Funding opportunities in the Humanities and Social Sciences

A general note:
Deadlines are subject to change.  Although we check these opportunities periodically for updates, faculty should check the funding organization’s website to verify the most current program information.

African American Studies and Research Program: Offers fellowships to assist scholars who study Africa and its Diaspora. Deadline: Jan. 16.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Visiting Scholars Program: Offers fellowships to postdoctoral students and untenured junior faculty to support research in the fields of science and global security, social policy and American institutions, humanities and culture, as well as education. Deadline: Oct. 15.

The American Antiquarian Society: Awards long- and short-term fellowships to scholars for resident research in all fields of American history and culture. Deadlines vary, depending on specific program.

American Association of University Women: Provides fellowships for scholars in the arts and humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and business. Deadline: Nov. 15.

The American Council of Learned Societies: Offers several fellowships, which help scholars devote six to 12 continuous months to full-time research and writing. Available to assistant, associate, and full professors with the Ph.D. 

• ACLS Fellowships: Supports research applications in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences. Deadline: Oct. 3.
• Digital Innovation Fellowships: This program supports digitally-based research projects in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences. Deadline: Oct. 3. 
• Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars: These fellowships support long-term projects in the humanities and related social sciences and are intended to support an academic year (normally nine months) of residence at any one of the national residential research centers participating in the program. Deadline: Oct. 3.
• Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowships: Provides research support for advanced assistant professors and untenured associate professors in the humanities and related social sciences.  Deadline: Oct. 3.  

American Historical Association: Offers the J. Franklin Jameson Fellowship in American History to scholars in the early stages of their career who need to spend two to three months at the Library of Congress conducting historical research. Deadline: March 15.

American Philosophical Society: Awards research grants to scholars from a variety of academic disciplines.

• Sabbatical Fellowship Program: Offers sabbatical support for faculty in the humanities and social sciences. Deadline: Oct. 15.
• Franklin Research Grants Program:  Provides grants to support research-related expenses to scholars in all academic disciplines.  Deadlines: Oct. 1 and Dec. 1.             

American Psychological Association Science Policy Fellowship Program: Provides psychologists with an opportunity to work with federal research administration and policy, as well as “to contribute to more effective use of psychological knowledge within federal research funding agencies.” Deadline: Jan. 7.

American Sociological Association Congressional Fellowship: Provides support for research focusing upon sociological data and concepts as they relate to policy issues. The applicant will work in a congressional office or agency in Washington D.C. to get firsthand experience with policy-making. Deadline: Feb. 1.

The Bibliographical Society of America Short-term Fellowship Program: Supports bibliographical inquiry, as well as research in the history of the book trades and publishing history. Deadline: Dec. 1.

The John Carter Brown Library: Provides research fellowships in history and the humanities at Brown University. Research must focus on the colonial history of the Americas, including all aspects of European, African, and Native American involvement. Deadline: Jan. 10.

Center for Hellenic Studies: Provides fellowships for junior faculty to conduct research on ancient Greek civilization. Deadline: Oct. 15.

The Center for International Security and Cooperation: Offers fellowship opportunities to postdoctoral scholars and professionals to work on research within a broad range of topics related to peace and international security. Deadline: Feb. 1.

The Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Harvard University: Provides fellowships for scholarly work/research relating to the Italian Renaissance. Deadlines Vary.

Contemplative Practices: Formerly administered by ACLS, the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society now funds the "development of college courses that employ contemplative practices to address issues of injustice and the promotion of peace." Deadline: Nov. 15.

The David Library of the American Revolution: Offers research fellowships for the study of America in the last half of the eighteenth century using the collections assembled at the David Library. Deadline: March 7.

Department of Justice/National Institute of Justice W.E.B. Dubois Fellowship: Supports research about the prevalence of and policies towards crime, violence, and justice in diverse societies and cultures. Deadline: May 15.

Dumbarton Oaks: Offers fellowships for research in Byzantine studies, Pre-Columbian studies, and landscape architecture. Deadline: Nov. 1.

Earhart Foundation: Offers fellowships in disciplines from the social sciences and humanities, such as economics, philosophy, international affairs, and government. Deadlines: Continuous.

Fellowships to Social Entrepreneurs - Echoing Green: Supports projects in all public service areas including, but not limited to the environment, health, youth service and development, civil and human rights, and community and economic development. Deadline: Dec. 3.

Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships: Provides support for one year of postdoctoral study or sabbatical support for scholars who “have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.”  Deadline: Nov. 29.

The Gerald R. Ford Foundation: Supports research travel grants for visits to the Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Deadlines: March 15 and Sept 15.

J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Foundation: Provides fellowship support for projects in the arts, humanities and social sciences.  Deadline: November 1.

John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship Program: Offers fellowships to assist research and artistic creation for advanced professionals in all fields (natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, creative arts) except the performing arts. Deadline: Sept. 15.

The Hagley Museum and Library Foundation: Offers short- to medium-term research fellowships to support visits to Hagley for scholarly research in the imprint, manuscript, pictorial, and artifact collections. Deadlines: March 31, June 30 and Oct. 31.

Hodder Fellowship: Provides teaching and research fellowships for junior scholars in the humanities; the fellowship supports a year-long residence in Princeton. Deadline: Nov. 1.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens: Offers a wide variety of fellowships for scholars to be in residence at the Huntington, which is an independent research center with holdings in British and American history, literature, art history, the history of science, and medicine. Deadline: Dec. 15.

