The Society’s Research Funding supports a large number of historians across a range of activities: from studying for a Masters’ degree and finishing a PhD, to undertaking research and working on a project, such as writing an article.
The following individuals are current holders of RHS Fellowships and Grants in 2024. Each year, the Society awards c.£100,000 in research funding to historians through open competitions. In 2023, the Society is allocating a further £30,000 in one-off programmes, generously assisted by partner organisations and donors.
Full details, and call timetables, for all Royal Historical Society research funding are available here.
1. Centenary and Marshall Research Fellows, 2024-25
Held for 6 months, jointly with the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, the Centenary and Marshall Fellowships enable historians to complete their PhDs and receive research training:
Eve Pennington, is an RHS Centenary Fellow, 2024-25, held jointly with the Institute of Research, University of London.
‘Women, the built environment, and life narratives: reconstructing the relationship between gender and state-led urban development through the new towns in North-West England, c.1961-1989’
Eve is a RHS Centenary Fellow held jointly with the Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Eve is a fourth-year PhD researcher supervised by Charlotte Wildman and Penny Summerfield at the University of Manchester, where she previously completed her BA and MA in History.
Eve’s doctoral thesis interrogates the relationship between gender and state-led urban development in late-twentieth-century Britain, exploring the ways that women’s subjectivities and cultural constructions of femininity were produced in tandem with built environments like housing estates, workplaces, and transport networks. It focuses on three new towns established in north-west England during the 1960s and 1970s (Skelmersdale, Runcorn, and Central Lancashire) and analyses archival material produced by local policymakers and urban planners, as well as original oral history interviews conducted with women who moved to the towns during the late twentieth century.
Eve’s research sits at the intersection between urban history and women’s history, examining the ways that built environments reflected and reinforced gender relations, and reconstructing women’s agency to challenge inequalities through their use of urban space. Her regional approach problematises narratives of deindustrialisation, urban decay, and unemployment, reframing northern England as a site of experimentation, investment, and renewal.
Alexandra Plane is an RHS Centenary Fellow, 2024-25, held jointly with the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.
‘Reconstructing the Scottish and English Libraries of King James VI and I’
Alexandra is a librarian and doctoral student co-supervised at Newcastle University and the National Library of Scotland through an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award. She previously completed a BA and MA in Classics at the University of Durham, as well as an MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL.
Her doctoral research seeks to reconstruct the Scottish and English libraries of King James VI and I. Despite King James’s significance for intellectual, political, religious and cultural history, at present very little is known about his libraries. This project employs a combination of traditional scholarship and newer digital approaches to remedy this, making it possible to better understand how Britain’s most scholarly monarch accessed and circulated knowledge and ideas. It sheds new light on James as an author and king who was keenly aware of the power books held not only for learning, but also as gift objects and tools for royal image-building.
Rebecca Orr is an RHS Marshall Fellow, 2024-25, held jointly with the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.
‘The Ex-Empire Builders: Migrants of Decolonisation and the Transformation of the Post-War Workplace’
Rebecca is a PhD researcher in History at the European University Institute. She previously studied for a BA in History at the University of Cambridge and an MA in Modern History at the University of Warwick. Before starting her PhD, she worked for two years as a research support assistant for the Global History of Capitalism project at the University of Oxford.
Her thesis, entitled ‘The Ex-Empire Builders: Migrants of Decolonisation and the Transformation of the Post-War Workplace’, looks at how formal decolonisation resulted in the emergence of new types of professional work and workplace in post-war Britain and its former colonies. Highlighting the interconnection between work and migration, her research explores the constitutive role played by former colonial civil servants in three workplaces on the rise: private security, universities and charitable organisations. The thesis relates broader structural changes to the intimate and familial. Drawing upon oral history interviews with the children of colonialists and settlers, the research explores how the economic consequences of formal decolonisation registered at the level of the state, family, and individual.
Rebecca Tyson is an RHS Marshall Fellow, 2024-25, held jointly with the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.
‘Sailing to Conquest: Maritime Activity and Identity in Eleventh-Century Normandy’
Rebecca’s doctoral research provides a hitherto largely uncharted maritime context for the Norman invasion of England, by looking back at the earlier eleventh century in Normandy to explore where the maritime knowledge, experience, and ships may have been found for Duke William to draw upon in the early months of 1066. To date, studies of eleventh-century Normandy and the Norman invasion of England have consistently adopted a terrestrial perspective. In contrast, my research centres the understudied place of maritime activity in the century preceding the Norman cross-Channel invasion, offering for the first time a historical perspective recognising that Normandy’s coastline was a frontier as dynamic and significant as its land border.
This novel approach thereby not only provides much needed insight into a fundamental but critically overlooked aspect of the Norman invasion, but also demonstrates that, when Normandy’s earlier eleventh-century history is reconsidered from a non-terrestrial point of view and despite being overlooked as a maritime polity, there is a wide range of evidence that points to an active maritime tradition in Normandy in the century preceding 1066, that has wider implications for fully understanding the management of the resulting cross-Channel Anglo-Norman realm.
