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The Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) is an international academic organisation dedicated to the study of manuscripts from the vast Persianate world. This includes Greater Iran, and all regions historically engaged in the Persian language and culture.

The PMA is a welcoming institution supporting interdisciplinary research and discourse in Persian studies across all relevant fields, including but not limited to history, literature, music, art, architecture, archaeology, codicology, paleography, philosophy, and the sciences.

We facilitate researchers’ access to crucial resources held in Iran and globally. We also organise biannual conferences and regular talks (delivered in English and Persian), and publish scholarly articles via our peer-reviewed journal, Shamsa, as well as monographs and conference proceedings through the PMA Press.

We are particularly committed to the support of graduate students and early-career scholars in the field, particularly by awarding research grants and publication prizes.

The PMA is and will remain a non-profit, non-political, and non-governmental organisation.

Why Join us?

The PMA enthusiastically welcomes new members and offers membership to individuals from all backgrounds. 
Members are entitled to:

  •  submit an abstract and register for our biannual conferences
  • submit and publish in our journal Shamsa
  • apply for PMA grants and awards 
  • access to the PMA Archive
  • support accessing materials housed in Iran
  • be invited to PMA talks and events

All membership applications are reviewed and approved by the PMA directorial board.


Lifetime Membership: £500
Regular Membership: £60 per year
Student Membership: £30 per year

Free Membership: we consider upon request a one-year free membership for applicants based in Iran and other ‘soft-currency’ countries who are unable to pay the above fees due to economic sanctions.

Support Us

The Persian Manuscripts Association runs on the force of our volunteer-based team, but we rely on your crucial contributions to sustain our programmes, allowing us to enact our mission of supporting Iranian studies and promoting the Persian language. 

We gratefully acknowledge our donors in the PMA Journal, Shamsa.

As we are a non-profit organisation, your donation is tax deductible as allowed by law.