For 2025–26, TWO Book Development Fellowships will be offered by the Society for the Study of French History in association with Manchester University Press to support early-career researchers preparing their first book for publication.
Fellows will receive a series of individual mentoring sessions from MUP series editors and commissioning editors, with targeted advice on their book proposal and sample chapters. Each fellow will also receive a grant of £1000 to assist with research expenses, paid in two instalments in October and January.
Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be invited to attend an initial panel discussion on publishing a first monograph, with advice and Q&A from editors of the MUP Studies in Early Modern European History and Studies in Modern French and Francophone History.
FELLOWSHIP DETAILS
- Title: SSFH–MUPBook Development Fellowship, 1 October 2025–30 September 2026
- Project scope: Early Modern and Modern French and Francophone History
- Deadline for applications: Friday 21 March 2025. Successful candidates will be notified by 30 June 2025.
- Eligibility: Applicants should be currently or most recently associated with a British or Irish University and should hold a PhD awarded within the last 5 years (career breaks will be taken into consideration). They should also be members of the SSFH. The proposed book should be their first monograph and should not be published or under consideration for publication by another publisher, in English or in any other language, although related material may have been published as articles or edited book chapters. By accepting the fellowship, successful candidates agree to give MUP the right of first refusal on the resulting monograph. Though the fellowship can only be held once, unsuccessful candidates are warmly invited to reapply, provided they still meet the eligibility criteria.
SUBMISSION MATERIALS
Applicants should submit a single PDF that includes:
- A covering letter explaining the applicant’s rationale for applying, detailing any institutional support currently available for their research, confirming their membership of the SSFH, and supplying the names of two academic referees who may be contacted to comment on their application. Candidates must confirm that the proposed monograph has not been previously published in book form, and that they agree to offer MUP the right of first refusal on the project.
- A 2-page CV
- A 1000-word project description outlining the monograph’s major arguments and source materials
- A writing sample of up to 6000 words in English that demonstrates the applicant’s skills as an academic writer. This should not be an unrevised chapter of the thesis on which the proposed book is based, but may be a revised sample chapter of the proposed book, an article, or an essay from an edited volume in manuscript or published form that shows how the theme and arguments of the PhD are being developed for a wider readership.
All materials must be submitted in English. Completed applications should be sent by email to the Secretary of the SSFH (luc-andre.brunet@open.ac.uk) by the deadline of Friday 21 March 2025, and will be assessed by a panel of MUP Editors. Editors will consider applications based on the quality of research and writing and the potential of the project to result in a monograph for MUP, and may prioritize candidates with little or no institutional support for their research. Shortlisted candidates may be named on the SSFH website. Successful candidates will be notified by 30 June 2025.
