EXTERNAL FUNDING FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS: HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Note: This is not a comprehensive list of opportunities. Deadlines and program availability vary.

Open to All, Including International Students

Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships

The Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships are designed to encourage original and significant study of ethical or religious values in all fields of the humanities and social sciences, and particularly to help PhD candidates in these fields complete their dissertation work in a timely manner. In addition to topics in religious studies or in ethics (philosophical or religious), dissertations appropriate to the Newcombe fellowship competition might explore the ethical implications of foreign policy, the values influencing political decisions, the moral codes of other cultures, and religious or ethical issues reflected in history or literature. 

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: November

Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Scholarships

The United States Institute of Peace's (USIP) Peace Scholar Fellowship program awards non-residential fellowships to PhD candidates enrolled in U.S. universities who are writing doctoral dissertations on topics broadly related to conflict management, peacebuilding and relevant security studies. Since 1988, the program has supported the dissertations of 371 young scholars, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in research, higher education, and policy making. Applications from members of groups traditionally under-represented in the field of international relations, peace and conflict studies and other related academic disciplines, as well as diplomacy and international policy-making, are strongly encouraged.

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: December

Getty Pre- and Postdoctoral Fellowships

These awards support emerging scholars who work on projects related to the Getty Research Institute or Getty Villa's annual research theme, the African American Art History Initiative (AAAHI), or Paul Revere Williams (PRW) Research Project. Award recipients may be in residence at the Getty Research Institute or Getty Villa, where they complete their dissertations, expand it for publication, or pursue other research projects. 

  • Category: Dissertation, Postdoctoral
  • Deadline: Early October (predoctoral), early November (postdoctoral)

Harry Frank Guggenheim Emerging Scholar Awards

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Emerging Scholar Awards (formerly the Harry Frank Guggenheim Dissertation Fellowships) recognize promising graduate-student researchers in their final year of writing a doctoral dissertation examining a salient aspect of violence. The Foundation welcomes proposals from any of the natural and social sciences or allied disciplines that promise to increase understanding of the causes, manifestations, and control of violence and aggression. Highest priority is given to research that addresses urgent, present-day problems of violence—what produces it, how it operates, and what prevents or reduces it. The Foundation supports research that investigates the basic mechanisms in the production of violence, but primacy is given to proposals that make a compelling case for the relevance of potential findings for policies intended to reduce these ills. Likewise, historical research is considered to the extent that it is relevant to a current situation of violence. Examinations of the effects of violence are welcome insofar as a strong case is made that these outcomes serve, in turn, as causes of future violence. 

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: Early February

National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship

The NIJ Ph.D. Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program provides awards for research on crime, violence, and other criminal justice-related topics to accredited universities that support graduate study leading to research-based doctoral degrees. NIJ invests in doctoral education by supporting universities that sponsor students who demonstrate the potential to successfully complete doctoral degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of NIJ. Applicants sponsoring doctoral students in policy and health sciences or in an education field are eligible to apply only if the doctoral research dissertation is in an NIJ-supported discipline (i.e., social and behavioral sciences, operations technology, information and sensors research and development, and investigative and forensic sciences).

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: December

NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship

The Dissertation Fellowship Program seeks to encourage a new generation of scholars from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields to undertake research relevant to the improvement of education. These $27,500 fellowships support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the history, theory, analysis, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world.

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: October

School for Advanced Research Weatherhead Fellowship

Two nine-month residential fellowships are available for scholars working in the humanities or social sciences. Scholars with doctorates who plan to write their books and PhD candidates who plan to write their dissertations are eligible. Fellows receive a stipend ($40,000 for doctoral level scholars and $30,000 for PhD candidates) in addition to housing and office space on the SAR campus. This fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the Weatherhead Foundation.

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: November

Josephine de Karman Fellowship

The Josephine De Karman Fellowship Trust was established in 1954 by the late Dr. Theodore Von Karman, world renowned aeronautics expert and teacher and first director of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, in memory of his sister, Josephine, who passed away in 1951. The purpose of this Fellowship program is to recognize and assist students whose scholastic achievements reflect Professor Von Karman’s high standards.

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: January

   

Awards for International and Underrepresented Students

American Association of University Women (AAUW) International Fellowship

The program provides support for women pursuing full-time graduate or postdoctoral study in the United States to women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who intend to return to their home country to pursue a professional career. A limited number of awards are available for study outside of the U.S. (excluding the applicant’s home country) to women who are members of Graduate Women International (see the list of GWI affiliates). Both graduate and postgraduate studies at accredited U.S. institutions are supported.

  • Category: Multiyear
  • Deadline: November

American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Fellowship

AAUW American Fellowships support women scholars who are pursuing full-time study to complete dissertations, conducting postdoctoral research full time, or preparing research for publication for eight consecutive weeks. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Candidates are evaluated on the basis of scholarly excellence; quality and originality of project design; and active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research.

  • Category: Dissertation Completion
  • Deadline: November

  

Awards for Domestic Students

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship

This competition year the program will award approximately 36 dissertation fellowships. The dissertation fellowships provide one year of support for individuals working to complete a dissertation leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor of Science (ScD) degree. The Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship is intended to support the final year of writing and defense of the dissertation.

  • Category: Dissertation
  • Deadline: November

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. The NSF welcomes applications from all qualified students and strongly encourages under-represented populations, including women, under-represented racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, to apply for this fellowship.

  • Category: Multiyear
  • Deadline: October

Fulbright U.S. Student Program

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program expands perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue. Fulbright creates connections in a complex and changing world. In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from all backgrounds. Program participants pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. 

  • Category: Academic Year, Study Abroad
  • Campus Deadline: August

Boren Fellowship

Boren Fellows study a wide range of critical languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, and Swahili. Boren Awards are available to students of all proficiency levels who are committed to enhancing their skills by immersing themselves in the cultures in world regions underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. 

  • Category: Academic Year, Study Abroad
  • Deadline: January

Critical Language Scholarship

Each summer, American undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities across the country, spend eight to ten weeks learning one of fourteen languages at an intensive study abroad institute. The CLS Program is designed to promote rapid language gains and essential intercultural fluency in regions that are critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity.

  • Category: Language Training, Study Abroad
  • Deadline: November

Presidential Management Fellowship

The PMF Program is the Federal Government's flagship leadership development program for advanced degree holders across all academic disciplines. It was established 45 years ago by Executive Order and has gone through changes over the years, but the essential mission remains the same: to recruit and develop a cadre of future government leaders from all segments of society. Eligible individuals apply to be selected as Finalists. Finalists then have 12 months to secure an appointment as a Fellow, which is a two-year, full-time, paid fellowship at a Federal agency. The PMF Program creates a lasting bond among Fellows and Alumni. It also instills a spirit of public service, which, for Fellows who complete the program successfully, can ultimately encourage and lead to a career in government. 

  • Category: Fellowship
  • Deadline: Varies

    

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