Dissertation completion fellowships and grants are a particular category of humanities funding for students in their final year of dissertation work, post-candidacy. The goal of these funding opportunities is to give students significant time to write their dissertations, thereby increasing the impact and quality of the dissertation.
January
Emory University Johnson Institute Dissertation Fellowship
The Visiting Fellows Program provides two completion fellowships for Ph.D. candidates in their final year of graduate school
Friends of the APS Predoctoral Fellowship in Early American History (to 1840)
The American Philosophical Society Library & Museum in Philadelphia seeks applicants for a one-year, residential fellowship for graduate students working on topics in early American History (to 1840). The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation.
John C. Slater Predoctoral Fellowship in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The APS Library & Museum seeks applicants for a one-year, residential fellowship for graduate students specializing in the history of science. The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation. This fellowship is offered to advanced Ph.D. students working on topics related to the history of science, technology, and medicine.
University of Minnesota Charles Babbage Institute Adelle and Erwin Tomash Fellowship in the History of Information Technology
Each year the Adelle and Erwin Tomash Graduate Fellowship is awarded to and provides a $14,000 stipend to a standout graduate student for doctoral dissertation research in the History of Computing, Information, and Culture. The Fellowship is available to students who have completed all requirements for their doctoral degree except the research and writing of the dissertation.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program
The Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant program helps eligible doctoral students complete dissertations on housing and urban development issues. The Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant program is intended to stimulate policy-relevant urban research in several ways: by encouraging doctoral candidates to pursue research topics in community, housing, and urban development; by assisting doctoral candidates in the timely completion of the dissertation research; and by providing an arena for new scholars to share their research findings.
Council for European Studies Mellon-CES Dissertation Completion Fellowships
Each fellowship includes a $27,500 stipend, paid in six (6) bi-monthly installments over the course of the fellowship year, as well as assistance in securing reimbursements or waivers in eligible health insurance and candidacy fees. Mellon-CES Dissertation Completion Fellowships are intended to facilitate the timely completion of the doctoral degree by late-stage graduate students in the humanities.
American Musicology Society Alvin H. Johnson Dissertation Fellowship
The Society makes available three funded dissertation-year fellowships each year. Any student registered in good standing for a doctorate at a North American* university who has completed all formal degree requirements except the dissertation at the time of full application is eligible to apply. The fellowships are not intended for support of the early stages of research: it is expected that a Fellow’s dissertation will be completed within the fellowship year.
Friends of the APS Predoctoral Fellowship in Early American History (to 1840)
The American Philosophical Society Library & Museum in Philadelphia seeks applicants for a one-year, residential fellowship for graduate students working on topics in early American History (to 1840). The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation.
John C. Slater Predoctoral Fellowship in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The APS Library & Museum seeks applicants for a one-year, residential fellowship for graduate students specializing in the history of science. The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation. This fellowship is offered to advanced Ph.D. students working on topics related to the history of science, technology, and medicine.
Schlesinger Library Dissertation Research Fellowship
The Schlesinger Library invites predoctoral scholars whose dissertation research requires use of the library’s collections to apply for research support. Grants of up to $3,000 will be given on a competitive basis. Applicants must have advanced to candidacy in a doctoral program in a relevant field and have an approved dissertation topic. Priority will be given to those whose projects require use of materials available only at the Schlesinger Library. The awards may be used to cover travel and living expenses, photocopies or other reproductions, and other incidental research expenses, but not for the purchase of equipment or travel to other sites for research.
Winterthur Dissertation Fellowship
Upload an application essay of no more than 1,500 words in PDF format that provides a concise overview of the project. Address the following questions: What ideas, questions, or problems guide your project? What is distinctive about your project? How does it complement, expand, or challenge prior study in the field? Please be specific about prior scholarship that informs your work. What work do you plan to undertake at Winterthur? Why is a residence fellowship at Winterthur necessary for successful completion of your project? How do you intend to study, question, and examine the Winterthur collections in service of your project?
February
Mcneil Center for Early American Studies Dissertation Fellowships
Doctoral candidates from any PhD-granting institution who are in the research or writing stage of the dissertation are eligible. Some fellowships are targeted at specific areas, but any project dealing with the histories and cultures of North America in the Atlantic world before 1850 will be considered.
March
Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award
(Dissertation Award)
The Gerald R. Ford Scholar Award in Honor of Robert M. Teeter is an annual award of $5000 given to a doctoral student to support dissertation research and writing in any field related to any aspect of the United States political process and public policy during the last half of the 20th century. Of special interest is the role and analysis of public opinion in that process.
April
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Marilyn Blatt Young Dissertation Completion Fellowship
The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations will make one year-long award in the amount of $25,000 each, to support the writing and completion of the doctoral dissertation in each academic year. This highly competitive fellowship will support the most promising doctoral candidates in the final phase of completing their dissertations. Applicants should be candidates for the PhD in a humanities or social science doctoral program (most likely history), must have been admitted to candidacy, and must be at the writing stage, with all substantial research completed by the time of the award.
