HOTCUS welcomes applications from doctoral students and recent PhD graduates not yet in academic employment, as well as those on short-term (less than three years), fractional, or hourly paid contracts for its 2022 Travel Award competition.

HOTCUS Travel Awards support research in any area of twentieth century United States history. Applications may be made for up to £500 for research travel and/or research expenses more generally during the 2022 calendar year. There are no residency restrictions and travel may be to, or within, any country. Given the current pandemic-related uncertainty surrounding research travel, if you plan to apply for research travel expenses we strongly recommend that you provide an alternative plan for spending the research funding as well. 

A survey conducted by HOTCUS, BrANCH, and BGEAH has brought a significant pattern of exclusion within the field of American history in the UK to light (the survey report is accessible via https://hotcus.org.uk/diversity-and-inclusion/american-history-in-the-uk-survey/). In response to the existing challenges which scholars from ethnic minority background face in our community, HOTCUS has taken the decision to award one of this year’s travel awards to a scholar from an ethnic minority background.

Applicants must be members of HOTCUS at the time of application.

By applying for a HOTCUS Travel Award, all applicants agree that, if successful, they will undertake to present their research findings via a paper at the HOTCUS Annual Conference within two years of their research activity, and will submit a short report within two months of the trip for publication on the HOTCUS website.

All applications must be submitted on the application form included below (also available via the HOTCUS website, as are some examples of previous successful proposals).

The deadline for applications is Friday March 18, 2022.

Applications should be submitted to hotcuscommittee@gmail.com.  Please direct queries to the HOTCUS Membership Secretary Dr David Ballantyne(d.t.ballantyne@keele.ac.uk). 

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the competition in April 2022.  Applications will be assessed using the following criteria: accuracy and clarity of costings; feasibility of research proposal and schedule; potential contribution of the proposed research to the field of twentieth century American history.