2. Early Career Fellowship Grant holders, 2024
Held for up to 6 months, Early Career Fellowship Grants provide support for post-doctoral researchers to work on a defined project, such as writing an article or book proposal:
- Jonathan Tickle – awarded October 2024
- Alice Kinghorn – awarded October 2024
- George Townsend – awarded October 2024
- Megan Yates – awarded October 2024
- Margaret Gray – awarded October 2024
3. Martin Lynn Scholarship in African History, 2024-25
Awarded annually, the Martin Lynn Scholarship supports research in the history of Africa:
- Nigel Browne-Davies – awarded October 2024
4. Masters’ Scholarships in History, 2024-25
Awarded annually, Masters’ Scholarships support students studying for a Masters’ degree in History at a UK university. Scholarships are reserved for early career historians from groups underrepresented in academic history:
- Alana Assis, to study for an MPhil in African Studies at the University of Cambridge
- Megan Barber, to study for an MA in History at the University of Winchester
- Nicole Butler, to study for an MA in Social & Cultural History at the University of Leeds
- Peter Eakin, to study for an MA in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Manchester
- Darcy Gill, to study for an MA in History at Queen Mary University of London
- Avin Houro, to study for an MSt in Global and Imperial History at the University of Oxford
- Sophie Mattholie, to study for an MA in Public History at the University of York
- Lucas Radford, to study for an MA in Maritime History at the University of Plymouth
The Society is very grateful to the Past & Present Society and the Scouloudi Foundation for its support of the Masters’ Scholarships programme in 2024-25.
5. Postgraduate Research Support Grants, 2024
Introduced in Spring 2023, Postgraduate Research Support Grants are available to History students (who are Postgraduate Members of the Royal Historical Society), currently studying for a Masters degree or PhD to undertake historical research.
- Benjamin Gladstone – awarded February 2024
- Phoebe McDonnell – awarded February 2024
- Sarah Mason – awarded February 2024
- Nathan Meades – awarded February 2024
- Kathrina Perry – awarded February 2024
- James Squires – awarded February 2024
- Theodora Broyd – awarded August 2024
- Ellie Grigsby – awarded August 2024
- Ewan Lawry – awarded August 2024
- Chukwuemeka Oko Otu – awarded August 2024
6. Early Career Research Support Grants, 2024
Introduced in Spring 2023, Early Career Research Support Grants are available to historians within 5 years of submitting their PhD in a historical subject (who are members of the Royal Historical Society) to undertake research.
- Thomas Burnham – awarded February 2024
- Nicolò Ferrari – awarded February 2024
- Yui Chim Lo – awarded February 2024
- Mariana Zegianini – awarded February 2024
- James Brocklesby – awarded August 2024
- Adam Quibell – awarded August 2024
- Taiwo Bello – awarded August 2024
- Matthew Bayly – awarded August 2024
7. Open Research Support Grants, 2024
Introduced in Spring 2023, Open Research Support Grants are available to all historians (who are members of the Royal Historical Society) who are not postgraduate students or early career researchers (within 5 years of completing a PhD). Open Research Support Grants provide funds to historians to undertake historical research.
- Thomas Leahy – awarded October 2024
- Angela Byrne – awarded October 2024
- Jasmine Calver – awarded October 2024
- Denis Casey – awarded October 2024
8. Workshop Grants, 2025
Awarded annually from 2022, Workshop Grants provide support for groups of historians to meet and discuss shared projects in detail. Workshop Grants are open to historian at all career stages.
RHS Workshop Grant holders for 2025:
- Barnabas Balint (Independent scholar) for ‘Tracing the Holocaust: Uses and Challenges of the International Tracing Service Archive’
- William Carruthers (University of Essex) for ‘Heritage Bureaucracy’
- Eghosa Ekhator (University of Derby) for ‘African International Legal History: Inter-disciplinary Perspectives’
- Gabriel Lawson (King’s College London) for ‘Lived Experience Advisors in Historical Research’
- Anna McEwan (University of Potsdam & University of Glasgow) and Eliska Bujokora (University of Potsdam and New Brunswick) for ‘Behind the Pages: Lives of Early Career Historians – Resource Sharing and Podcast Production Workshop’
- Fearghus Roulston (University of Strathclyde) and Lucy Newby (Manchester Metropolitan) for ‘Troubles in Ireland and Britain (c.1969-1998)’
9. Funded Book Workshop Grants, 2024-25
First awarded in 2023, Funded Book Workshop Grants provide support for authors currently writing a second or third monograph to hold a day workshop with six invited readers to discuss a draft manuscript
Funded Book Workshop Grant holders for 2024-25:
- Jodi Burkett (University of Portsmouth) for her project: International Students in Post-Imperial Britain: Experiences of Activism, Community, and Racialisation, c.1960-1990′
- Selena Daly (University College London) for her project: ‘The World is Our Homeland: A Global History of Italian Emigration’
10. Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships, 2024-25
First awarded in 2023, Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships provide support 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.
Fellowship holders in the academic year 2024-25:
- Katie Carpenter (University of Leeds) for ‘Brick By Brick: A History Co-Creation Project’
- David Clayton (York) for ‘Piloting the Responsible and Effective Use of AI in Undergraduate History Teaching’
- Matthew Hefferan (Nottingham) for ‘Using formative assessment activities to support undergraduate transition into history degrees’
- Linsey Hunter (Highlands & Islands) for a ‘Short pilot study to explore best teaching practice of student-led co-design of undergraduate history modules at the University of the Highlands and Islands’
- Sundeep Lidher (King’s College London) for ‘Archives against the Grain’
- Lydia Plath (Warwick) for her project ‘Enabling students to feel “Emboldened and Enthralled”: Co-creating learning resources for digital databases’
- Lowri Rees (Bangor) for ‘Innovative Approaches in Teaching Welsh History’
- Elaine Sisson (Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dublin) for ‘Archives and Public Engagement’
11. David Berry Fellowship in the History of Scotland the Scottish People, 2024
First awarded in May 2024, the David Berry Fellowship provides support for historians to undertake research in the history of Scotland and the Scottish people.
Fellowship holders in 2024:
- Fiona Jackson (University of Bristol) to support her PhD research on ‘Musical exchange within British-Soviet diplomatic relations, and the key role of the Baltic Republics and Georgia’.
- Mhairi Winfield (University of St Andrews) to support her PhD research on ‘Scottish Libraries before Carnegie: An Evaluation of Scottish Library Culture (1450-1883)’