About

The Getty Foundation is seeking applications for its Scholars Program at the Villa which contribute to the understanding and preservation of cultural heritage through advanced research on the arts and cultures of antiquity.

While in residence, Scholars spend significant time at one of the world’s leading art collections, engaging with an international community of curators, conservators, and visiting colleagues committed to intellectual exploration and exchange. Villa Scholars work at the Getty Villa near Malibu, the site of the Getty Museum’s collection of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art, the antiquities conservation labs, and a reference library dedicated to the ancient Mediterranean world.

Categories 

• The three main grant categories are:

  • Scholar Grants for established researchers and professionals who have held PhDs for at least 5 years and/or possess strong records of publication and professional activity at the Getty Center or Getty Villa

  • Postdoctoral Fellowships for recently granted PhDs at the Getty Center or Getty Villa

  • Predoctoral Fellowships for PhD candidates at the Getty Center

Theme

• The Classical World in Context: Religious Experience in Antiquity

  • A multitude of religions flourished in the Mediterranean and beyond from the second millennium BCE through the Late Roman era. Addressing the diversity of faiths and rituals, scholars will consider the consequences of contact between the Greek and Roman worlds and neighboring civilizations of the Near East, Africa, and transalpine Europe. The intersection of religions entailed continuity and coexistence as well as intolerance and conflict. Conquest, commerce, migration, and the foundation of “international” sanctuaries facilitated new forms of worship. These interactions, which both reflected and shaped religious experience, were widely manifested in art and material culture. Engaging systems of belief that range from state-sponsored religion and local cults to private devotion, researchers will investigate how communities reconciled the spiritually charged and socially fluid landscapes around them.

  • The Getty Scholars Program at the Villa focuses on the Classical World in Context, a multi-year initiative to explore the interconnectivity between the ancient Mediterranean region and the cultures of Africa and Eurasia. Priority will be given to research projects that apply interdisciplinary, comparative, transregional, and diachronic approaches to art, material culture, literature, and other sources for the study of antiquity.

  • Intended to support scholars and individuals who have attained distinction in their fields, grant recipients pursue their own projects free from other obligations, make use of the Getty collections, and join colleagues in weekly lectures devoted to the annual research theme. A mix of established and emerging scholars as well as post-doctoral fellows are selected for the Scholars Program cohort. 

Funding Information 

• Getty Villa Scholars may be in residence from three to six months:

  • Three-month residency: September–December, January–March, or April–June: $21,500

  • Six-month residency: September–March, or January–June: $43,000

• Residential grants also include an office at the Getty Villa, an apartment in the Getty scholar housing complex, a travel stipend, and an available healthcare option. These terms apply as of June 2023 and the terms and length of grants are subject to change. Health and safety guidelines for grantees may also be imposed.

Eligibility

• Applications are welcome from researchers of all nationalities who are working in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.

• Applicants who received their degree after September 1, 2021 should apply for a postdoctoral fellowship. Postdoctoral fellowships will not be offered at the Getty Villa in 2025-26, but may be offered for other themes at the Getty Research Institute.

• Current Getty staff and members of their immediate family are not eligible for Scholar Grants. Recent recipients who have received a Getty Scholar award within the past six years may be removed from consideration.

August 09, 2024