Kristian Fauchald Polychaete Research Fellowship
Kristian Fauchald Polychaete Research Fellowship supports polychaete biologists’ independent research using Smithsonian museum collections to advance knowledge of polychaete biology.
Funder: Smithsonian Institution
Due Dates: April 1, 2027 (Spring applications) | October 1, 2027 (Fall applications)
Funding Amounts: Budgets up to USD $15,000 for four weeks to six months; subsistence up to $1,000 per week
Summary: Supports polychaete biologists’ independent, collections-based research at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Key Information: Fellows must reside in the Washington, D.C. area and spend significant time working in Invertebrate Zoology.
Description
The Smithsonian Institution’s Kristian Fauchald Polychaete Research Fellowship supports independent, collections-based research in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). It serves active polychaete biologists from graduate students through senior researchers worldwide. Supported research includes systematics, phylogeny, biogeography, comparative and functional morphology, and diversity, using the US National Polychaete Collection.
Established through a donation from the estate of Leonard P. Hirsch and Kristian Fauchald, the fellowship continues Fauchald’s legacy of involving international polychaetologists in collection research. Fellows gain access to historical specimens, specimen-handling and imaging equipment, histology facilities, the NMNH Library, and the polychaete reprint collection. Proposed work is assessed for research quality, impact, feasibility, collection relevance, and importance to polychaete biology.
