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Postdoctoral Fellowship Application

 

CHABRAJA Postdoctoral fellowships

Each year in the early Spring the Chabraja Center for Historical Studies announces the Call for Applications for its postdoctoral fellowships, which offer one year’s support (from the beginning of September to the end of next August) to Ph.D. graduates of the Northwestern History Department to help them advance their research and publication agenda and gain additional professional experience. Two types of  postdoctoral fellowships are available: in teaching and in public service/public history. One may apply for both in the same year.

For 2026-2027 the Chabraja postdoctoral fellowships are open to Northwestern historians who have received or expect to receive their PhD in the LAST THREE YEARS (2024, 2025, 2026) prior to the fellowship year and do not have ongoing employment. Applicants can be in any History field and must have defended their dissertation by August 2026.

Deadline for both types of 2026-27 postdoctoral fellowships is May 1 by 4 p.m.

 

The Chabraja Center for Historical Studies is happy to announce the Call for Applications for two postdoctoral fellowships, which offer one year’s support to Ph.D. graduates of the Northwestern History Department to help them advance their research and publication agenda and gain additional teaching experience.The Chabraja Teaching Postdoctoral Fellowships are for one year, from September 1 to the end of August of the next year. They are open to recent Northwestern History PhDs.

Fellowship awardees will receive a stipend of $61,008 plus benefits, and a $3,000 research budget. They will be expected to participate in all Chabraja Center events, may have light duties connected to CCHS, and will teach two courses for the History Department, one of which will be a 395 seminar course in spring quarter. They are expected to be in residence for the full academic year. Recipients will be selected by a committee of History faculty from Northwestern and a peer institution.

Applications for these fellowships are due by Friday, May 1 at 4 p.m. Please submit the following to CCHS Asst. Director Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch (efp@northwestern.edu) in the form of a zipped folder labeled LAST NAME: Teaching postdoc application.

  1. A short (1-2 page) statement about your research
  2. A short (1-2 page) statement about teaching, with a sample syllabus for a seminar course (393 or 395) appended
  3. A current curriculum vitae
  4. One article or chapter-length writing sample
  5. A complete set of CTECs (that is, all the CTECs from your time teaching at NU)
  6. In addition, please have two recommenders send letters to Elzbieta by the deadline.

You will receive email confirmation of the receipt of your application. Applicants will be notified by mid-May.

Questions may be directed to CCHS Director Amy Stanley: a-stanley@northwestern.edu. You will receive email confirmation of the receipt of your application. Applicants will be notified by mid-May.

  

We invite graduate students to compete for postdoctoral fellowships centered on a yearlong full-time internship or project with a non-profit organization such as an archive, library, museum, theatre, foundation, or other public-interest institution where they can apply the skills they have developed as a History PhD. The purpose of the fellowship is to help students who have an interest in careers outside of the academy identify and gain professional experience in the area of their choice while enhancing CCHS outreach. Preference will be given to applications that propose work with a public-interest institution in the Chicago region.

The fellowship is fully funded by CCHS for one year, usually starting in September ($61,008 plus benefits). Recipients will be selected by a committee of Northwestern History faculty.

Applicants should themselves identify and contact institutions where they are interested in working and arrange for a position and an on-site mentor or supervisor who will be the contact person for CCHS. The CCHS Director or another appropriate Northwestern faculty member will serve as faculty mentor. Both the postdoctoral fellow and their on-site mentor(s) will provide quarterly activity reports, and at the end of their tenure a fuller account of accomplishments over the course of the fellowship year. The Center may also announce concrete opportunities at partner institutions. Successful candidates will be expected to provide mentorship to Northwestern History PhDs who wish to pursue careers outside of universities.

Candidates should provide

  1. a short (1-2 page) statement of research interests
  2. a short (3-4 page) statement of plans for the public history position
  3. a current CV;
  4. a letter of support from a prospective mentor/supervisor at the institution of their choice (if applicable);
  5. a letter of recommendation from their thesis director or other appropriate Northwestern faculty member

Please submit your application to CCHS Asst. Director Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch, efp@northwestern.edu, by Friday, May 1 at 4 p.m. You should get an email acknowledgement once your application is received. Questions may be directed to CCHS Director Amy Stanley at a-stanley@northwestern.edu.