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Paulsen Fellowships

How to apply

The Paulsen Programme is suspended until further notice.

The Paulsen Programme will provide up to 15 fellowships each year from 2018/9 until 2023/4 for early and mid-career historians who are citizens of the Russian Federation employed in Russian academic and educational institutions. Fellowships will support research in archives and libraries in any country outside Russia, and are not limited to research in the UK.

The fellowships are open to all historians in Russia who are working on the period from the mid seventeenth century down to 1918. In other words, it includes both historians of Russia and of other regions of the world.

The next round of applications for Fellowships for 2020-21 was postponed due to the COVID-19 global crisis.  We have been keeping the situation under review and will launch applications for the next round in January 2022. For the next round of applications, please note applicants need to submit:

  • a brief (not more than 1000 word) statement of their research, why it is significant and why it requires work in foreign archives and libraries
  • Curriculum Vitae and list of publications
  • letter in support from a senior academic historian familiar with them and their research. 

Fellowships can be held for any length of time from 1 to 3 months and applicants must explain what length of fellowship they need and why. Fellows who receive awards in one year are eligible to apply in subsequent years too. Applicants should apply by email to Ih.Paulsen@lse.ac.uk.

The Paulsen Programme will cover all costs for visas, economy travel, accommodation and board (on conditions and at rates as per LSE and UK HMRC policy), and will also reimburse costs for medical insurance.  Please note that recipients must provide evidence before leaving Russia that they have acquired adequate medical insurance for their time abroad. The Programme will provide supporting documentation if required for visa applications.

From January 2022 we will also be launching our new fellowships designed to allow historians from the Russian provinces to study in archives and libraries in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. Preference will be given to candidates who are working on some aspect of the history of the period from the mid-seventeenth century down to 1918. Please note that this includes not just topics related to the Russian Empire but to all research on the history of this period. Applicants for these fellowships should apply in the same way as applicants for international fellowships – in other words to Ih.Paulsen@lse.ac.uk, providing the same documentation in support of their application (i.e. statement of research, CV and list of publications, letter in support from a senior academic historian familiar with their research). The Paulsen Programme will cover all costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence for the period of the fellowship.