Apply for Associate Fellowship

Closing date for next application round:

Monday 24 March 2025

 

Associate Fellowship is a new membership category for the RHS, launched in November 2021. It recognises the contribution made by a wide range of historical researchers and advocates for History with established careers across many sectors. Some Associate Fellows are historians working in Higher Education who have not yet reached the extent of publications, or equivalent, required to join the full Fellowship. Others contribute to History through their professional work in sectors such as heritage and museums, libraries and archives, teaching, publishing and broadcasting, or through private research.

All Associate Fellows are welcome to apply for full Fellowship as their careers develop and contributions continue, and we warmly encourage this. 

In addition to the Associate Fellowship, since 2021 the Society has also offered a category of Postgraduate Membership. These two options replace the previous category of Early Career Membership. Read more about these two ways to belong to the Society.

To apply for the RHS Associate Fellowship please use the Society’s Applications Portal, and select your chosen membership category.

Benefits of Associate Fellowship

  • Print and online copies of the RHS academic journal, Transactions.
  • Online access to the current issue and entire searchable back archive of Transactions of the Royal Historical Society: the collection comprises 145 volumes and more than 2200 articles, published between the journal’s foundation in 1872 and the early 2020s.
  • Online access to all 385 volumes of the Society’s Camden Series of primary source material, including the latest titles published in 2024-25. Since 1838, the Camden Series has made primary records available in accessible scholarly editions, compiled and introduced by specialist historians. The Series is especially strong in material relating to British history, including the British Empire and Britons’ influence overseas.
  • All other RHS publications offered at a substantial discount: this includes print volumes for new and recent titles in the Camden Series and all titles in the New Historical Perspectives book series.
  • Substantial discounts on the Society’s former title, the Bibliography of British and Irish History, which is available to Associate Fellows at £40 per year.
  • 30% discount on all academic books (print only) published by Cambridge University Press.
  • 30% discount on History titles published by Oxford University Press.
  • 30% discount on purchases of print copies of the Society’s New Historical Perspectives book series, offering monographs and essay collections, and produced in association with the Institute of Historical Research and University of London Press.
  • 20% discount on print subscription to History Today, Britain’s leading history magazine (£52 per annum, usually £65 full price). 20% discount on online subscription to the archive of History Today (£56 per annum, usually £70 full price).
  • Receipt of the weekly ‘RHS News Circular’ (this example, October 2024): regular update on RHS activities, plus listings of events / calls for papers from other UK historical societies and research networks.
  • Copies of RHS Newsletters and the Society’s annual reports.
  • Eligible for RHS training and career development events / workshops reserved for Fellows and members.
  • Eligible to apply for the Society’s Research Funding programmes available to historians at all career stages.
  • Access to RHS members’ events, including Early Career training​ programmes 
  • Access to the RHS Archive and Library collections, and  RHS Library rooms, at University College London (UCL).
  • Become part of a thriving international community of historians, of all kinds and from many backgrounds.
  • Help us support and advocate for the study and practice of history in its many forms. Society income also supports our grants programme for historians at the start of their careers.

 

 

Annual Subscription

From July 2024, annual subscription rates for Associate Fellows, payable on election, are: 

For Associate Fellows within the UK or RoI:

  • With online access to Transactions and an annual print copy: £50.00 per annum
  • With only access to Transactions: £45.00 per annum

For Associate Fellows outside of the UK or RoI:

  • With online access to Transactions and an annual print copy: £60.00 per annum
  • With only access to Transactions: £55.00 per annum

The RHS subscription year runs July to June with renewals due on 1 July of each year. 

The Associate Fellow Hardship Rate is available to unemployed and low income/wage members (self-defined) and includes unfunded/self-funded students.


How to Apply

Prior to making your application, please consult the FAQs relating to Associate Fellowship. 

To apply for the RHS Associate Fellowship please use the Society’s Applications Portal, and select your chosen membership category.

Applications to join the RHS are welcome through the year. Remaining dates for applications in 2025 are as follows: Monday 24 March 2025, Monday 26 May 2025, Monday 11 August 2025 and Monday 13 October 2025.

Rejoining the Society as an Associate Fellow

If your Associate Fellowship has lapsed / has been cancelled, and you would like to re-join the Society, please contact our Membership department at membership@royalhistsoc.org in the first instance. We will be glad to assist you.


All applications are considered by our Membership Committee which meets five times a year. You can expect to hear the outcome approximately six weeks after the closing date for your application. Incomplete applications will be held on file until we have received all the necessary information.

All enquiries about applying for election to the Fellowship should be addressed to the RHS office: membership@royalhistsoc.org.