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GENERAL INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS
The attached application materials for 2012 Smithsonian Postgraduate Fellowships in Conservation of Museum Collections include the program guidelines, instructions, cover sheets, and letters for your referees. All these materials are also available at our Web site: www.si.edu/research+study.
This fellowships program is offered by the Smithsonian Institution to provide opportunities for recent graduates of masters programs in art and archaeological conservation or the equivalent or conservation scientists, including those at the postdoctoral level, who wish to conduct research and gain further training in Smithsonian conservation laboratories for conservation of objects in museum collections. These fellowships are offered through the Smithsonian's Office of Fellowships and are administered under the charter of the Institution, 20 U.S. Code section 41 et seq. Fellowship awards under this program are contingent upon the availability of funds.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact staff members (listed below) to help identify potential advisors, determine the feasibility of the proposed research being conducted at the Smithsonian Institution, and the availability of relevant resources such as staff, collections, archives and library materials during the proposed tenure dates. Additional facilities may be available to museum or archives fellows for analytical work at the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI).
Staff contacts are:
- Richard Barden, National Museum of American History (202-633-3638; bardenr@si.edu) for objects, paper, textile, and costume conservation
- Malcolm Collum, National Air and Space Museum (301-238-1637; CollumM@si.edu) for objects conservation
- Carol Grissom, MCI (301-238-1236; grissomc@si.edu) for objects, archaeological artifacts,
textiles, wooden artifacts, paintings, modern materials conservation, and conservation science
- Andrew Hare, Freer and Sackler Galleries (202-633-0370; harean@si.edu), for objects, paper, and Asian paintings conservation; and conservation science
- Annie Hall, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Off-site Objects Conservation Lab and Study Center, Newark, NJ (212-849-8460; HallAn@si.edu) for objects conservation with a focus on natural and synthetic plastics.
- Greta Hansen, National Museum of Natural History (301-238-1306; Hanseng@si.edu) for anthropological objects conservation
- Helen Ingalls, American Art Museum (202-633-5804; IngallsH@si.edu) for paintings, paper, objects, and frames conservation
- Marian Kaminitz, National Museum of the American Indian (301-238-1415; KaminitzM@si.edu) for archaeological and ethnographic objects and textile conservation
- Susan Lake, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (202-633-2731; LakeS@si.edu) for conservation of modern materials
- Steve Mellor, National Museum of African Art (202-633-4616; SMellor@si.edu) for objects conservation
- Lou Molnar, National Portrait Gallery (202-633-5822; molnarl@si.edu) for paintings and paper conservation
- Sarah Stauderman, Smithsonian Institution Archives (202-633-5921; StaudermanS@si.edu) for archives and paper conservation
PROGRAM GUIDELINES
Qualifications for Application
Applicants must propose to conduct research in the conservation of objects in museum collections in conservation laboratories at the Smithsonian Institution. Past or current fellowship recipients are eligible to apply for another award.
No employee or contractor of the Smithsonian Institution may hold a Smithsonian fellowship during the time of his/her employment or contract, nor may an award be offered to any person who has been employed by or under contract to the Institution in the previous year, without the prior approval of the Office of Fellowships.
Applicants whose native language is not English are expected to have the ability to write and converse fluently in English. All application materials must be presented in English (foreign transcripts may be translated, see below).
Application Submission and Deadline
All applications must be submitted by January 15, 2012 at https://solaa.si.edu.
Notification of decisions will be made on April 15, 2012.
Criteria for Selection
Applications are evaluated and fellows are selected by conservators in appropriate fields on the basis
of the proposal’s merit, the applicant’s ability
to carry out the proposed research and study, the likelihood that the research
could be completed in the requested time, and the extent to which the Smithsonian,
through its research staff members and resources, could contribute to the proposed
research. Included in the proposal evaluation will
be it's relevance in terms of the Smithsonian’s
Strategic Plan and how the research reflects one or more of the Four Grand
Challenges outlined in the plan (see details at http://www.si.edu/Content/Pdf/About/SI_Strategic_Plan_2010-2015.pdf ). The
number of appointments made each year is determined by the availability of
funds for the program. The Smithsonian Postgraduate Conservation Fellowship Program does not discriminate
on grounds of race, creed, sex, age, marital status, condition of handicap,
or national origin of any applicant.
Conditions of Appointment
Postgraduate Conservation Fellowships are usually awarded for one year but applications for shorter periods will be considered with three months being the minimum. In accepting an appointment, the fellow will be expected to be in residence at the Smithsonian except for approved absences.
Financial support, in addition to a Smithsonian fellowship, for such purposes as research travel and equipment may be received from other sources provided that no special demands are made upon the fellow's time. Permission to receive additional stipend support must be requested in writing from the Office of Fellowships.
It is important that applicants consider the following factors carefully when choosing the dates for the proposed fellowship: their schedule: the schedule of their proposed advisor/host and the availability of required resources. Appointments must begin on either the 1st or 15th of the month. The dates of tenure proposed in the application (and any change of dates if the fellowship is awarded) should be selected in agreement with the proposed principal advisor. Fellowships awarded in 2012 may begin between June 1, 2012 and March 1, 2013.
In submitting an application for a fellowship at the Institution, the applicant
does not incur any obligation to accept the appointment if selected.
Use of Smithsonian Facilities
Postgraduate Conservation Fellows will work in conservation laboratories at the Smithsonian Institution. Applicants should consult in advance with their proposed advisor(s) regarding the availability of facilities and necessary equipment. The amount of support services available to the fellow will be determined by the workload of the department and the policy of the department chairperson and/or unit director. Additional analytical facilities may be available at the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education. Fellows have access to the Smithsonian Institution Libraries with privileges which include borrowing library materials, interlibrary loans, intralibrary loans, document delivery, database searching, and reference assistance.
Stipends and Allowances 2012 - 2013
Postgraduate Conservation Fellowships: The stipend is $35,000 per year (twelve months, prorated for shorter tenures). In addition to the stipend, allowances to assist with the fellow's research related expenses and for temporary relocation to the Smithsonian are possible. In most cases a maximum research allowance of $2,000 is available. The amount awarded will be determined based upon the budget and justification presented by the applicant. The budget for the research allowance should not include costs for relocation to the Smithsonian, which are awarded separately. The Office of Fellowships cannot provide funds for the travel or living expenses of dependents.
All funds provided under Smithsonian fellowships, including stipends and research
and travel allowances, are subject to tax.
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