The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP)
The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program offers opportunities for independent research or study related to Smithsonian collections, facilities, and/or research interests of the Institution and its staff. Fellowships are offered to graduate students, predoctoral students, and postdoctoral and senior investigators to conduct independent research and to utilize the resources of the Institution with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff serving as advisors and hosts. These fellowships are offered through the Smithsonian’s Office of Fellowships and Internships, and are administered under the charter of the Institution, 20 U.S. Code section 41 et seq.
Applicants who wish to conduct research at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) should go here as SAO application requirements and deadlines may be different.
The publication, Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study, outlines Smithsonian research activities and lists the research staff. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact staff members to help identify potential advisors, determine the feasibility of the proposed research being conducted at the Smithsonian Institution, and the availability of relevant resources such as staff, collections, archives and library materials during the proposed tenure dates.
The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program offers fellowships for research and study in the following fields and encourages applications of an interdisciplinary nature:
- Animal behavior, ecology, and environmental science, including an emphasis on the tropics
- Anthropology, including archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics, and physical anthropology
- Astrophysics and astronomy
- Earth sciences and paleobiology
- Evolutionary & systematic biology
- Folklife
- History of science and technology
- History of art, especially American, contemporary, African, and Asian art, twentieth-century American crafts, and decorative arts
- Materials research
- Molecular biology
- Social and cultural history of the United States