Dissertation Fellowships 2012-13

This page is for dissertation fellowships 2012-13 (including research fellowships, dissertation completion fellowships, and other predoctoral opporunities).

I didn't find this page already in existance, but if it is please link it here in the description box. If not, I guess this is the new page!! Good luck to all

The previous year's page (2011-12) is HERE.

ACLS/Mellon Dissertation Completion Fellowship
Application due November 9th 2011 (References and Institutional Letter due November 14th) http://www.acls.org/programs/dcf/
 * Survey: How many people following this wiki applied for this. (x35)
 * Rejection email 1/14, said over 700 applicants.
 * Awards and rejections came at the same time last year (early March). Were there first-round rejections this year? Has anyone else heard anything?
 * Nothing. Perhaps above posting was an error? Or me and all the people I know made it past first round? (in which case, yay!) (1/20)
 * Nothing here, either. I'm a little suspicious-- but maybe all of us following this are just incredibly brilliant. :) I'll hope for the latter.
 * Rejection post probably refers to the ACLS early career fellowships, which notified last week and had around 700 applications (1/20).
 * I applied for this fellowship a couple of years ago and there were 1,200 applicants - I'd be surprised if this number dropped by 500 in this market!
 * When can we expect to hear from them, any ideas?
 * Hello all, I hope we are excited about this one? Any ideas when can we expect the news. Do we know a date? (02/29)
 * It seems next week will be THE week.
 * Or will it be the end of March, like the webpage says?
 * Last year they notified on March, 8.
 * For some reason, my post disappeared! Does anyone know if they send rejections out by email as well? I'm out of the country for a while, and while I'm hoping for good news, I'm prepared for a rejection...Anyone know? Good luck to everyone.
 * They should notify via email, I suppose. Last year they did that.
 * Hey folks, did anyone hear? Or is it just me going crazy? Have waited on too many things this year, and none materialized....(x5).
 * Oh, I sympathize! Glued to my email and the wiki right now... Somehow the waiting is just a tiny bit easier with all of you willing to share information. Thank you all for that generosity-- and good luck to everyone!
 * Keep in mind that their current website says "late March." The March 8th date of last year doesn't necessarily mean anything about when they'll get the results to us. Academics are notorious for being late, not early. So it might be a good idea to just let it roll in whenever it rolls in; otherwise, we're liable to spend two weeks constantly refreshing the Wiki, which isn't very much fun and will make one more stressed.
 * Easier said than done...at least for me! ;) (x2 - seriously)
 * I'm hoping the news comes soon so I can stop asking the BrainJar.com free online Ouija Board about this fellowship everyday. Or maybe I'm the only one that is doing this???
 * I guess I should put away my magic crystals.
 * Glad I am not the only one doing magic crsytals and online tarot! (03/08)
 * I have TOTALLY consulted the mystical powers of the free online tarot about this stupid fellowship!
 * Perhaps today? Would be nice to get the news, good or bad, before the weekend! Just wanted to echo the thoughts that the wait is easier knowing others are going through the same thing! (03/09)
 * Just broke protocol and called to ask when word will come in... was told 'in the next few days'... (03/09)
 * ^ thanks. helpful to all of us who are sitting on our hands in attempts to stop checking our email every few minutes.
 * Thanks! Now begins the wait for the next week. Yeah, I don't think they will announce the result on the weekend. So, we can stop checking our email every nano second (03/09).
 * Thank you, kind brave soul!
 * I thought this was later! I will start the compulsive email checking immediately.
 * Rejection letter via email (3/9). More than 1100 applicants, 70 awards.(x14)
 * Notification of award; congrats to everyone! (3/9)(x3)
 * Also rejected. I didn't have high hopes but I'm glad I applied. I hope others who were rejected will find some solace. You're not alone, by far! And congrats to those who won!
 * Just curious, did everyone get same letter that includes "you may wish to reapply next year"....? (Yes X4)
 * Alternate here. Anyone else? (3/9)
 * Rejection letter. Yes, my letter also said, "you may wish..." Good luck to those who got the award.
 * Ha. How about good luck to those who didn't get the award? (That's not bitterness; I wish the best for those who got it, too.) (Okay. Maybe a little bitterness.) (X1)
 * Got a fellowship! (Medievalist - English Language and Literature/Music)
 * Hey All - how many of you were on the job market this year AND applied for this fellowship? I was rejected and am thinking about applying again next year; I'm curious about this fellowship's general demographic, as I (obviously) need to up my game! Congrats to those who won, btw, and good luck to those of us who are taking a different path.
 * Any idea how important institutional affiliation is? From looking at past winners, it doesn't seem to be a very diverse group. And there are a lot of historians.
 * Yeah, I noticed the lack of diversity, too. Can anyone shed any light on this?
 * I'm one of the people who posted earlier about receiving the fellowship. I don't know how important institutional affiliation is, and I'm hoping my selection wasn't based on that. The fellowship itself was entirely unexpected for me, as I have a fairly non-traditional approach and was told by my committee that I basically had no chance at the fellowship. I too thought that the fields of past winners was rather traditional but I thought I would give it a shot anyway. I can say that the dissertation chapter I submitted was certainly historical, but my proposal was more in line with my multi-disciplinary approach, so I tried to speak to multiple constituencies. In response to another question, I'm not "on the market" per se this year (did not apply for any postdocs), but I did apply to two jobs that were my "dream" ones.
 * Thanks so much for your response! Anyone else (winners or otherwise) willing to chime in here?
 * Institutional affiliation clearly is a factor, at least an unconscious one. It is also very well possible that students at private institutions receive a better training in writing fellowship applications. That aside, looking at past winners, the vast majority of dissertation topics is very specific. Most titles include a reference to a geographical area as well as to a well-defined time period.
 * As the person who responded above: while institutional affiliation is undeniably---and unfortunately---going to be a factor in these kinds of non-blind decisions, I have to say that I did not receive any formal training in the writing of the application. My committee didn't read the application that carefully, nor did I have it vetted by fellowship or writing tutors elsewhere on campus. Perhaps there is some tacit training one receives, but formal...I didn't receive any. And yes, my reading of the topics in past years was that they were very circumscribed. While the chapter that I sent was rather limited to a small time period, the rest of my dissertation is not, as it doesn't not necessarily have a particular time or geographic focus. I think it really depends on who reads your application. One of the few bits of direct advice I received on this fellowship was to think very carefully about the selection of "disciplinary areas"; I therefore chose a diverse set that worked across the various disciplines present in my dissertation.

