Fellowships and internships at MCI span a wide variety of academic disciplines. Whether the visitor is a fellow in materials science or conservation, or an intern in conservation, there is a common thread --that the experience benefits the students' understanding of artifact characterization or preservation.
The Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute offers fellowship and internship opportunities involving a variety of artifact analysis, preservation, and conservation treatment specialties. MCI's commitment is to enhance the experience of the fellow or intern, providing specialized technical and scientific training. Such training contributes significantly to the qualifications of the students in their subsequent professional employment.
The fellowship and internship program has been very successful, but even more can be achieved using the interdisciplinary nature of the MCI environment. Accordingly, fellowships and internships have been restructured so that the fellow or intern will be insured of a wider range of experience at the laboratory rather than sole concentration within a sub-disciplinary area.
Externally Funded Fellowships and Internships
MCI receives regular requests for study opportunities from scholars and students, nationally as well as world-wide, with funding from other sources. Such requests are evaluated on the basis of the intrinsic merit of the proposal as well as concurrence with MCI programs and priorities.
Funding sources have included the Fulbright Fellowship program, Organization of American States, various foreign governmental organizations, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Smithsonian Trust funds, and private funding.