Dear colleagues,
The application deadline for our research grant (US$1,000) has been 
extended to 7 May 2013.

Deadline: May 7, 2013.

The Mercurians, a Special Interest Group of the Society for the 
History of Technology (SHOT), is offering its unique Pam Laird 
Research Grant: US$1,000 to defray the cost of travel and housing to 
use a research collection.

The Mercurians began meeting in 1986 for the purpose of generating 
networks between people who share work and interests in the history 
of communication technologies, defining the field broadly. Our 
activities include publishing a semi-annual newsletter, Antenna, 
meeting during annual SHOT conferences, organizing paper sessions for 
SHOT meetings, and pursuing contacts between meetings via our Google 
Groups list. The newsletter serves both as a clearing house for 
readers and an informal forum for their ideas. New members are always welcome.

We added this new initiative to encourage and reward high-caliber 
research in the history of communication technologies. One of the 
Mercurians' missions is to encourage scholarship in the history of 
communication technologies. There is no travel grant program (either 
within or outside SHOT) that we are aware of dedicated to supporting 
scholarship on the history of communication technologies. While the 
history of communication technology literature is vast and always 
growing, the quality of the research effort or resulting publication 
too often falls short of scholarly expectations.

In general, the research grant is awarded in alternating years.  We 
awarded two such grants during the 2011 SHOT meeting in 
Cleveland.  The next grant (or grants) will be announced during the 
2013 SHOT meeting in Portland, Maine.

Eligibility
The grant is intended for and limited to junior scholars, meaning 
either current graduate students or recent postgraduates (no more 
than three years beyond the terminal degree in their field).

Requirements and Application
Only travel to an appropriate archival collection to carry out 
research on an aspect of the history of communication technology, 
broadly defined, will be supported. The archive can be open to the 
public, private, or even closed, provided that necessary permissions 
have been obtained from the archive.

Complete the application form (available at: 
http://www.mercurians.org/grant-form.doc) and e-mail it and a 
curriculum vitae (no longer than 3 pages) as attachments to the 
Mercurians c/o [log in to unmask]
Your curriculum vitae should include pertinent publications, 
fellowships, or accomplishments relevant to your proposed research, 
and professional societies and affiliations.

The deadline for submitting applications is May 1, 2013.

For further information or questions, please contact Andrew Butrica 
at [log in to unmask] or visit our website:
http://www.mercurians.org/Prize-Grant.htm

Andrew J. Butrica
MERCURIANS
ANTENNA Newsletter
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www.mercurians.org