The James Marston Fitch Charitable Trust will award research grants to mid-career professionals who have an academic background, professional experience, and an established identity in one or more of the following fields: historic preservation, architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, environmental planning, architectural history, the decorative arts. The Foundation will consider proposals for the research and /or execution of the preservation-related projects in any of these fields. The grants are not visualized as prizes for past accomplishments, but rather to support innovative original research and creative design. The grants are intended to promote the practice of historic preservation; the project must demonstrate usefulness to practitioners and the results must be in publishable form.
The Foundation will award grants for research and projects which will pursue issues and problems concerned with the United States. The Foundation endeavors to establish new links between the academic and professional contingents in the field of historic preservation and to strengthen the connections between theory and practice in conservation technology. Thus, special attention will be paid to projects which have an educational potential - to projects, that is, which in their execution will involve students and beginning professionals in interdisciplinary work experience while enriching the knowledge of more advanced professionals and their colleagues.
Grants are awarded only to individuals (not organizations). Applicants must be mid-career professionals with at least 10 years experience in historic preservation or related fields, including architecture, landscape architecture, architectural conservation, urban design, environmental planning, archaeology, architectural history, and the decorative arts.
Qualification
Applicants are required to submit four (4) copies of the following:
Brief description of project including work product, not to exceed three (3) pages.
Applicants are encouraged to be succinct.
Detailed chedule of work and budget showing the amount requested and how the grant money will be spent.
Curriculum Vita, including professional and academic background and past and present grants receive.
Two (2) letters of support for the project to be included with the application.
Please note that materials submitted for review with proposals will not be returned. To verify receipt, please send a stamped, self-addressed postcard.
The next application deadline is in September 15, 2006.
Applications are reviewed by the Trustees. The criteria for selection are:
A demonstrated need for the proposed study and evidence of its value to advance the practice of historic preservation in the United States.
Background, qualifications and professional experience of the applicant, who must be a mid-career professional with at least 10 years experience in historic preservation or related fields, including architecture, landscape architecture, architectural conservation, urban design, environmental planning, archaeology, architectural history, and the decorative arts.
Feasibility of the proposed research, work product, schedule and budget.
Complete submittal of all of the requirements
Award and Completion
Recipients will be notified by mail in the following Spring. Awarding of the grant is at the discretion of the foundation. The award is divided into equal payments, the first being presented upon award of the grant. Projects are required to be completed within twelve (12) months of the grant award, except where an extension is approved by the Trustees. Substantial written progress reports are required for the 2nd and the 3rd payments. The final payment is awarded only after completion of the project.
The final project shall consist of one (1) complete original and two (2) complete copies. The Foundation shall be acknowledged in all publications. The Trustees encourage publication and reserve the right to publish the results if the recipient does not. The grant recipient must sign a release to the Foundation permitting such publication. Proper credit will be given to the grant recipient.
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Mid-Career Grant Program 
