woman studying at a desk

Research and Fellowships

The Huntington is a collections-based research institute, which promotes humanities scholarship on the basis of its library, art, and botanical collections.

Each year, some 2,000 scholars in the fields of history, literature, botanical science, art history, and the history of science, technology, and medicine come from around the world to conduct academic research in The Huntington’s library, art, and botanical collections. The scholarship that is carried out in the reading rooms results in academic monographs and scholarly articles, in bestselling and prizewinning books, in acclaimed documentary films, and in many of the history and social studies texts used to educate the nation’s schoolchildren. The Huntington also disseminates research through an extensive program of academic conferences, workshops, seminars, and lectures.

Susan Juster

Susan Juster, W.M. Keck Foundation Director of Research | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

News from the Director of Research

August 2024 | The Research Division is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2024-25 cohort of Long-Term Fellows and the launch of our new season of academic programming. You can see the full schedule of academic programs on our Academic Conferences and Lectures page. As always, these events are open to the public with advance registration for a nominal fee of $35, an increase over the $25 fee the Research Division has charged since the 1990s. (Inflation catches up with all of us.)

Also in this issue:

  • Conferences and Lectures
  • Welcoming Brett Rushforth to the HLQ

Using the Collections

Library Collections
Researchers from over 30 countries visit the Library’s reading rooms annually to study rare collections, while thousands more make use of the Library’s virtual services and digital collections remotely. 

Art Collections
Find information on tens of thousands of paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, and other works of art in The Huntington’s Art Collections or make an appointment to see collections in person. 

Botanical Collections
Search The Huntington’s living botanical collections, an active herbarium, cacti and succulent collections, and more. 

A large room with long desks for multiple people, and walls lined with bookshelves on two levels.
attendees at a lecture in a hall

Academic Conferences and Lectures

The Huntington hosts academic conferences and lectures every year open to the public. Program details are available approximately two months prior to the conference date.

Two people pose for a photo

Fellowships

The Huntington Library awards over 150 research fellowships annually. Applicants for long-term (9-11 month academic year or 4-5 month academic term) fellowships must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. at the time of application. Short-term fellowships (one to three months) are open to graduate students; faculty members; postdoctoral scholars; and independent researchers. Travel grants/exchange fellowships (for study abroad) are open to doctoral candidates who have advanced to candidacy (ABD) at the time of the application deadline, to faculty members, and other postdoctoral scholars.

An image of a large white building and seven headshots of people.

This year, The Huntington has awarded long-term research fellowships to 13 individuals, including (from left) Serena Zabin (Carleton College), Jonathan Hsy (George Washington University), writer and historian Megan Kate Nelson, Susan Amussen (University of California, Merced), Nayan Shah (USC), Alison Hirsch (USC), and Susan Scott Parrish (University of Michigan).     | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Welcoming the 2024–25 Huntington Research Fellows

The Huntington annually welcomes approximately 150 long- and short-term research fellows, selected through a competitive, peer-review process that provides $1.4 million in awards. These fellows are among the roughly 2,000 scholars in the fields of history, literature, botanical science, art history, and the history of science, technology, and medicine who come from around the world each year to conduct academic research in The Huntington’s collections.

stack of book spines by Fellows

209 Books Published by Fellows

Huntington fellowships support quality research that advances scholarship in the humanities and makes use of The Huntington’s extensive archival and rare book collections. Since 1995, there have been 209 books published by long-term fellows.