Up To $70,000 - Research Fellowship At The Met NYC

Research performance, stage design, and modern art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Research Fellowship at The Met

The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is accepting applications for its 2027–2029 residential fellowships. This modern art fellowship provides stipends of $50,000 for Pre-Doctoral Fellows, $60,000 for Post-Doctoral Fellows, and $70,000 for Mid-Career Fellows, plus a $6,000 travel stipend. Of particular interest to Contemporary Performance readers, The Met explicitly includes performance and stage design within its definition of modern art. Projects may address modern art from any country, region, or culture from the last third of the nineteenth century through the 1960s.

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Research Fellowship at The Met Snapshot

What: Leonard A. Lauder Fellowships in Modern Art

Who: PhD students pursuing doctoral dissertations, scholars who received their PhD within seven years, and established mid-career scholars with publication records appropriate to their career stage.

Where: The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York

Award / Support: $50,000 for Pre-Doctoral Fellows; $60,000 for Post-Doctoral Fellows; $70,000 for Mid-Career Fellows; $6,000 travel stipend during the fellowship period and at the Museum’s discretion; additional monthly payment to offset health insurance costs.

Application Fee: FREE

Residency Duration: Pre-Doctoral Fellowship: 24 months. Post-Doctoral Fellowship: 12 or 24 months. Mid-Career Fellowship: 12 months.

Deadline: October 15, 2026, 5 pm ET

Official Link: https://www.metmuseum.org/opportunities/fellowships/leonard-a-lauder-fellowships-in-modern-art

Strategy Coach Notes: https://www.patreon.com/pformart/posts/up-to-70-000-at-171804911

Get The Application Strategy

The application requires a tightly connected research system. Applicants submit a research proposal of up to 1,000 words, a critical bibliographic statement of up to 500 words, a personal statement of up to 500 words, schedules for work and research travel, a CV, and three academic recommendations. Pre-Doctoral applicants also submit official undergraduate and graduate transcripts. The selection committee evaluates the quality and feasibility of the proposal, academic achievement, command of relevant literature, recommendation letters, contribution to the understanding of modern art, and the applicant’s capacity to contribute to the Research Center and The Met.

Join the Contemporary Performance network to access Strategy Coach Notes with detailed application analysis.

About the Research Fellowship at The Met

The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art is a research center within The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to scholarship on modern art. Its fellowships give scholars time to conduct focused research and writing on an independent project while participating in the intellectual life of the Research Center. The residential program includes writing workshops, works-in-progress seminars, gallery walks, and participation in the Center’s research activities.

For performance researchers, The Met’s definition of modern art makes this fellowship particularly relevant. Eligible fields explicitly include architecture, drawing, design (including exhibition, graphic, interior, and stage design), film, painting, performance, photography, prints, and sculpture. Research can concern any country, region, or culture, provided the project addresses the period from the last third of the nineteenth century through the 1960s.

Fellows undertake independent research rather than serving within a curatorial department. Each fellow contributes three entries per year to the Research Center’s Modern Art Index Project. Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellows participate in Research Out Loud, an annual public program connecting fellowship research with The Met’s collection. The Mid-Career Fellow mentors Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellows and gives a lecture on their work at the end of the fellowship.

What Is Offered

$50,000 stipend for Pre-Doctoral Fellows
$60,000 stipend for Post-Doctoral Fellows
$70,000 stipend for Mid-Career Fellows
$6,000 travel stipend during the fellowship period and at the Museum’s discretion
Additional monthly payment to offset health insurance costs
Residential research period at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Writing workshops focused on fellows’ current research
Works-in-progress seminars addressing research problems, methods, visual analysis, and structure
Gallery walks with fellows and Met staff
Participation in the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art
Public presentation through Research Out Loud for Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellows
Mentorship and a concluding lecture for the Mid-Career Fellow

Who Should Apply to The Research Fellowship at The Met

The Research Fellowship at The Met is designed for scholars undertaking research on modern art. Graduate students currently enrolled in a PhD program and pursuing a doctoral dissertation may apply for the Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. Scholars who received their PhD within seven years may apply for the Post-Doctoral Fellowship. Established scholars with an appropriate publication record may apply for the Mid-Career Fellowship.

The Research Center encourages applications from art history and other humanities disciplines, including history, anthropology, philosophy, and comparative literature, when the research focuses on visual arts. Scholars from accredited international universities may apply.

For Contemporary Performance readers, the disciplinary definition deserves attention. The Met explicitly identifies performance and stage design as eligible areas of modern art research. A scholar researching histories of performance, theatrical design, exhibition design, film, mediated performance, or related practices within the program’s historical period may therefore fall within the stated research scope.

Research Fellowship at The Met Timeline

Application Deadline: October 15, 2026, 5 pm ET
Notification: By the end of January following the application deadline
Pre-Doctoral Fellowship: September 1, 2027 to August 31, 2029
Post-Doctoral Fellowship: September 1, 2027 to August 31, 2028, or August 31, 2029
Mid-Career Fellowship: September 1, 2027 to August 31, 2028

Why The Research Fellowship at The Met Matters

The Leonard A. Lauder Fellowships offer substantial support for sustained scholarly research inside The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The $50,000 to $70,000 stipends, additional $6,000 travel stipend, and access to the Research Center create a significant research framework for scholars working on modern art.

For the Contemporary Performance community, the explicit inclusion of performance and stage design expands the relevance of a fellowship that might initially appear directed primarily toward conventional art history. The key qualification is research. Applicants must meet the academic eligibility requirements and propose scholarship focused on modern art within the program’s defined historical period.