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Northwestern University

Fellowships

Looking to fund a research leave? See opportunities below.

Fellowship and provider Fellowship amount and deadline Fellowship description

National Endowment for the Arts

Creative Writing Fellowships

$25,000

Deadline: March

The NEA Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement.

National Science Foundation

Science, Technology, and Society Scholar Awards

Budget not to exceed $180,000

Deadline:  February/August

Scholars Awards provide up to full-time release for an academic year and a summer to conduct research. The Science, Technology, and Society (STS) program supports research that uses historical, philosophical, and social scientific methods to investigate the intellectual, material, and social facets of the scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (STEM) disciplines. It encompasses a broad spectrum of STS topics including interdisciplinary studies of ethics, equity, governance, and policy issues that are closely related to STEM disciplines, including medical science.

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

NEH Fellowship

$60,000 Maximum:  stipend of $5,000/month for 6-12 months

Deadline:  April

Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources in the humanities. Projects may be at any stage of development.

Council for International Exchange for Scholars

Fulbright Scholar Program

Deadline:  August

Teaching and/or research grants to scholars in all fields to spend 2-12 months overseas; must be a U.S. citizen; Ph.D or equivalent required; foreign language proficiency is required in some but not all programs

American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

ACLS Fellowships

Maximum award:
$70,000 for full Professor and equivalent
$45,000 for Associate Professor and equivalent
$35,000 for Assistant Professor and equivalent

Deadline:  September

The ACLS Fellowship program invites research applications in all disciplines of the humanities and related social sciences. The ultimate goal of the project should be a major piece of scholarly work by the applicant. ACLS does not fund creative work (e.g., novels or films), textbooks, straightforward translation, or pedagogical projects.  The ACLS Fellowships are intended as salary replacement to help scholars devote six to twelve continuous months to full-time research and writing.

American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

ACLS Collaborative Research Fellowships

Award amount will depend on the number of collaborators and the duration of the research leaves but will not exceed $200,000 for any one project.

Deadline:  September

The aim of this fellowship program is to offer small teams of two or more scholars the opportunity to collaborate intensively on a single, substantive project. The fellowship supports projects that produce a tangible research product (such as joint print or web publications) for which two or more collaborators will take credit.  The fellowships are for a total period of up to 24 months and provide up to $60,000 in salary replacement for each collaborator as well as up to $20,000 in collaboration funds (which may be used for such purposes as travel, materials, or research assistance).

American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars

Amount: $75,000, plus funds for research costs and related scholarly activities of up to $5,000 and for relocation up to $2,000

Deadline: September

These fellowships support long-term, unusually ambitious projects in the humanities and related social sciences. The ultimate goal of the project should be a major piece of scholarly work by the applicant. ACLS does not fund creative work (e.g., novels or films), textbooks, straightforward translation, or pedagogical projects.

Guggenheim Foundation 

Guggenheim Fellowship

Amount varies

Deadline:  September

Mid-career awards for scholars who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship in any field or exceptional creative ability in the arts; 6-12 months of support available; former Guggenheim Fellows are not eligible to apply for another award.

Harry Ransom Center, UTexas Austin

$3,000/ month for 1-3 month Fellowships or $1,200 Travel Stipend

Deadline: January

For projects that require substantial on-site use of the Harry Ransom Center collections. The fellowships support research in all areas of the humanities, including literature, photography, film, art, the performing arts, music, and cultural history.  One- to three-month fellowships are available for post-doctoral or independent scholars whose projects require extensive work with the Ransom Center's collections.

Travel stipends are available for post-doctoral or independent scholars whose projects require less than one month's work with the Center's collections. Travel stipends may not be combined with other Ransom Center fellowships.

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Summer/Short-Term Research Publication Grants

$6,000 for an 8-week period

Deadline:  November

Summer/Short-Term Research Publication Grants provide support to scholars to prepare research manuscripts for publication and to independent researchers to prepare research for publication. Preference will be given to applicants whose work supports the vision of AAUW: to break through educational and economic barriers so that all women have a fair chance.

Office of Naval Research

Summer Faculty Research Program and Sabbatical Leave Programs

Stipends range from $1,400 to $1,900 per week for the summer program.

Deadline:  September-December

The Summer Faculty Research Program provides science and engineering faculty members from institutions of higher education the opportunity to participate in research of mutual interest to the faculty member and peers at U.S. Navy Laboratories for a 10-week period. 

The Sabbatical Leave Program provides fellowship appointments to science and engineering faculty members from institutions of higher education to participate in research of mutual interest to the faculty member and peers at U.S. Navy Laboratories for a minimum of one semester to a maximum of one year.  Participants in the Sabbatical Leave Program receive a monthly stipend making up the difference between salary and sabbatical leave pay from their home institution.  Relocation and travel assistance are provided to qualifying participants.

National Humanities Center

Fellowships are individually determined, according to the needs of the Fellow and the Center’s ability to meet them. The Center typically seeks to provide at least half salary and also covers travel expenses to and from North Carolina for Fellows and dependents.

Deadline:  October

The National Humanities Center offers 40 residential fellowships for advanced study in the humanities for the period September through May. Applicants must have doctorate or equivalent scholarly credentials. Young scholars as well as senior scholars are encouraged to apply, but they must have a record of publication, and new PhDs should be aware that the Center does not normally support the revision of a doctoral dissertation.

Russell Sage Foundation

Visiting Scholars Program

Scholars are provided with an office at the Foundation, research assistance, computer and library facilities, and supplemental salary support of up to 50 percent of their academic year salary when unavailable from other sources (up to a maximum of $110,000). Scholars who reside outside the greater New York City area are also provided with a partially-subsidized apartment near the Foundation offices.

Deadline:  June

The Russell Sage Foundation's Visiting Scholars Program provides a unique opportunity for select scholars in the social, economic and behavioral sciences to pursue their research and writing while in residence at the Foundation’s New York headquarters.  The Foundation annually awards up to 17 residential fellowships to select scholars in the social sciences who are at least several years beyond the Ph.D. Visiting Scholar positions begin September 1st and ordinarily run through June 30th. Because this is a residential fellowship that requires significant Foundation resources, scholars are expected to be in residence at the Foundation throughout the scholar year.

Newberry Fellowships

Long-Term Fellowships:  $4,200/month.  Short-Term Fellowships: $2,500/month.

Deadline:  November/December

Newberry fellowships provide support for researchers who wish to use our collection. We promise you intriguing and often rare materials; a lively, interdisciplinary community of researchers; individual consultations on your research with staff curators, librarians, and other scholars; and an array of both scholarly and public programs. The Newberry administers annual competitions for both Long-Term Fellowships of 4 to 12 months and Short-Term Fellowships of 1 to 2 months.

Simons Foundation Fellowships

Deadline: September

The Simons Foundation Division for Mathematics and the Physical Sciences invites applications for the Simons Fellows Programs in both Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. The Fellows Programs provide funds to faculty for up to a semester long research leave from classroom teaching and administrative obligations. Such leaves can increase creativity and provide intellectual stimulation. The goal of the Simons Fellows Program is to make it easier to take such leaves, or to extend sabbatical leaves by an extra half year.

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

Stipends are funded up to $75,000 for one year with additional funds for project expenses. Some support for relocation expenses is provided where relevant. 

As a fellow, you will focus on your individual project while benefiting from a dynamic, multidisciplinary community at Harvard University. Only 3 percent of applicants are selected each year. Fellows—women and men—are at the forefront of the arts, journalism, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

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