Organiser: Royal Air Force Museum
Place and Date: Virtual, or onsite at the Royal Air Force Museum’s Midlands site. Dates and location TBC upon selection of applications.
Application deadline: 22 January 2027.
Submission Type: Abstract, plus a biography and talk title.
Form of Submission: Maximum 300 words in English. Biographies should be no more than 200 words.

Applications to be sent to: ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org

The RAF Museum seeks proposals from postgraduate students, early-career and established researchers for our 2027-28 Research Lecture Programme. Lectures will be hosted online and the RAF Museum’s Midlands site, and will share new research being undertaken in the fields of Air Power, aviation history and histories of air forces. The lectures enable those interested in these fields of study to share their knowledge, and to highlight the interdisciplinary approaches and research methods being utilised.

The RAF Museum’s 2026 Research Programme will examine the complex ways in which air forces have evolved and transformed since the late twentieth century, and what the future of Air Power may look like. The conference will be interdisciplinary and will host scholars working on topics that relate to air forces, their personnel and technologies, the economies and societies with which they interact, the conflicts in which they have engaged, and the global and international context with which they are connected. Moreover, the conference will explore the legacies of modern Air Power through the lens of the media produced to tell its story, both contemporary to the time period and as part of commemorative works.

The research presented will provide new evidence and insights on the development of air forces, speaking to the changes and continuity experienced since 1980. The research presented will complement RAF Museum’s new exhibition on the recent development of British Air Power.

As part of the Museum’s ongoing commitment to encourage debate regarding Air Power and the history of the RAF, we also host research panels involving a series of shorter-talks followed by an open discussion.

If you are interested in delivering a lecture, or proposing a discussion panel, please send a lecture title, abstract and biography to the Museum’s Historian and Academic Access Manager Dr Megan Wang (ResearchNews@rafmuseum.org) by Friday 22 January 2027.

If you would like to informally discuss the opportunity of presenting a lecture, then you are warmly encouraged to contact the Museum’s Historian and Academic Access Manager.