The George A. and Eliza Howard Foundation: Offers fellowships in liberal and fine arts. Topics change yearly. Deadline: November 15.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation: Offers residential fellowships at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. Deadlines: April 1 and Nov. 1.

The Louisville Institute: Offers several grant programs that support the study of American religion.  Deadlines vary.

Maryland Higher Education Commission: Provides grants supporting higher education programs in Maryland.  Deadlines vary. 

Maryland Humanities Council: Funds grant programs in support of the humanities in Maryland. Deadlines: Major Grant Deadlines (for projects beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2008)
Draft Proposals Due: Sept. 4
Final Grant Proposals Due: Oct. 12.

Maryland State Arts Council: Offers Individual Artist Awards in different categories each year. Deadlines vary.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: 

• Chester Dale Fellowships: Offers awards covering three months to one year for research at the Metropolitan Museum. Applicants should be American citizens under the age of forty in a field of study related to the fine arts of the western world. Deadline: Nov. 2. 
• Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships: Provides fellowships for a maximum of one year, most of which should be spent at the Metropolitan Museum. However, senior scholars can apply for as short a term as one month. Deadline: Nov. 2.

National Council for Eurasian and East European Research: Funds projects that promote understanding of current developments and future prospects in the post-communist countries of Europe and Eurasia. Deadlines Vary.

National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships: Offers Creative Writing and Translation Literature Fellowships as well as NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships, and NEA National Heritage Fellowships in the Folk & Traditional Arts. Deadlines Vary.

National Endowment for the Humanities: Offers various fellowships and grants providing support to scholars and organizations for research and programs related to the humanities. Deadlines Vary. Note: Applications for NEH Fellowship and Faculty research awards are accepted between March 1 and May 1 each year.

National Gallery of Art Fellowships:

• Senior Fellowship Programs: Provides fellowships to scholars who have held the Ph.D. for five years or more or who possess an equivalent record of professional accomplishment at the time of application. Deadline: Oct. 1.
• Visiting Senior Fellowship Program: Offers awards for research in the history, theory, and criticism of the visual arts of any geographical area and of any period. Deadline varies, depending on award period.

National Humanities Center Fellowship Program: Provides residential fellowships to scholars from all fields of the humanities, as well as individuals from the natural and social sciences, the arts, the professions, and public life who are engaged in humanistic projects. The Center is located near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Deadline: Oct. 15.  

The Newberry Library: Offers short-term and long-term fellowships to researchers who wish to use the library's collections. Deadline varies, depending on the program.

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study: Provides fellowships to support scholars, scientists, artists, and writers who wish to pursue work in academic and professional fields and in the creative arts. Deadline varies.

Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Fellowships – Princeton University: Provides residential fellowships for scholars who are interested in devoting a year to writing about ethics and human values. Deadline: Nov. 1.

Social Science Research Council: Provides fellowships to scholars in the social sciences, as well as individuals from the humanities, the natural sciences. Deadlines vary.

Smithsonian Institution Fellowships: Provides scholars with opportunities to pursue independent research projects in collaboration with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff. Deadline: Jan. 15.  

Soros Justice Media Fellowship: Supports mid-career and veteran print and radio journalists, filmmakers and individuals for an advanced and in-depth media project about issues at the core of the U.S. Justice Fund’s criminal justice priorities. Fellowships, which are one year in duration, support print and radio journalism, film and video post-production and dissemination, and book projects. Deadline: Sept. 13.

Spencer Foundation: Provides grants for research related to education in the United States or abroad.  Deadlines: Continuous.

• National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship: This program supports early career scholars working in critical areas of education research. This nonresidential postdoctoral fellowship funds proposals that make significant scholarly contributions to the field of education. Deadline: Nov. 9.

Stanford Humanities Center Fellowship Program: Provides residential fellowships for scholars in the humanities.  Deadline: Oct. 15. 

Tanner Resident Fellowships – University of Utah: Offers fellowships to encourage, support, and disseminate important humanistic research. Fellows spend one year or one semester during the academic year conducting research at the Tanner Humanities Center. Deadline: Dec. 1.

The John Templeton Foundation: Funds research in the natural sciences, human sciences, philosophy, theology, free enterprise, gifted education, and world religions. Deadlines vary.

The UCLA Center for 17th and 18th-Century Studies and the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: Supports postdoctoral, predoctoral, and undergraduate research in areas of interest to the Center and the Clark Library. Deadline: Feb. 1.

The United States Institute of Peace Senior Fellowship: Supports outstanding scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other professionals from around the world in conducting research at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Deadline: Sept. 17.

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Resident Fellows Program: Provides time, space, and resources to scholars applying the tools of history, philosophy, ethics, cultural studies, and literary criticism to matters of public concern. Deadline: Oct. 15.

The Lewis Walpole Library of the Yale University Library:  Supports visiting fellowships for advanced research in most aspects of British eighteenth-century studies. Deadline: Jan. 18.

The White House Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians: Provides support for research projects focusing on the roles of the White House as home, workplace, museum, structure, and symbol. Deadline: Dec. 1.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: Supports fellowships for research in the social sciences and humanities related to international issues and public policy.  Deadline: Oct. 1.

Writing and Artist Residencies