The Royal Historical Society has launched (December 2020) a new RHS Early Career Fellowship Grant scheme. This new scheme is a response to COVID-19 pressures, and will likewise be regularly reviewed as the situation changes.

The focus is on supporting career-building research or activities, and the aim is to provide support to enable researchers to produce a discrete outcome (such as an article or book proposal) with the grant. Because of limited funds, applicants must be early career historians within three years of submitting their PhD in a historical subject.

There is a great deal of flexibility in how awards may be used. Expenses that may be considered include (but are not limited to) covering living expenses such as childcare, or rent; direct research expenses such as copyright, copying, digitisation or image fees; subscriptions to online resources, and skills training. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, please get in touch if you have any questions.

Eligibility Criteria
For this scheme, applicants will be considered eligible who are: 

• Within three years of submitting their corrected doctoral thesis in a historical subject to a UK institution. Please note the three years does not include any periods of maternity or paternity leave, or leave due to illness or other caring responsibilities. 
• Normally resident in the UK;
• Not in full-time academic employment;
• Please note that current doctoral students are not eligible for this scheme, and should consider other RHS schemes of financial support which are running as normal.

Closing dates for applications and supporting references in 2021: 25 January, 29 March, 7 June and 18 October.