David Berry Fellowship 2027: Up to £2,500 for Research on Scotland and the Scottish People

David Berry Fellowship 2027: Up to £2,500 for Research on Scotland and the Scottish People

The David Berry Fellowship is a small, focused research award from the Royal Historical Society (RHS) for historians investigating the history of Scotland or the history of Scottish people in the United Kingdom and around the world. The 2027 fellowship call is open now and has a submission deadline of Friday 5 March 2027. The award is worth up to £2,500 and is intended for a tangible piece of research that would be difficult to undertake without financial help.

This is not a general postgraduate scholarship, a salary replacement award, or a publication subsidy. It is best understood as flexible research-cost support. An applicant might use it to travel to an archive, stay near a research site, pay an archive entrance charge, or obtain copies and scans of research materials. The Royal Historical Society specifically says that the money cannot pay a third party to conduct the research and cannot support publication of a final manuscript.

The fellowship can suit a PhD researcher, an early-career historian, or a historian at a later career stage, provided the person is a current member of the Society and can define a discrete research goal. The award is particularly relevant when institutional funds are unavailable or insufficient. A strong application will make the proposed activity concrete, show why it matters to the study of Scotland or Scottish people, explain the amount requested line by line, and provide credible evidence that the work can be completed within the permitted period.

Key details

What the David Berry Fellowship offers

The maximum award is £2,500. The RHS describes the fellowship as an annual award designed to enable and facilitate research that might otherwise not happen. That framing matters: the committee is not simply looking for an interesting topic, but for a well-defined piece of work whose practical costs are clear and whose funding gap is real.

The official examples of eligible costs are useful when shaping a budget. Travel can include reaching an archive or another research site. Accommodation may be included when research requires time away from home. Archive entrance charges and similar access fees are eligible where they are required. The award can also cover fees for obtaining or posting research materials, including copying and scanning.

The award is not a substitute for research labor. The fellowship may not be used to pay another person to carry out the research. It also may not be used to support publication of a final manuscript. Applicants should therefore separate discovery and evidence-gathering costs from later editing, printing, or publication expenses. If a proposed activity serves both purposes, explain the research function precisely and ask the Society whether the cost is eligible before relying on it.

The amount requested can be lower than the £2,500 ceiling. A modest, well-supported request is more persuasive than an inflated budget that includes items outside the scheme. The proposal should show what the money changes: for example, access to a collection that cannot be used remotely, a short research trip that closes an evidence gap, or the copying of a defined group of documents needed to test the project’s argument.

Who can apply

The fellowship is open to current members of the Royal Historical Society in all career stages from PhD research and beyond. The Society says eligible applicants must belong to one of its four membership categories. Membership is therefore a condition of application, not an optional benefit to arrange after submitting. Researchers who are not already members should review the RHS joining information and allow time to complete membership before the application deadline.

The scheme is not restricted to a single academic rank. A doctoral researcher can be eligible, as can a historian who has completed a doctorate or is working at a later career stage. The central question is whether the applicant has a discrete research activity within the fellowship’s subject scope and can explain why the Society’s support is needed.

Applicants also need a supporting academic referee. The reference must testify both to the contribution of the proposed research and to the applicant’s need for financial support. These are two separate points. A referee who only praises the topic may not address the funding need, while a letter that only confirms financial difficulty may not explain why the work matters historically. Ask the referee to cover both elements directly and to submit the reference in time for the application to be complete.

The selected researcher must be able to undertake the designated research within 12 months of the closing date of the relevant application round. For the 2027 call, that rule means the funded activity should be planned within the year following 5 March 2027. The RHS also expects fellows to remain in contact with the Society during the fellowship and to contribute a post about an aspect of their research to the Society’s Historical Transactions blog.

What kind of research is a good fit

The subject must concern the history of Scotland and/or the history of Scottish people within the United Kingdom or worldwide. That scope is broader than a project physically located in Scotland. A study of Scottish migration, diaspora, institutions, communities, political activity, cultural exchange, or family networks outside Scotland may fit if the historical question is genuinely about Scotland or Scottish people.

The strongest fit is a defined research task rather than an entire thesis or an indefinite programme of work. “Research the history of nineteenth-century Scotland” is too broad to budget or evaluate. “Examine the correspondence of a named group in a specified archive to trace how Scottish merchants organized a particular overseas network” is more useful because the committee can see the source base, the activity, and the reason the expense is necessary.

A project can use primary sources, archives, collections, oral-history material, or other appropriate evidence, but the application should explain the actual research action the fellowship will fund. State what you need to consult, where it is held, why remote access is insufficient if travel is requested, and what the activity will add to the project. If the work involves a collection outside the UK, make the connection to Scottish history or Scottish people especially explicit.

The award is especially well matched to research that has a clear funding gap. The RHS says it is particularly keen to support activities for which alternative sources of funding are very limited or do not exist, and it seeks to assist researchers where institutional support is minimal or unavailable. This does not mean an applicant must have no other funding at all. It means the application should identify the specific shortfall and show that the request is proportionate.

Application materials and process

Applications are submitted through the Royal Historical Society’s applications portal. The official fellowship page asks applicants to provide four core components: a PDF copy of a CV, a reference letter, a 500-word project proposal, and a 300-word funding request. The application will only be considered with a supporting academic reference.

The project proposal and funding request should do different jobs. In 500 words, the proposal should define the historical question, establish its significance, describe the research activity, and state what the fellowship will make possible. It should be concise enough for a reviewer to understand the project without reconstructing it from background reading. The 300-word funding request should focus on the amount, the cost items, the reason each is necessary, and why other support does not cover them.

