Scholars-in-Residence Program Short-Term Fellowship 2027-28

Short-Term Fellowships

Short-term fellowships are open to postdoctoral scholars, independent researchers, and creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets) who work in residence at the Center for a continuous period of one to three months. Short-term fellows receive a stipend of $3000 per month. Submit your application for a short-term fellowship here. 

Please note: The long-term and short-term fellowships are open to individuals with the legal right to work in the United States. NYPL does not sponsor employment visas for these fellowships.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for the 2027-2028 Scholars-in-Residence Program is December 1, 2026. Please note that all application materials, including letters of recommendation, must be submitted by 11:59 PM on December 1, 2026. The Program is unable to grant exceptions or extensions to the deadline. For any questions, please email sir@nypl.org.

Additional Information

Eligibility | Application Instructions | Description of Study | Selection Criteria

Eligibility

The fellowship is open only to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals who have the legal right to work in the United States. NYPL does not sponsor employment visas for these fellowships. 

The Scholars-in-Residence Program is intended for scholars and writers whose work requires extensive, on-site research with collections at the Schomburg Center, the pre-eminent repository for the history and cultures of peoples of African descent around the globe. Fellows are expected to be in full-time residency at the Center during the award period and to participate in scheduled seminars and colloquia. The Program is intended to support research in African diasporic studies undertaken from a humanistic perspective; projects in the social sciences, science and technology, psychology, education, and religion are eligible if they utilize a humanistic approach and contribute to humanistic knowledge.

Although Schomburg Scholars-in-Residence Fellows are welcome to draw on resources in other archives, libraries, and institutions, candidates who need to work primarily in the New York Public Library's other research libraries – the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and the Science, Industry and Business Library – are not eligible for this fellowship.  

Please note that, while a graduate degree is not required, this fellowship cannot be used to support work toward a degree. (Applications are accepted from current doctoral students, as long as they will defend their dissertation and graduate before starting the fellowship tenure.) 

Application Instructions

The application deadline for the 2027-28 Scholars-in-Residence Program is Dec. 1, 2026. 

A complete application must include:

• The Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence Application.
• A 1500-word description of the proposed study.
• Curriculum vitae (limit to 3 pages).
• Names of references (long-term fellows must submit three recommendation letters; short-term fellows must submit a minimum of two letters). References will receive an e-mail instructing them how to upload their recommendations.

To start a long-term fellowship application, click here. 

To start a short-term fellowship application, click here. 

Please email sir@nypl.org with any questions.

Description of Study

In no more than 1500 words the applicant should provide a detailed description of the proposed study, including but by no means restricted to the following elements:

• A statement of the topic under consideration with specific reference to the major questions, problems, and theses being investigated.
• An outline of the plan for carrying out the study or project.
• Discussion of the sources in the Schomburg Center and other research units of The New York Public Library that the applicant plans to use for the study and plans for examining them.
• Description of research methods.
• Applicant's competence in the use of any foreign languages needed to complete the study.
• The place of the study in the applicant's overall research and writing program.
• The significance of the study for the applicant's field and for the humanities in general.
• The final objective and expected outcomes of the project. Plans for publications, lectures, exhibitions, teaching, and other vehicles of dissemination should be detailed. Fellows will be expected to share and discuss their research and writing with other scholars-in-residence in the weekly work-in-progress seminar during their residency.

Selection Criteria

Applications for the Scholars-in-Residence Program will be reviewed by a Selection Committee consisting of five external reviewers, a rotating panel of accomplished scholars and writers with expertise across the fields of study covered by the fellowship. The Selection Committee is convened and chaired by the Director of the Scholars-in-Residence Program.

Fellows will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:

• Relationship of the project to the resources of the Schomburg Center.
• Qualifications of the applicant.
• Quality and feasibility of the project plan.
• Importance of the proposed project to the applicant's field and to the humanities.
• Relationship of the project to the humanities.
• Likelihood that the project will be completed successfully.
• The provisions for making the results of the project available to scholars and to the public at large.

Applicants selected for the Program will be notified by the beginning of April 2027.

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