AAUW Dissertation Fellowship
Application Due: November 15, 2011 (Recommendations due by November 17)

Did anyone here apply for this?

Survey: How many following applied for this? (x15)
 * Anyone have an idea of when we will likely hear back? (3/09)
 * The Web site says April.

American Academy in Rome- Rome Prize
No word yet (1/23)

Word around here is that the short list has already been contacted for interviews, but not confirmed (1/26)

What do you mean by around here?
 * around my department, where a student (not in residence) is rumored to have gotten an interview

Not a peep (2/3) but I heard they do interviews in March. There is a student in my department that has an interview scheduled with the selection comittee. (2/6)
 * Last year interviews were scheduled by the end of January and took place in February. Those not on the short list were not notified of their status until the end of March, when the winners were notified. As much as I want to believe otherwise, I'm pretty sure that not a peep means we're out of the running at this point

Very kind rejection letter received by email today (2/29 x2).

rejection letter received by email (3/1) Has anyone else who didn't get an interview (which I assume means the rejection is pending) also not heard? (2/29)
 * This seems really early--last year decisions weren't sent out unil March 22. Can anyone confirm?
 * I confirm; was rejected from both ancient and medieval areas this afternoon.

BC African and African Diaspora Studies Dissertation Fellowship
Survey: How many people applied for this fellowship?

CAORC Multi-Country Research Fellowship
How many people have applied? (x2)

are recipients notified before mid-april date or does everyone find out at the same time?

there's no info about this fellowship from previous years. maybe that means that a relatively small number applied for this (fingers crossed)? which could work in our favor or could just mean that it's a small pool of REALLY qualified applicants.

I applied for this last year and was rejected. In my rejection letter they said nearly 100 candidated vied for ten slots.

CASVA Predoctoral Fellowships
Has anyone heard anything yet?

Nothing here (2/1)

or here (2/3)

Still nothing (2/6)

Interviews are taking place this week. (2/6)

Has anyone who interviewed heard anything yet? (2/11)

Rejection letter in the mail yesterday (2/12). Good luck to those who interviewed!

Any news for those who interviewed yet? (2/13)

Rejection letter in the mail (2/13). Congratulations to the chosen few!

