This category of funding supports doctoral students at the pre-dissertation stages of their careers. Funding opportunities may include tuition scholarships, diversity fellowships for students from particular demographic groups, and general education support for certain topic areas
January
*Kosciuszko Foundation Tuition Scholarships for American Students of Polish Descent
Kosciuszko Foundation Tuition Scholarships support American students of Polish descent for graduate level studies in the U.S., such as masters and Ph.D. studies, at colleges and universities in the United States. Scholarships range from $1,000 to $7,000.
*American Musicological Society Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship
Intended to increase the presence of minority scholars and teachers in musicology, the fellowship supports one year of graduate work for a student at a U.S. or Canadian university who is a member of a historically underrepresented group, including, in the U.S., African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans, and, in Canada, aboriginal peoples and visible minorities. The fellowship carries a twelve-month stipend, currently set at $24,000.
February
*The Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowships (New Applicants)
Franklin Mosher Baldwin Memorial Fellowships are intended for students with citizenship in a country where there are limited opportunities for advanced training and education in fields of research related to human origins. This program makes it possible for scholars to pursue education or training from an institution outside of their home country.
Wilde-Holland Fellowship
This 1–2 month fellowship is available to a postdoctoral scholar, graduate student, or visiting scholar for research using materials from the Oscar Wilde collection at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at UCLA. The fellowship, established in 2021, honors the writer and cultural figure Oscar Wilde and his grandson Merlin Holland, a scholar who has dedicated himself to studying and celebrating Wilde’s legacy. Fellowship includes a stipend of $4,000 per month of residency.
March
*The Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowships (Returning Applicants)
Franklin Mosher Baldwin Memorial Fellowships are intended for students with citizenship in a country where there are limited opportunities for advanced training and education in fields of research related to human origins. This program makes it possible for scholars to pursue education or training from an institution outside of their home country.
*National Italian American Foundation Scholarship Program
The National Italian American Foundation administers nearly 200 scholarships annually, ranging in value from $2,500 to $12,000 to Italian American students studying a wide variety of subjects. Applicants must be a United States Citizen or permanent resident alien and have Italian American ancestry.
October
*The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) Myrna F. Bernath Fellowship
Awarded biannually, the Myrna F. Bernath Fellowship was established by the Bernath family to promote scholarship in U.S. foreign relations history by women. The Myrna Bernath Fellowship of up to $2,500 is intended to defray the costs of scholarly research by women.
November
*Williams College Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowship
The Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowships at Williams College promote diversity on college faculties by encouraging graduate students from underrepresented groups to complete a terminal graduate degree and pursue careers in college teaching. The fellowship was established in 1985 to address the shortage of faculty of color in US colleges and universities.
The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts Predoctoral Dissertation Fellowship Program
The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts announces its annual program of support for advanced graduate research in the history, theory, and criticism of art, architecture, urbanism, and photographic media. Each of the following ten fellowships has specific requirements and intents, including support for the advancement and completion of a doctoral dissertation, and for residency and travel during the period of dissertation research.
December
Asian Cultural Council Fellowships & Grants
The Asian Cultural Council makes fellowships and grants to support cultural exchange in the arts for practicing artists, scholars, and arts professionals. Priority is given to process-driven activities that enable cultural immersion, relationship-building, collaboration, or the exchange of knowledge among peers, such as research, training, study, and exploration.
The Wolfsonian-FIU Fellowship Program
The Wolfsonian-Florida International University is a museum and research center that promotes the examination of modern visual and material culture. The focus of the Wolfsonian collection is on North American and European decorative arts, propaganda, architecture, and industrial and graphic design of the period 1851–1950. Fellowships are intended to support full-time research, generally for a period of three to five weeks. The program is open to holders of master’s or doctoral degrees, Ph.D. candidates, and to others who have a significant record of professional achievement in relevant fields.
No Deadline Listed
Social Science Research Council Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC)-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program aims to address, over time, the problem of underrepresentation in the academy at the level of college and university faculties. The program provides support for scholars from all backgrounds with a demonstrated commitment to this goal.
Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
This competition year the program will award approximately 75 predoctoral fellowships. These fellowships provide three years of support for individuals engaged in graduate study leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree. Predoctoral Fellows are required to enroll full-time in a program leading to a Ph.D. or Sc.D. degree in an eligible, research-based (dissertation-required) field of study. Institutional supplementation of the Ford Fellowship stipend is encouraged. However, Fellows may not accept full-time teaching or research appointments, other major fellowships, internships, or similar internal or external awards during fellowship tenure.
Organization Of American States Academic Scholarship Program for Graduate Studies or Graduate Research
The Organization of American States (OAS) Scholarships and Training Programs assists the Member States with their domestic efforts in pursuit of integral development goals by supporting human resource development. Graduate scholarships are offered for study towards a Master’s or Doctorate degree. They may also be used for graduate research, if required by a specific academic program.
*The Richard A. Horovitz Fund for Professional Development
The Horovitz Fund is dedicated to African artists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences. A one-time award is granted to one or two students for graduate study for a 12 month period. The amount of the award normally ranges from $6,000 to $8,000.