Smithsonian Congress of Scholars

National Mall view

The Smithsonian Congress of Scholars (SCOS) is an organization composed of representatives from all the museums and units that carry out scholarly research. Its goal is to enhance communications among scholarly staff across the Institution and to address issues of common concern to the Smithsonian research community.

As such, the SCOS serves as a point of contact between the Smithsonian’s administration and the Institution’s research staff, illuminating the important scholarship being done here and serving as a sounding board in order to foster excellence in scholarship at the Smithsonian. The Congress of Scholars is led by a Council comprised of representatives from research units across the Smithsonian.