Has anyone who interviewed received a rejection? (2/14)

Not yet (2/15)

Post interview rejection letter arrived (2/16)

CLIR-Mellon Dissertation Fellowship
Does anyone know how many people usually apply for this fellowship? (Or, how many people applied last year at least?) Thanks!

I received (but declined) the fellowship last year: the letter said 15 applicants were selected from a pool of 488. Good luck!

Did you go through an interview process?

My friend received this fellowship last year and did not have an interview.

Are there multiple rounds for this competition, or does everyone find out in the March30/Apr 2 range?

For the above two who mentioned being or knowing recipients, when did the positive email notification arrive? It seems that all mentions of the CLIR on various sites have only listed rejection emails (on Mar 29 or 31 in past years). Thanks! I applied for this last year and received a rejection email around 5pm on March 29th, 2011. Of course, the real downer was that the winners already knew that they had received this award by the time the rest of the commoners found out their unfortunate status. Bummer :(
 * Not sure of the precise date, but it's certainly before March 29. As I understand it, the Foundation gives all those awarded a fellowship sufficient time to accept or decline it before making any public announcements that name the fellows. I believe the April 2nd announcement date listed on the CLIR website is the date the Foundation issues the official (and final) press release, not the date they first contact recipients.
 * Yes, that's my understanding too. The question is what is their time range for positive notifications. Last year someone on this site mentioned March 4. Technically, CLIR might have contacted the recipients already...

i know someone who won this award last year and she later revealed (after rejection emails were sent out) that she knew she had it by the first few days of March (confirming the fortunate March 4th poster above).

Haven't heard any news, awaiting anxiously!

Me neither...

No word here! Hopefully they haven't notified recipients yet! (x4) 3/12/2012

A colleague of mine was notified yesterday (3/12/2012) of acceptance--so it seems notifications are starting to go out. <--- question: notification via email or post? thx. (3/13)


 * She received an email.
 * Anyone knows if they send acceptances out all on one day or in "waves" over a week or two?



Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship
How many followers applied for this? (x15)

Pleasant rejection email received 2/22 (x14) Received an e-mail on 2/22 informing me that I've been selected as a finalist. E-mail says "of over 550 applications, the top 10% have been selected and forwarded to the Final Selection Committee for review" and "at least 21 Fellows will be chosen in this final round."
 * Pleasant but nonetheless disheartening (x2)
 * Congrats!
 * Thanks! I'm quite surprised, and trying not to get my hopes up since it's still more likely than not that I'll ultimately be rejected. Good luck to the rest of you!

Cornell University Pre-/Postdoctoral Fellowship
http://as.cornell.edu/academics/opportunities/diversity-fellowships/index.cfm {C}Due November 1st 2011 to paritcipating department via email (16 departments)


 * Survey: who is applying to what departments?
 * Please see information in cross listed post: http://academicjobs.wikia.com/wiki/Humanities_and_Social_Sciences_Postdocs_2011-12#Cornell_Diversity_Fellowships

Council for European Studies Pre-Dissertation Fellowship (Columbia)
How many followers applied for this? (x2)

The site says that the decision will be made by May 1. Can anyone from previous years confirm whether that is the notification day, or has is come earlier?

Last year they emailed candidates on April 22.

Five College Fellowship Program
http://www.fivecolleges.edu/academic_programs/academprog_fellowship.html Rolling applications accepted starting January 2nd, 2012


 * how many people have applied for this? it looks like there were 330 applicants for four spots last year and the awards weren't announced til late! (x11)
 * Anyone hear back from this one? It says announcement made in march but I wonder if they generate short litsts?
 * Yes, they do. I applied last year. We were told responses in March. I e-mailed in April and was told responses w/in two weeks. I called in early May, and the administrator I spoke with checked her short list and said I wasn't on it. She also said that the hold up was that individual colleges had to make their choices, and they didn't issue any offical notices until all the colleges had done so. Offical rejection came in June.
 * contacted 5 Colleges administrator Feb 5 -- still accepting applications. went on to contact respective institutions within the consortium about likelihood of hosting a fellow in certain divisions or departments --
 * reply February 10, no need in social sciences at Hampshire College
 * reply from UMASS via Five Colleges administrator: UMASS does not typically accept a fellow. Rather, fellows are dispersed amongst the other four colleges
 * I applied in the social sciences as well - any news from the other colleges? Thanks!


