IEEE History Center: IEEE Fellowship in Electrical History

The IEEE Fellowship in Electrical History supports either one year of full-time graduate work in the history of electrical science and technology at a college or university of recognized standing, or up to one year of post-doctoral research for a scholar in this field who has received their Ph.D. within the past three years. The stipend is US$17,000, and a research budget of US$3,000 is available.

Reimbursable research expenses include: economy class travel to visit archives, libraries, historical sites, or academic conferences, either to hear papers or to present one’s own work.  Hotel stays, meals while travelling, copying costs, reprints of scholarly articles, and books directly pertaining to research are reimbursable. 

Any research trip expected to cost more than $1000 must be approved in advance by IEEE History Center Staff.  Examples of non-reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to: licensing fees for images for book version of thesis (book publisher should pay for those), computers or computer peripherals, digital cameras, clothing, and office supplies (paper, pens, printer cartridges, CDs, memory sticks, etc.).

Recipients are normally expected to take up the Fellowship in the July of the year that it is awarded.   Fellowship checks are normally mailed to the Fellow quarterly in July, October, January, and April.  For Fellows in the southern hemisphere who follow the southern hemisphere academic year, arrangements can be made to mail  the checks in December (two quarters worth), March, and June.

Candidates with undergraduate degrees in engineering, the sciences, or the humanities are eligible for the Fellowship. For pre-doctoral applicants, however, the award is conditional upon acceptance of the candidate into an appropriate graduate program in history at a school of recognized standing. In addition, pre-doctoral recipients may not hold or subsequently receive other fellowships, but they may earn up to US$5,000 for work that is directly related to their graduate studies. Pre-doctoral Fellows must pursue full-time graduate work and evidence of satisfactory academic performance is required. These restrictions do not apply to post-doctoral applicants.

The Fellow is selected on the basis of the candidate's potential for pursuing research in and contributing to electrical history. The deadline for receipt of applications each year is 1 February. Applicants will be notified of the results by 1 June.

The IEEE Fellowship in Electrical History is administered by the IEEE History Committee and sponsored by the IEEE Life Members Committee. The applications will be judged by a subcommittee of the IEEE History Committee, which will consist of a mix of electrical engineers and historians.

Past Fellowship winners and their topics

Application Instructions:

We encourage you to submit as much of your application materials to us electronically as e-mail attachments.  This will not only prevent the risk of material becoming lost in the mail, but should also save on mailing and express-mailing costs.

Chair, IEEE Fellowship in Electrical History Committee
IEEE History Center
Rutgers--The State University of New Jersey
39 Union Street
New Brunswick, NJ USA 08901-8538

ieee-history@ieee.org