Jacques Barzun Sabbatical Fellowship in the History of Science

The American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum invites applications from mid-career or senior scholars seeking sabbatical support for the completion of a book project related to the history of science, technology, and medicine (broadly defined). These opportunities provide four months of research support in the Society’s history of science collections for persons who have already completed their formal professional training. 

Fellows will be based at the Society’s Center for the History of Science, which encourages greater engagement with the Library & Museum’s deep and extensive holdings in this field. The Society’s collections include more than 14 million pages of manuscripts, 275,000 bound volumes , 250,000 images, thousands of hours of audio tape, and 3,360 three-dimensional artifacts and fine art objects. Well over half of this material documents the history of science. 

In terms of subject-area, the APS’s history of science collections run the gamut from A to Z—from astronomy to zoology—with particular strengths in genetics, evolutionary biology, and the life sciences. Other areas of note include eighteenth- and nineteenth-century natural history, physics, and the early history of computing.

Comprehensive, searchable guides and finding aids to our collections are available online at www.amphilsoc.org/library and http://amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com/.

Barzun Sabbatical fellows are expected to be in regular and continuous residence at the Society. They must devote full time to their study and may not accept teaching assignments or undertake any other major activities during the tenure of their award. Fellows may hold other major fellowships or grants during fellowship tenure, in addition to sabbaticals and supplemental grants from their own institutions. 

The fellowship pays a stipend of $15,000 over four months.

Eligibility:

Barzun Sabbatical fellowships are for persons who have already completed their formal professional training. Degree candidates and persons seeking support for work in pursuit of a degree may not hold a sabbatical fellowship.This fellowship is open to those who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, but it does not provide visa sponsorship.  

APS Fellows are selected on the basis of the applicant's scholarly qualifications, the scholarly significance or importance of the project, and the appropriateness of the proposed study to the Society's collections.

Application Instructions:

All application materials will be submitted online. Applicants will submit:

• C.V.;
• Research proposal describing work to be undertaken during the fellowship term (2-4 pages);
• Writing sample or sample chapter (no more than 25 pages double-spaced);
• Two letters of reference in support of the project and applicant

Note: Applications open in early October 2026.