Dissertation Fellowships 2017-2018

This page is for dissertation fellowships for 2017-2018 (including research fellowships, dissertation completion fellowships, and other predoctoral opportunities).


 * Last year's page: Dissertation Fellowships 2016-2017
 * See also previous years' pages: Dissertation Fellowships 2013-14, Dissertation Fellowships 2014-15 and Dissertation Fellowships 2015-2016.

See also fellowship discussions at theGradCafe: The Bank


 * This is an initial post to start the page as in years past - please add calls and information!

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AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship
Applied (x10)

ACLS / Mellon Dissertation Completion Fellowships
Deadline: October 26, 2016

LINK: https://www.acls.org/programs/dcf/

Who's applying this year? Project statement: anyone know whether page numbers in the header need to be adjusted to give a full 1" margin at the top, or whether the page numbers can be in the margin space (as headers typically are)?
 * Applying (x15)

Let the waiting commence! Already thinking about this!!! I think my chapter draft was a little lame (really not done by October...) but the rest of the app was pretty ok...? ARGHHH !@)*$&!@)(%*)!(
 * This wiki is so quiet this season. Glad there are at least a few of us here!
 * I felt ok about this application until I read that they got over 1,000 applications last year... Arghhh!!!!!
 * It's a total crapshoot, of course, but yay to all of us for even trying!
 * Already counting down the days to March.

>No real use in fretting about that at this point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We're at the wily whim of the committee now. "Notifications will be sent via email in late March 2017," so says the website...
 * You got that right! :-)

American Academy in Rome, Rome Prize
Who's applying this year? Any news of interviews yet?
 * Applying (x4)

CAORC Mediterranean Regional Research Fellowship
Applied (x2)

CASVA Pre-Doctoral Fellowship of the National Gallery of Art
Applied x8
 * All quiet over here... has anyone received a call yet? (1/19)
 * Nope, nothing yet. Someone suggested to me that the inauguration might be obstructing schedules all over DC, but who knows. (1/19)
 * Has anyone heard anything either way? It seems late to be expecting a call by this point... (1/25)
 * No news on my end or for anyone I know... it does seem late...(1/25)
 * Still crickets over here... anybody have better luck? (1/28)
 * Nope, no news good or bad here either (1/30).
 * Still nothing here (my first time to update.... with no news)... (2/1).
 * Still nothing here either (first time posting) (2/2).
 * I've asked around to friends in several departments (Princeton, Harvard, IFA, Hopkins, etc) and no one has heard anything to my knowledge. It's a weird year for CASVA I guess. (2/2).
 * Notified of interview received on 1/28 (posting on 2/3)
 * Got my rejection via email just now (2/3) -- had an interview call last year so this especially sucks. Sigh.
 * Rejection received via email (2/3) - specifies my application made it to the final deliberations but was not chosen for interview
 * Rejected as well (2/3), congrats and best of luck to those interviewing!

Center for Jewish History Dissertation Fellowship

 * 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.
 * Application deadline: February 2, 2017
 * See fellowships.cjh.org for more information.

Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Applied x12

Last year, Finalists and Non-finalists were notified on February 16, 2016. The website says that for this round, they will notify finalists and non-finalists by March 15th.

Feb 21 - Rejection email, was notified that not a finalist. Says that there were 500 applications this year. I didn't want your money anyway! JK tho. x7

Feb 21 - Received email notification that I am a finalist. More than 500 apps. Top 10% (~50) were selected as finalists, and 20 of those will be chosen as fellows. Finalists have to send in official transcripts at this stage. x2

Consortium for Faculty Diversity (Dissertation and Postdoctoral Fellowship Fellowships)
Applied x5
 * See also Humanities and Social Sciences Postdocs 2016-17

Dolores Liebmann Fellowship
Applied via my institution (1/5)

Notified as a finalist of my institution; to be forwarded to national pool (1/24)

Program officer told me they typically notify in May/June

Dumbarton Oaks Junior Fellowship
Applied x1
 * Recieved invitation to interview (12/10)
 * Accepted via email (2/9)
 * Wait List via email (2/10). Any chance someone will turn down a position?
 * Rejection (2/10): G&L
 * Those who have heard back, which track did you apply to? Garden & Landscape, Pre-Colombian, or Byzantine?
 * I'm the 2/9 acceptance: Byzantine.
 * 2/10 wait list: Pre-Columbian

