Leonard A. Lauder Fellowships in Modern Art

• Graduate students pursuing a doctoral dissertation (who are currently enrolled in a PhD program) should apply for the Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, while students who have received a PhD within seven years should apply for the Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
• Post-Doctoral Fellows normally apply to transform their dissertation into a book manuscript or to develop a new project.
• Applicants for the Mid-Career Fellowship should be established scholars with a record of publications commensurate with their career stage.
• We encourage applications from those pursuing research in art history and in other humanities disciplines like history, anthropology, philosophy, and comparative literature, as long as they are focused on the visual arts. We accept applications from scholars originating from any accredited international university.
• All fellows are responsible for ensuring that they have valid work authorization under applicable US visa regulations while participating in the Met’s Fellowship Program. If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, please review the additional details in the Fellowship Application FAQs, and ensure you have confirmed your eligibility prior to submitting an application.
• You may not apply for a Leonard A. Lauder Pre-Doctoral Fellowship and a Leonard A. Lauder Non-Residential Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship in the same year.
• All projects must focus on modern art. By ‘modern art’ we mean architecture, drawing, design (including exhibition, graphic, interior, and stage design), film, painting, performance, photography, prints, and sculpture in the period from the last third of the nineteenth century through the 1960s, from any country, region, or culture.

Learn more in the Research Center’s Fellowships FAQs (PDF).

Stipend:

• $50,000 for Pre-Doctoral fellows
• $60,000 for Post-Doctoral fellows
• $70,000 for Mid-Career fellows

Travel: During the fellowship period and at the Museum's discretion, Leonard A. Lauder Fellows receive a travel stipend of $6,000.

Health Insurance: Fellows also receive an additional monthly payment to offset the cost of health insurance.

Information session: August 4, 2025, 1 pm ET; register now.

Application deadline: Friday, October 17, 2025, 5 pm ET

Notification date: All applicants will be notified by the last Friday in February following the application deadline.

Fellowship period:

• Pre-Doctoral Fellowships are for 24 months and must take place between September 1, 2026, and August 31, 2028.
• Post-Doctoral Fellowships may be 12 or 24 months in duration and must take place between September 1, 2026, and (depending on the length of the fellowship) August 31, 2027, or August 31, 2028.
• Mid-Career Fellowships are for 12 months and must take place between September 1, 2026, and August 31, 2027.

All applications must be submitted online and in English. All Leonard A. Lauder Fellowship in Modern Art applications must include (as .docx or .pdf files):

• A research proposal, not to exceed 1,000 words. Please describe your research rationale or arguments, the focus of your project, and what you wish to accomplish during the fellowship. You may wish to include discussion of the research methods of your project, including how the project will benefit from the resources of the Research Center or The Met (e.g., its departments, collection, and libraries).
• A critical bibliographic statement, not to exceed 500 words. It should describe the key literature (the state of the field and/or interpretive frameworks) that forms the context for your proposal or planned research. It should also demonstrate how your contribution is original or develops a new perspective.
• A personal statement, not to exceed 500 words. This is an opportunity for you to share information about you and your work that cannot be learned from a school transcript or CV.
• A brief schedule of work to be accomplished during the fellowship period. (Applicants for the Post-Doctoral Fellowship should indicate whether they are applying for a one- or two-year period.)
• A brief schedule of travel for research visits (maximum of six weeks) during the fellowship period. Note that if you do not need to travel to complete the research for your project, it will not negatively affect the assessment of your application.
• Curriculum vitae of education, professional experience, honors, awards, and publications
• Three letters of recommendation. Applicants must submit 3 academic recommendations. These letters should be uploaded directly by the recommenders, none of whom may be current Met staff, contactors, or volunteers. Recommenders must submit their letters in English.
• Official transcripts (undergraduate and graduate)—for Pre-Doctoral Fellowship applicants only
  If you have not yet completed your PhD, you must upload a copy of your undergraduate transcript and any graduate transcripts. If you have transcripts from more than one institution, please upload them as one combined file.
• An application profile (This section can be updated at any point throughout and after the application process).