THE NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL FELLOWSHIP CONSORTIUM (NERFC), a collaboration of 30 major research institutions, will offer at least two dozen awards in the June 1, 2026 – May 31, 2027 application cycle. Each grant will provide a stipend of $5,000 for a minimum of six weeks of research at participating institutions. Awards are open to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who hold the necessary U.S. government documents. Grants are designed to encourage projects that draw on the resources of several institutions.
Each NERFC itinerary must:
- be a minimum of six weeks
- designate two institutions to visit for at least two weeks
- designate a third institution to visit for at least one week
- allocate the remaining fellowship week to any number of the consortium’s other member institutions
NERFC grants support work in a broad array of fields, including but not limited to: history, literature, art history, African American studies, American studies, women’s and gender studies, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religious studies, environmental studies, oceanography, and the histories of law, medicine, and technology.
Participating Collections
The New England Regional Fellowship Consortium includes 30 repositories, and a learned society. Collections at the participating institutions are broadly representative of the New England region and span the period from pre-contact to the present day. They include personal papers, organizational records, and printed works (both primary and secondary), as well as paintings, engravings, furniture, maps, photographs, architectural drawings, and materials in many other areas of collecting. Many of the organizations own and exhibit important historic houses.
- Archives and Special Collections, Northeastern University
- Baker Library, Harvard Business School
- Boston Athenæum
- Boston Public Library, Norman B. Leventhal Map Center
- John J. Burns Library, Boston College
- Chapin Library, Williams College
- Colonial Society of Massachusetts
- Congregational Library and Archives
- Connecticut Historical Society
- Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
- Mary Baker Eddy Library
- Harvard Divinity School Library
- Harvard Law School Library – Historical & Special Collections
- Harvard University Archives
- John Hay Library, Brown University
- Historic Deerfield
- Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Maine Historical Society
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- Mystic Seaport
- New England Historic Genealogical Society
- New Hampshire Historical Society
- Newport Historical Society
- Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine
- The Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
- Rauner Special Collections Library, Dartmouth College
- Rhode Island Historical Society
- Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
- Smith College Special Collections
- University of Vermont Special Collections
- Vermont Historical Society
Fellowship Website:
https://www.masshist.org/fellowships/nerfc