The CV should make the applicant’s ability to undertake the work easy to assess. Include research training, relevant publications or outputs where applicable, archive or language preparation when relevant, and the current stage of the project. Do not use the CV to repeat the proposal. Instead, use it to establish the experience and capacity behind the plan.

Begin the referee process before drafting the final application. Give the referee the proposal, the budget, the official eligibility wording, and the deadline. Ask whether they can address the research contribution and the need for financial support specifically. Since the Society warns applicants to allow sufficient time for the reference to arrive before the closing date, a last-minute request creates a preventable risk.

Deadline and review timeline

The 2027 fellowship call is currently open and closes on Friday 5 March 2027. The official page identifies this as the deadline for the academic year 2027–28 call. Submit through the portal before the stated closing date and confirm that the reference has been received; do not assume that saving a draft or inviting a referee counts as submission.

After the deadline, applications are reviewed by the RHS Research Support Committee, which is formed of members of the Society’s Council. The Society says review will not take place until the deadline has passed and that the average timeline for review, ratification, and notification is around six weeks after the deadline. All applicants, whether successful or unsuccessful, will be notified directly.

The research must be undertaken within 12 months of the closing date. This is a completion-planning requirement, not a promise that every project will begin immediately after decisions are sent. Build a realistic schedule around archive availability, travel permissions, collection opening hours, copying lead times, and any institutional or personal constraints. If a source repository has limited booking windows, mention that in the proposal and make the timing of the award useful to the committee.

How to prepare a competitive proposal

Start with the funded action. Write one sentence that says exactly what you will do with the fellowship: visit a named archive for a defined number of days, obtain a specified body of scans, or complete another concrete research task. Then connect that action to the project’s historical question. This prevents the application from drifting into a general biography or a full thesis introduction.

Build the budget from evidence. Check travel fares, accommodation ranges, archive fees, copying rates, and any material-postage charges before setting the request. Use the 300-word funding statement to explain assumptions and distinguish confirmed costs from estimates. If an archive has not yet confirmed a charge, say that it is an estimate and identify the source of the estimate. A reviewer should be able to see how the requested amount was calculated.

Show what happens if the funding is awarded. Identify the collection or site, the work to be completed, the output that will follow, and the next research decision that the evidence will inform. The output does not need to be a finished book or article; indeed, publication of a final manuscript is outside the permitted use of the award. It can be a completed source analysis, a chapter’s evidence base, a dataset, a conference paper, or another scholarly stage that is appropriate to the project.

Explain the funding need without apology. If university travel funds are unavailable, if a collection has access costs that are not covered, or if a short research visit falls outside an existing grant, state the gap plainly. The RHS’s published priorities make need relevant to the award, so it is better to provide a factual explanation than to hide the financial constraint behind vague wording.

Finally, plan the promised relationship with the Society. The fellowship includes an expectation of continued contact and a post for the RHS blog. Identify an accessible aspect of the work that could become a useful public-facing research update. This is not a request for a finished manuscript; it is an opportunity to show how the research contributes to wider historical conversation.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most serious mistake is applying without RHS membership. Check the Society’s membership category requirement before spending time on the proposal. A second common problem is treating the £2,500 maximum as an automatic award. The request must be justified by a discrete research goal and eligible costs, and the amount can be lower.

Do not use the proposal to request salary, general living expenses, a third party’s research labor, or publication of a final manuscript. Those uses do not match the published scheme. Keep the budget tied to travel, accommodation while researching away from home, access charges, copying, scanning, posting, and comparable research costs.

Do not submit a broad topic with no defined activity. The committee needs to understand what will be done within the 12-month research window. Likewise, do not leave the reference until the final day. The application is incomplete without a supporting academic reference, and the RHS specifically warns applicants to allow time for the referee to provide it.

Avoid claiming that the fellowship guarantees a particular archive result, publication, or career outcome. Describe the evidence the activity is expected to produce and the research decision it will support. Reviewers can assess a careful plan more confidently than a promise that depends on uncertain discoveries.

Frequently asked questions

Is the fellowship only for PhD students?

No. The RHS says it is open to historians at all career stages from PhD research and beyond, provided they are current Society members and meet the other conditions.

Must the research take place in Scotland?

No. The subject can concern the history of Scotland or the history of Scottish people within the United Kingdom or worldwide. A project outside Scotland can fit when its historical focus is clearly connected to Scottish people or Scottish history.

Can the award pay for someone else to do archival research?

No. The RHS expressly says the fellowship may not be used to pay a third party to undertake research.

Can the fellowship pay for publishing a book or article?

No. The official page excludes support for publication of a final manuscript. Keep the request focused on research and access costs.

How long do I have to carry out the research?

The designated research must be undertaken within 12 months of the closing date of the application round. For this call, plan the work within the year after 5 March 2027.

When will I hear the result?

The RHS says the average timeline for review, ratification, and notification is around six weeks after the deadline. All applicants are notified directly.

Is a reference optional if the proposal is strong?

No. The Society says applications are only considered with a supporting academic reference. The referee must address both the contribution of the research and the need for financial support.

Official links and next steps

Start with the Royal Historical Society David Berry Fellowship page, which contains the current eligibility rules, permitted costs, required materials, deadline, and contact address. Use the linked RHS applications portal to submit the 2027 application. If membership is not current, review the Society’s membership information before preparing the final package.

Before submitting, check five points: your RHS membership is active, the project concerns Scotland or Scottish people, the research goal is discrete, every budget item is an eligible research cost, and the academic reference has arrived. Then confirm that the planned work can be completed within 12 months of the 5 March 2027 closing date and that you can remain in contact with the Society and contribute a research post. Questions about the fellowship should be directed to the RHS Membership and Grants Team at [email protected].