Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship 2026

Overview

The Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship is open to current students at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities. The Alliance, founded in 1958, is a consortium of research universities that collaborate on academic and administrative initiatives. The fellowship targets doctoral candidates who have satisfied all degree requirements except completing the dissertation. These candidates find suitable advisers at the Smithsonian and carry out research and scholarship that advances their theses.

Proposed research must be conducted at the Smithsonian in one of the following areas: animal behaviour, ecology and environmental science, with an emphasis on the tropics; anthropology, including archaeology, cultural anthropology, linguistics and physical anthropology; earth sciences and paleobiology; evolutionary and 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; and the social and cultural history of the United States.

What you get

The stipend is $45,000 per year, plus a research allowance of up to $5,000 per year. Stipends are prorated for periods shorter than twelve months.

Who can apply

Only students currently enrolled at one of the Big Ten Academic Alliance member universities are eligible. They must have completed all coursework, been admitted to doctoral candidacy and met every requirement except the dissertation by the time the appointment begins. The programme is open to both US citizens and non-US citizens. Applicants whose first language is not English must be able to write and speak English fluently, and all materials must be in English.

How to apply

Applications are submitted through the Smithsonian Academic Appointment System (SOLAA), entering 2027 as the cycle on the application.

Key dates

The deadline is October 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET.