation by the panel of three postgraduate and early career researchers.
The Society is very grateful to the Scouloudi Foundation for its support which makes possible this programme, now in its second year.
6. Funded Book Workshops Grants, 2026-27
Funded Book Workshop Grants provide support of £2000 for authors currently writing a second or third monograph to hold a day workshop with six invited readers to discuss a draft manuscript:
- Ilaria Scaglia (Aston University) for the book manuscript: Taking Pictures at the Archives: A Transnational History of Culture, Technology, and Emotions, 1860s–1960s (Cambridge University Press)
- Kate Law (University of Nottingham’ for the book manuscript Fighting Fertility: Race, Rights and Reproduction in Apartheid South Africa (Manchester University Press)
Full details of the Society’s Research Funding programme, and current open calls for funding, are available here.
HEADER IMAGE: iStock photo: Credit: Daniele Mezzadri