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
Applied x7

Help! Is anyone getting the validation error "A Ph.D. or Sc.D. degree must be entered in your educational history" even though you've already entered that information into the education form?
 * I'm having the exact same issue! Right now I've got listed my institution twice, once as saying I've earned the PhD in 2018, and again as the proposed institution for the fellowship.
 * Did exactly the same as the person above
 * Did it let you submit the application with that format? I put in an e-mail to the helpline, but it was right around 5pm ET today. It would be nice to be able to submit tonight rather than waiting for their response (if one even comes) tomorrow. --> Submitted this morning. The help people did e-mail early this morning saying that my education materials were validated, but this was only after I had already implemented your workaround. Thanks for helping!!

Fulbright IIE Study/Research Grants
Applied x2

Gradcafe says that notifications for the semifinalist round came out this week: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/77132-fulbright-2017-2018/ (1/20)

Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation Fellowship
Applied x4

Anyone have an interview?

Found out I was not a finalist today, 2/1. (History)

Found out I was not a finalist today. (Africana Studies) x2

Are we supposed to get interview requests by now? It's a little unclear from past years. Nothing here. (History)

Found out I was not a finalist 2/1. (English)

For those that heard back today: Did the notification disclose the number of applicants?

(over 200)

How were people notified, email?

Yes, email.

Had an interview back in mid January. Have not heard anything yet. (Environmental Studies)

Interview in January, nothing since.

I wonder if the winners have already been notified (x2)

02/17. Finalist rejection email. "Final decision had less to do with caliber of application than with the 'fit' of certain scholarly interests with our plans for staffing and the curriculum in the coming year." x4

I wonder how many finalists there were on the "short list".

Getty Pre- and Postdoctoral Fellowship
x1 Applied predoc x4

Rejection received via email (2/7) x2

Also received rejection e-mail (2/7). Email said they got a record number of applications this year.

Getty Library Research Grant
Applied x1


 * Received acceptance e-mail (1/11)

Henry Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art
Applied x2

Horowitz Fellowship
-Applied (x1)

Huntington Library Fellowship
Short-term fellowship:

Applied x2

Travel fellowship:

Applied x1

Ithaca College Pre-Doctoral Diversity Fellowship
Applied X2

Josephine de Karman Fellowship
Applied x4

Anybody know when they notify?
 * Their website says approx. April 15 (2/20)

Marilyn Yarbrough Dissertation/Teaching Fellowship (Kenyon College)
Applied x5

rejection email 2/7 x2

Has anyone gotten an interview or offer?

I had a Skype interview yesterday. There will also be flyouts. [2]

Does anyone know if they send all of the rejections at the same time? I haven't received one yet and no interview request on my end either, which I assume would've happened by now (2/8)

Flyouts scheduled. (2/13)

To the person above. Do you know if all of them have been scheduled? (2/13)

I suspect so, but don't know.

Rejection email 2/16 x3

Mellon-CES Dissertation Completion Fellowship in European Studies
Applied x5

Last year, decisions were email between 4/25-29. This year, the website indicates applicants will be notified "no later than the end of April."

CLIR-Mellon
Applied x3

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art History Fellowships
Applied x4

Rejection received via email (2/10) x 3

Accepted via email (2/10) x 1

Miller Center for Politics and History (UVA)
- This has moved to a center at UVA and is now called the National Fellowship Program at the Jefferson Scholars Foundation (see here )

- Does anyone know what the letter of rec instructions are? I can't imagine submitting this very far ahead of the deadline and instructions for letters of rec aren't E-mailed to recommenders until the student submits their whole application. I saw this on the website, "The  letter of recommendation should be sent as a PDF attachment to the Jefferson Scholars Foundation at  [mailto:jsf-fellows@virginia.edu jsf-fellows@virginia.edu] " but am wondering if there are other specifics. Thanks!

NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program

 * Deadline October 6, 2016 at 5 pm EST.
 * Applied x3
 * Q: there are first and second round notifications for the Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, correct? can anyone shed light on when first round cuts might be made?
 * I believe they cut the total group down to a smaller group in March, and notify people then. In the past they have made their final notifications after AERA. FWIW, I just noticed a bad typo in my application, so that's one less person you'll have to compete with!
 * Thanks for the reply! Jeez 6-8 months is a LONG review period. And I feel your pain on the typos, let's hope overall package > individual typos.
 * Was able to sign into my application portal, status is listed as "Drafting." (2/7)
 * Update -- I'm the same person as above -- my status in my application portal has shifted to "Submitted." No clue what this means, if anything! (2/10)
 * I'm unable to log into my portal. Looks like all the links to apply have been removed. (2/13)
 * Try this link:   https://www.gdg.do/router/servlet/Portal?c=4348801&p=4739686&g=4741168 (2/14)
 * My application status is back to "drafting" now. I wish it would just say "rejected" or something concrete so I can move on! (2/21)
 * This is what I've been told regarding the review process: all apps are read by a single reviewer and given a yes/no, and making it past that first screening seems to be a bit of a wildcard. I was told by faculty that great proposals get reject off the bat, and very mediocre ones can get through, simply based on the single reviewer. However, once the field is narrowed, the entire committee looks and the process is much more stringent. Seems like the winenrs are definitely the best of that narrowed group, but great proposlas don't always get to the full review  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 * Whaat?! Thanks for sharing, but UGH. If this is indeed the process, I have very little confidence! Most major fellowship applications at least have 2-3 faculty reading each application so they can check one another. Do you know how many finalists they choose?
 * Got an email at 9:54am CST that I am one of 65 semi-finalists! (2/22/17)
 * Semi-finalist notifications went out this morning! (2/22/17) They narrowed about 350 applications down to 65. 35 will receive awards -- final decisions coming in May!
 * Rejection email (2/22/17)
 * I am a semi-finalist! Any tips for the final round? (2/22/17)
 * Me too! Not sure I have much to share in terms of tips. Submit the budget & timeline revisions, and hope for the best at the full committee meeting in May! A little over half of semi-finalists will receive awards, so the odds are good.

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant
Political Science 6/15/16

Panels met in October. Have any notices been sent out? (12/27)

No word here. Anyone else? (12/28)

Proposal was recommended for funding (1/17)

Still pending (1/31)

Rejected (2/2)

Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study
Applied x1

Penn Predoctoral Fellowships for Excellence through Diversity
Applied X2

SSRC - IDRF
Applied x9

Transcript request 1/26/17 x5

Does anyone know what the transcript requests mean? Past forums differ in terms of this; some people received the award without getting a transcript request while others didn't; does the transcript request indicate the middle pile?

RE: From what I remember when my cohort applied, a transcript request is a "you made it to the second round!" I don't know anyone personally who has won in an award without getting a transcript request. So if you got one, awesome, you've moved on to the next round and may or may not receive a grant. If you didn't get one (again, in my experience knowing perhaps a dozen people who've applied) you are out of the running and will receive a formal letter to your mailing address in a few weeks.

RE: Thank you for this info!

RE: Did anyone receive a transcript request after 1/26/17?

RE: Have rejection letters gone out? (2/5/17)

Someone reported on the gradcafe forum (see SSRC IDRF thread under 'bank') that they received a rejection yesterday via snail mail (2/7).

Confirmed. My friend received his rejection in the mail yesterday. It was postmarked 2/2 (2/7).

Smith Richardson Foundation, World Politics & Statecraft Fellowship
Rejected (2/27)

Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) Predoctoral Fellowship
Applied x3

Does anyone know when we will hear from them?

In my application year, I recived my fellowship acceptance on the 1st of March

University of Southern California (USC) Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research Fellowships
 The  Katz; Greenberg; and Breslauer, Rutman, and Anderson fellowship applications   are due   ''' Feburary 15, 2016.  Each    ''' fellowship provides $4,000 support and will be awarded to an outstanding advanced- standing Ph.D. candidate from any discipline for dissertation research focused on testimony from the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive and other USC resources. The recipient will be required to spend one month in residence at the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research during the 2017-2018 academic year.



