Research Funding

Allocation of research funding is central to the Society’s work of supporting historians and historical research.

In 2022 the Society awarded £95,000 in funding to historians through open competitions and a further £30,000 in one-off programmes, generously assisted by partner organisations and donors. In 2023, the Society is developing and extending its funding programmes for historians, within and outside Higher Education, and at at all career stages.

Funding is available to historians at three career stages. Please follow the links for further information on:

The Society runs two additional funding programmes open to historians at all career stages. Please follow the links for more on our annual:


Current calls for funding

The following programmes are now open and accepting applications (in order of deadline):

  • Postgraduate Research Support Grants – for History students, currently studying for a Masters degree or PhD. Awards of either £500 or £1000 to support specified research activities. Next closing date for applications: Friday 10 November 2023.
  • Early Career Research Support Grants – for early career historians (historians who are within 3 years of submitting their PhD in a historical subject) to undertake research. Awards of either £500 or £1000 to support specified research activities. Next closing date for applications: Friday 10 November 2023.

Applicants for Royal Historical Society funding must be members of the Society, with several exceptions for 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 Fellowships and recipients  of Research Funding are available here.


All enquiries about Research Funding should be sent to the Society’s Membership and Administration Officer at: membership@royalhistsoc.org.


HEADER IMAGE: Bowl with a scholar, anon, c.1575-99, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, public domain.