Society for the History of Technology Melvin Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship
The Melvin Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship is presented annually to a doctoral student engaged in the preparation of a dissertation on the history of technology. The $4,000 award is unrestricted and may be used in any way that the winner chooses to advance the research and writing of his or her dissertation.
May
Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations J. Robert Beyster Graduate Fellowship
This fellowship supports a Ph.D. student who is initiating or completing a thesis. The fellowship amount is $25,000 per year. The funds can be used to support full-time study at Rutgers University or research and travel expenses for graduate students at other universities.
October
Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellowships
The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships support advanced graduate students in the last year of PhD dissertation writing to help them complete projects in the humanities and interpretive social sciences that will form the foundations of their scholarly careers.
November
Academy in Rome, Rome Prize
The American Academy in Rome has awarded the Rome Prize to support innovative and cross-disciplinary work in the arts and humanities. Each year, the prize is awarded to about thirty artists and scholars who represent the highest standard of excellence and who are in the early or middle stages of their careers. Applicants for all Rome Prize Fellowships, except those applying for the National Endowment for the Humanities postdoctoral fellowship, must be United States citizens at the time of the application. Graduate students in the humanities may apply for predoctoral fellowships only if they are all but dissertation (ABD).
Leo Baeck Institute Fritz Halbers Fellowship
The LBI announces the availability of one or more fellowship per year for students enrolled in a Ph.D. program at an accredited institution of higher education. The fellowships provide financial assistance to scholars whose research projects are connected with the culture and history of German-speaking Jewry. The fellowship(s) consists of an award, not exceeding $ 3000–, to be determined according to the requirements of the project. The fellowship should be used by the end of the year in which it was granted. Support for travel or family members is not available.
The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts Predoctoral Fellowships
The Center in Visual Arts through the National Gallery of Art seeks a diverse pool of applicants in the history, theory, and criticism of art, architecture, urbanism, and photographic media. and especially welcomes candidates from historically marginalized fields.
Kress Foundation History of Art Institutional Fellowship
Advanced training in European art history requires direct exposure to the object of study, prolonged access to key information resources such as libraries and photographic archives, the development of professional relationships with colleagues abroad, and sustained immersion in European cultures. Nominees must be U.S. citizens or individuals matriculated at an American university. Dissertation research must focus on European art from antiquity to the early 19th century and applicants must be ABD by the time their fellowship begins. Candidates must be nominated by their academic department.
Kurt Weill Dissertation Fellowship
Doctoral candidates may apply for dissertation fellowships to assist in research activities on Weill, Lenya and/or Blitzstein-related topics. Fellowships are reserved for candidates with extraordinary potential for contribution to the field evidenced by recommendations from the academic community. The applicant’s project should address significant lacunae in Weill, Lenya, and/or Blitzstein research.
Ransom Center Fellowship Program
The Ransom Center will award 10 dissertation fellowships of up to $2,000 for graduate students whose doctoral dissertations require use of the Center’s collections.
American Society for Environmental History Hal Rothman Dissertation Fellowship
The fellowship provides a single payment of $1,000 for Ph.D. graduate student research and travel in the field of environmental history, without geographical restriction. Students enrolled in any Ph.D. program worldwide are eligible to apply.
December
Center for Jewish History Graduate Research Fellowships
The Center for Jewish History offers ten-month fellowships to doctoral candidates to support original research using the collections of the Center’s partners – American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
American Academy of Religion International Dissertation Research Grants
The International Dissertation Research Grants program is designed to support American Academy of Religion student members whose dissertation research requires them to travel outside of the country in which their school or university is located.
Thoma Foundation Fellowship
The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation offers predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships annually in support of projects and research initiatives that will advance study of the art of the Spanish Americas. Scholars may come from any discipline, but all projects must relate to the study of art and art history. Exceptionally accomplished scholars holding an MA may also apply. International scholars, particularly from Latin America, are strongly encouraged to apply.
No Deadline Listed
Western Association of Women Historians Founders’ Dissertation Fellowship
The Founders’ Dissertation Fellowship is an annual $1000 award to a graduate student who shows promise of significant contributions to historical scholarship. All recipients shall be graduate students engaged in scholarship that is historical in nature, although the degree may be in related fields, have been advanced to candidacy, and are writing the dissertation at the time of application. They should expect the Ph.D. no earlier than December of the calendar year in which the award is made.
United States Institute of Peach, Peace Scholar Fellowship Dissertation Program
The U.S. Institute of Peace is dedicated to supporting advanced research from top academics in a variety of fields that contribute to a wider understanding of how to manage conflict and effectively build sustainable peace. Peace Scholars may be awarded stipends of up to $20,000 per academic year.