Summer Graduate Student Research Fellowships

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies is pleased to offer annual Summer Graduate Student Research Fellowships designed for students accepted to or currently enrolled in a master’s degree program or in the first year of a PhD program at a college or university in North America. Students who have completed more than one year of doctoral work will not be considered. 

Fellowship Details

Summer Graduate Student Research Fellowships support early-career graduate students in three-month residencies at the Mandel Center to provide them the opportunity to test ideas, share research findings, explore methodological processes, and develop frameworks for their projects. Each fellow works with a staff mentor who advises them on their project goals and helps guide their research in the Museum's collections. Fellows take part in training seminars that introduce key subjects, essential tools, and useful methods and approaches in Holocaust research. They also attend the Museum's scholarly and publicly-available educational programs. 

Awards are granted on a competitive basis. The Mandel Center welcomes applications from graduate students of all relevant academic disciplines, including - but not limited to - history, political science, literature, Jewish studies, psychology, sociology, geography, anthropology, arts and music, and religious studies. Students working in disciplines other than history are especially encouraged to apply. 

Residency Requirements

Summer Graduate Student Research Fellows are required to be in residence for three consecutive months, from early June through late August. Specific fellowship start and end dates vary depending upon the year. The Mandel Center will provide a stipend of $5,000 per month, as well as an allowance to offset the cost of direct, economy-class travel to and from Washington, DC. Local awardees will not receive a travel allowance. The funds provided through this award may be subject to US federal and/or state tax. The Mandel Center cannot provide individual tax advice and is unable to provide visa assistance for non-US citizens.

Application Materials

The competition for 2024 Summer Graduate Student Research Fellowships opens on November 15, 2023. The deadline for submission is January 15, 2024 and applicants will be notified of the outcome by March 2024. 

Applications must be submitted in English via our online application and consist of the following:

• An online application form

• A project proposal (in PDF format, not to exceed 1,000 words), which addresses the applicant's research topic as developed with a faculty member at their home institution, and should include:

  • A thesis statement

  • An outline of the proposed project goals

  • A list of resources available at the Museum that the student will need to access in order to support the research may be attached as an addendum in addition to the project proposal. Important resources may also be referenced in the body of the project proposal. To search the Museum’s holdings, visit collections.ushmm.org.

• A curriculum vitae (in PDF format, not to exceed five single-spaced pages)

• A personal statement (in PDF format, not to exceed two single-spaced pages) that explains the applicant’s interest in the Holocaust and World War II, as well as how the fellowship will further their studies in this area

• One letter of recommendation from a faculty member or dean at the applicant’s institution (signed, on institutional letterhead, and sent or uploaded by the recommender) that speaks to their qualifications

Contact Information

Visiting Scholar Programs Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Washington, DC 20024-2126 vscholars@ushmm.org

The Mandel Center's Summer Graduate Student Research Fellowship program is supported by the Albert Abramson Family Foundation.