NASM Research Fellowships - Guggenheim Fellowship

Note: Effective in 2010, the National Air and Space Museum will no longer offer the Ramsey Fellowship in Naval Aviation History. The museum plans to reprogram the Ramsey Fund with the intention of providing sufficient funding for a future curatorship in the history of naval aviation. More information...

The Guggenheim and Verville Fellowships are designed to promote research into, and writing about, the history of aviation and space flight. Staff members of the Aeronautics Division currently conduct research into aviation history including such themes as the growth and impact of aeronautics on society, the evolution of aircraft technology, and the development of air transport and military aviation. The Division emphasizes both U.S. and international aspects of aviation history. Members of the Space History Division conduct research in the history of post-war science and technology and the history of space flight, and have written major works on the history of rocketry and the origins of space science.

All candidates are encouraged to pursue programs of research and writing that support publication of works that are scholarly in tone and substance, and/or addressed to an audience with broad interests. Outstanding manuscripts resulting from this program may be offered to the Smithsonian Institution Press for publication.

Each fellow will work closely with staff members who have similar interests. Excellent archival and library staff and facilities are available. The Museum's archival collection contains approximately 2,000,000 photographs, 700,000 feet of motion picture film, a major collection of technical manuals and engineering drawings, and other documentary materials. The library holds over 29,000 book volumes and 11,000 serial volumes. The archival and library collections cover the history of aviation, space science and exploration; flight technology; aerospace industry; aerospace biography; lighter-than-air technology; and rocketry. The Center for Earth and Planetary Studies houses a NASA-supported Regional Planetary Image Facility that contains photographs, images and digital data of the planets and their satellites, as well as cartographic products generated from these images. Access to all other Smithsonian libraries, the Library of Congress and the National Archives is available.

Applications due by: January 15
Notification by: April 30
Fellowships start dates: Normally between June 1 and October 1