Allocation of research funding is central to the Society’s work of supporting historians and historical research.
In the financial year 2025/26, the Society awarded nearly £120,000 in small grant funding to historians through open competitions, generously assisted by partner organisations and donors. Details of current open calls for funding applications are provided below.
Funding is available to historians at three career stages. Please follow the links for further information on:
- Research Funding for Postgraduate Students, for historians studying for a history Master’s degree or PhD
- Research Funding for Early Career Historians for historians within 5 years of completing a doctorate in history
- Research Funding for Mid- and Later Career Historians for historians further on from PhD completion, or in mid / later career employed in higher education or in other sectors aligned to history
From September 2026 the Society is running seven additional programmes open to historians at all career stages. Please follow the links for more on our annual:
- David Berry Fellowship, to undertake work relating to the history of Scotland or the Scottish people worldwide
- International Research Support Grants, for members of the Society working outside the UK to undertake research in the UK and Ireland
- Jinty Nelson Teaching Fellowships, to facilitate innovative and creative teaching practice
- RHS / Social History Archive Partnership, providing free access to the online resource The Social History Archve to researchers without existing access via an institution
- Scouloudi Panel Grants, enabling historians to host conference panels
- Scouloudi Public History Grants, to support projects between academic historians and those working outside higher education
- Workshop Grants, enabling historians to come together to discuss projects in detail
Current open calls for research funding, October 2026 to March 2027
The Society currently invites applications for the following programmes, organised by date order of closing:
Deadlines between October 2026 and March 2027
- RHS / Social History Archive Partnership, providing free access to the online resource, The Social History Archive, published by DC Thomson: to enable up to 30 researchers per session, without existing institutional access, to use this resource for a six-month period. Now Open. Next closing date: Friday 30 October 2026
- Postgraduate Research Support Grants, 2026-27 offering awards of either £500 or £1,000 to support Postgraduate students (Master’s and PhD degrees) without access to research funding to undertake activities such as visiting archives, historical sites and conducting interviews. Grants are available to current members of the Royal Historical Society. Now Open. Next closing date: Friday 4 December 2026
- Early Career Research Support Grants, 2026-27 offering awards of either £500 or £1,000 to support Early Career Researchers, within five years of completing a doctorate in history, to undertake activities such as visiting archives, historical sites and conducting interviews. Grants are available to current members of the Royal Historical Society. Now Open. Next closing date: Friday 4 December 2026
- RHS Workshop Grants offering awards of £1000 to allow historians to undertake a group project. The next call for this programme opens on Monday 26 October 2026 and closes on Friday 15 January 2027.
- PhD Fellowships offering awards of £8,500 each to two historians to complete a doctorate in history or a cognate field over a 6-month period. Fellowships are held at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London. Now Open. Next closing date 31 January 2027.
- Applied History Fellowships offering awards of £12,250 each to two historians wishing to develop the wider impact and application of their academic work. These Fellowships are provided in partnership with the Institute of Historical Research and the publisher DC Thomson. Now Open. Next closing date: Friday 31 January 2027.
- David Berry Fellowship in the History of Scotland and the Scottish People offering an annual award of up to £2,500 to undertake research on the history of Scotland and the Scottish people worldwide. Grants are available to current members of the Royal Historical Society. Now Open. Next closing date: Friday 5 March 2027
Applicants for Royal Historical Society funding must be members of the Society, with exceptions for several Postgraduate grants. To find out how to become a Fellow, Associate Fellow, Member or Postgraduate Member, please see our Join Us page.
Details of current holders of Research Fellowships and recipients of Research Funding are available here.
All enquiries about Research Funding should be sent to the Society’s Membership and Grants Manager at: [email protected].
HEADER IMAGE: Bowl with a scholar, anon, c.1575-99, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, public domain.