 * If last year's wiki is any indication, nobody hears anything for awhile...yikes


 * 3/13- still no news. Anyone else?
 * I've heard nothing. Emailed the administrator today to ask.
 * Let me know what she says when you hear back!
 * I will report back for sure! I just asked when we might know and also if there is any way to know if one is out of the running.

Ford Dissertation Fellowship
'''Has anyone else applied for this fellowship? '''

Yes x8

Any ideas when they inform??

The application says April.

Last year they announced 4/7, for what it's worth.

Fulbright IIE
First round emails sent out 1/19/2012

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
Applied? ( x5)

E-mail received 2/24 notifying me that my application was complete and under review. Anyone else get this?
 * Yup.

Harvey Fellows Fellowship
Applications were due 1 Nov. 2011. Decisions are supposed to go out 3/1/2012. Anyone heard anything? How many people applied?


 * - I was applicant #9.


 * - 2/9/12: i haven't heard anything. I think 250ish people applied last year.


 * Survey: How many wiki followers have applied for this fellowship? (x3)


 * Survey: Has anyone heard anything except for the initial acknowledgement of materials being received?


 * - If you don't mind me asking, what subject did you apply under? (2/14/2012)-


 * - History (1)
 * - Philosophy (1)
 * - Religion (1)


 * 2/21/12 - Who knew rejection was so hard? Rejection notification received via email.

Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Dissertation Fellowships in American Art
How many people applied for this? (x2)

Has anyone heard anything yet?

Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Writing fellowship in American Indian and Indigenous Studies
http://erm.yale.edu/fellowships-opportunity - Due March 23rd

Ithaca College Pre-Doctoral Diversity Fellowship
wiki followers applying for this fellowship position (x5)

--anyone know if they are still accepting applications? though the closing date is in april, the posting no longer appears in their employment database (https://apply.icjobs.org/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1331403534402)

-- applied February 2 with automatic HR response indicating I applied for "PRE-DOCTORAL DIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP in Humanities and Social Sciences"; just received (February 20) another seemingly automatic HR responses of same wording except title changed, "PRE-DOCTORAL DIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP in [I'm withholding the specific department name for confidentiality]". It appears as if they grouped candidates into respective departments and programs.

--I also received the above-described HR message (Feb 20), and was intrigued to discover which department/program they had assigned me to, since I had indicated an openness to a joint appointment in two different programs.

--Like others, I received the same HR message (Feb 20). They assigned me to my home discipline, though I made no indication in my application which department/program I hoped to be placed in.

-- I also received the same HR message (Feb 20). Does anyone know when references are contacted for letters?

-- I had received the same HR message as well (January 17), no word yet on references.

Joseph L. Fisher Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Anyone Apply?

Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS)
Has anyone else applied for this? Yes (x1)

Josephine de Karman Dissertation Completion Fellowship
Has anyone else applied for this fellowship? Yes (x14)

Kress Institutional Fellowships
They will be notifying in early March, it seems. Has anyone heard anything yet?
 * do you mind sharing where you heard this? Just wondering :)
 * I saw it here: http://www.kressfoundation.org/about/faq/
 * March inches ever closer...

Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research
Just wondering how many people applied? (x2)

Has anyone heard anything? When are notifications usually sent?

Louisville Institute Dissertation Fellowship
How many following applied to this? (x2)
 * Anyone know when announcements will be made (3/09)?

Marilyn Yarbrough Dissertation/Teaching Fellowship (Kenyon College)
FYI: Although the online employment site is still accepting applications for this position, an administrator informed me (02/07) that the search committee is in the final stages and is no longer reviewing applications. Good luck to those who applied!
 * Any news here?

The Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship (French)
Has anyone else applied for this?

Does anyone know when results are usually announced?

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies Dissertation Fellowship Program
http://www.mceas.org/dissertationfellowships.shtml

Metropolitan Museum of Art Fellowship
Anyone else following applied for this? (x5)

Any word yet?

Nothing here yet (2/14)

Does the Met conduct interviews for this fellowship?

Not usually. Last year acceptance letters arrived by snail mail in early March.

Rejection letter received (3/6) (x2)

Middlebury College Dissertation Fellows Program
Wiki followers applying for this fellowship position (x6)

Anyone know when we might hear? Last year someone posted a rejection email from this program on 03/08/11.

