The Field Museum invites applications for its Bass Senior Visiting Fellowships. Successful applicants receive support for long-term visits, usually between three and six months, to work at the Field Museum to collaborate with Museum faculty on specific research projects. (Shorter time periods may be possible upon request to scholarship@fieldmuseum.org.)
Applications for the next Bass Senior Visiting Fellowship are open from October 1, 2024 until November 8, 2024. We will send award notifications by mid-to-late December.
We encourage projects that focus on one or more areas of research in Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Earth and Planetary Sciences; foster collaboration among individual research programs; and have an interdisciplinary component. Every project must lead or contribute to peer-reviewed, scientific publications. We will also prioritize candidates that complement existing expertise at the Field Museum. The Science and Scholarship Funding Committee will review applications scientific merit, interdisciplinary and collaborative aspects, and congruence with the research and collections strengths of the Museum.
Application Requirements
Applicants should have at least five years of experience in the relevant field of research after their PhD, as well as a strong record of peer-reviewed publications. Every application must be endorsed by a Field Museum sponsor. Review the list of scientists eligible to sponsor visiting fellows. Individual scientists and their research programs can be found on the staff lists for the Collections Center, and Science Action Center. Please contact your potential sponsors to develop your application. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that endorsement letters are submitted by the application deadline—otherwise the application is incomplete.
The research visit must begin within 12 months of the award, although the visit may extend into the following year. All appropriate taxes will be deducted from the award prior to disbursement.
Every applicant must submit:
- Scientific proposal featuring an executive summary (250 words max) and project description detailing its objectives, scientific merit (with emphasis on the motivation in a broad context), interdisciplinary aspects, feasibility, work plan, and references. The proposal must be no longer than two pages in 12-point font with one-inch margins, including figures and tables. (The reference list is exempt in this limit.)
- Full budget between $8,000 and $12,500 with justification (one page). Budgets can include living expenses, travel, research costs, and salary subvention, if adequately justified. The support can serve as a stipend for living expenses in the Chicago area while still receiving salary from the home institution.
- CV with publications list
- PDF copies of three selected publications
- Names and contact information including e-mail addresses of three referees
Field Museum sponsor(s) must send their letters of endorsements before the deadline to scholarship@fieldmuseum.org.
Contact Us
For more information about the Bass Senior Visiting Fellowships, or questions about your application email scholarship@fieldmuseum.org.