In November 2025, the Society joins with partners the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and publisher DC Thomson to launch a new Applied History Fellowship programme to support recent post-doctorate historians.
This initiative responds to three pressing challenges:
- the need to build sustainable bridges across different parts of the history community;
- the deeply challenging academic job market; and
- the need to advocate for the utility of history beyond the HE sector. The new Applied History Fellowships seek to expand the range of futures open to early career historians and to enhance the applied skills of those who do pursue a university career.
The Fellowships offer a bursary of £12,000 per award for a 6 month period. Fellowships will normally be held between April and September 2026.
Applications for the first round of Applied History Fellowships are now invited between 19 November 2025 and 31 January 2026.
Further information about the programme, with details of how to submit an application, are available from the Institute of Historical Research.
Fellowships will provide financial and practical support for those wishing to develop the wider impact and application of their academic work. The Fellowship provides time to develop publication, impact and engagement profiles. It also facilitates a two-day a week online placement with The Social History Archive (TSHA) so that Fellows can develop skills within a commercial history context.
Successful Fellows will become members of the IHR and be offered a 12-month free Associate Fellowship of the Society, whose Councillors will also provide professional mentoring. Fellows will also be invited to become members of the TSHA editorial board.