Anyone know how many they accept? I think they only accept one, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

From the website, it looks like they accept one fellow per year, but sometimes extend a fellowship for an extra year, so they might have two fellows at once (as they appear to have this year--one in History, one in Women's and Gender Studies).

What departments are people applying into? Philosophy (x1)

American Studies (x2)

Women's and Gender Studies (x1)

Geography (x1)

Spanish (X1)

History (X1)

I received an email message today (02/27) indicating that applications are currently under review and Skype interviews are expected to begin with finalists in the second week of March (x3)

Did everyone who applied receive the email mentioned above? It looks like it was an automated message via Interfolio.

Anyone hear anything about interviews yet? Nothing yet, only crickets.

Still nothing? (3/9) Still nothing. When they said they would be doing interviews the second week in March, I assumed that meant this week. Maybe they meant the second full week in March? Or they are sending rejection letters after they interview people?

I assumed it meant next week, but I still find it strange that we haven't been notified yet. I wonder if none of us following the Wiki got interviews, but perhaps that's overly pessimistic.

It's certainly possible. I imagine that they got several hundred applications and there are only a handful of us following the wiki. I just thought that most programs and fellowships sent out rejections first, which would suggest that even if all of us are in the rejected pile that we might have heard by now.

Not necessarily. For some, rejections are an afterthought, so for those in the rejected pile might not hear until after others have been selected. Also it looks like last year's rejection was received at the beginning of the second full week in March. Perhaps, we'll know by next week or the committee was being overly optimistic in when they would be making their decisions and may not made any decision right now?

When I got the automatic Interfolio notification, I assumed that it meant there would be some sort of email next week (the full second week of March). Most big fellowships make you wait until April even for "yes" answers, so this timeline doesn't seem too ridiculous.

Miller Center
- Survey, who has applied for this (x4)

-Survey: anyone apply for that technology one? (x1)

Spencer Foundation/NAEd Dissertation Fellowship
Anyone else apply for this? Any past applicants know when they notified last year?

SSRC-Drugs, Security, and Democracy Fellowship
Who applied for this?

Any News?

SSRC-IDRF
Requests for transcripts sent via email 2/2

Rejection via mail 2.13.12 (x6), letter said over 800 applicants, rejection letter I got said over 1,100 applicants applied from 126 universities.

SREB-State Doctoral Fellowship
Who applied? (x1)

Smithsonian American Art Museum Fellowship
How many people applied for this? (x3)

Does anyone know when letters or emails typically go out?

Soroptimist Founder Region Fellowship
Who applied? (x2)

Robert & Patricia Switzer Dissertation Fellowship
Anyone apply? (x1)

United States Institute for Peace (USIP) Jennings Randolph Peace Scholarship Dissertation Program
Any news?

I heard that they were going to notify people by 3/9. Has anyone heard back yet?
 * I think the 3/9 notification is for the Senior Fellowship Program, not the Dissertation one.

How many applicants? (x2)

They uploaded the letters of recommendation to the online applications (under Applicant Attachments) 2/24/2012

Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Fellowships
'''Any news on rejection letters/notification for the 1st phase? It is Feb/12 and I have not heard a word...'''

Feb. 15th, phase 1 e-mail received (acceptance) (x2)

Feb 15th, (rejection - 1st phase) x1

Does anyone know if WG makes transcript requests? If so, has anyone received one or any further news for second-rounders? Thanks.

I've never heard of them making transcript requests. I don't expect to hear anything before April.

Williams College Bolin Fellowship
Rejection via email 01/05: x2

Message included this info: "Nearly 100 applications" and "you have not been selected as one of the semi-finalists."

Have not heard anythign so fingers crossed. Anyone know when they announced last year (2011 for 2011-2012academic year)?

Rejection received on 02/29 - via email was told i was on a "very short list of semi-finalists" and that "The final cut had less to do with the caliber of applications than with the “fit” of certain scholarly interests with our plans for staffing and the curriculum in the coming year."

Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in Women's Studies
Are the results out? I have not heard anything

How many here applied for this? (x5)

Does anyone know when results for this one are usually announced (ball-park)? Rejection via email 3/6. (x3)
 * From looking at their website, in years past fellows were announced as early as January, but most often in April--I'm expecting to hear one way or another in late March/early April

6 fellowships were awarded from a pool of over 100 applications

Have others not heard anything yet, either way? 3/11