 Award decisions for this fellowship will be based on the originality of the research proposal and its potential to advance research with testimonies in the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive or other unique genocide research resources at USC. The fellow will be expected to provide the Center with fresh perspectives, to play a role in Center activities, and to give a public talk during the stay.



To submit an application, please send a cover letter (including proposed dates of residency), CV, proposal abstract (1-3 pages), writing sample, and recommendation letter from your PhD advisor  by February 15, 2017 to  [mailto:cagr@usc.edu?subject=2017-2018%20Breslauer%2C%20Rutman%2C%20and%20Anderson%20Research%20Fellowship cagr@usc.edu].


 * Please visit https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2016/10/12498-call-applications-2017-2018-breslauer-rutman-and-anderson-research-fellowship to see the full call for applications.
 * For more information about the center and the Visual History Archive, please visit: http://sfi.usc.edu/cagr



UT Austin Harry Ransom Center Research Fellowships
Dissertation Fellowships: Applied x1

Travel Stipends:

1-3 Month Fellowships:

Wenner-Gren dissertation fieldwork grant
I hear rejection and round-two notifications have started coming out! Still no email here :/ (2/10)

I recieved my round-two, as did a friend. (2/10)

Received email, advanced to round two. (2/10)

Congratulations to all who advanced! Being reminded of the first-round criteria leaves me wondering what kinds of assessments our proposals will be subjected to in the next round...yikes! (2/12)

Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women's Studies
Applied x3

Agghhh shouldn't we be hearing back this week about finalist status? Every other year it's been way before the 15th

No news yet (1/12 - 2:24pm PST)

Still no news!

You don't think they would wait to notify until Sunday do you?

I was wondering the same thing because I did not think they would wait until the weekend to notify us because I didn't think they worked. But I do remember for an NSF grant I applied to, they notified applicants on the weekend. I wish everyone that applied to WW good luck!

Aaaarrghh where is this email? :(

Any news?

NOPE! First time in years they don't announce as scheduled

No news!

This is getting absurd. (10:51 1/17)

Just got the rejection email. 10:57am est on 1/17 (x2)

Received notice of finalists on 1/17. Said there were 200+ applicants, 10 will receive the award. Asked to send official transcripts by 1/26 (x2)

Received finalist rejection 2/8. Congrats to the ten recipients!

Yale ISS Smith Richardson Predoctoral Fellowship
The Smith Richardson Foundation Predoctoral Fellowships are three one-year positions for students who are enrolled in a PhD program, have completed all coursework, and are working on a doctoral dissertation in the area of history, political science, or related disciplines. We welcome candidates exploring questions of statecraft, grand strategy, or naval or maritime history. We seek to attract outstanding junior scholars from around the globe whose research addresses questions lasting importance and demonstrates excellence in one of a range of academic disciplines and methodologies. If a suitable candidate is found, one fellowship will be designated to support the maritime and naval studies initiative at International Security Studies.

Predoctoral fellows are expected to use their time at Yale to conduct original research, advance their dissertation, and prepare manuscripts for publication. They work closely with Yale faculty in history, political science, and other disciplines, as well as with an active academic community of other postdoctoral and predoctoral fellows. A member of the Yale faculty will serve as a mentor during the fellowship and will meet on a regular basis with the fellow. Predoctoral fellows participate regularly in research colloquia on campus and are granted opportunities to present their work. They are expected to remain in residence through the duration of their fellowship and contribute to the intellectual life of the Program in Grand Strategy and International Security Studies by participating in its activities and development.The stipend is $25,000 per year, with an additional $3,000 in research expenses. Each fellow is provided shared office space. Fellows will not be eligible for Yale financial aid or degrees, nor will they be allowed to enroll in or teach classes. You can apply on-line via Interfolio.

Yale ISS Henry A. Kissinger Predoctoral Fellowship
The Henry A. Kissinger Visiting Scholars Program awards one predoctoral fellowship funded for one year. Predoctoral Kissinger Visiting Scholars must be enrolled in a PhD program, have completed all coursework, and be working on a PhD dissertation focused on the role of the United States in the conduct of statecraft, diplomacy, and grand strategy. Kissinger Visiting Scholars fellowships will be awarded to candidates with outstanding proposals that require access to the Henry A. Kissinger Papers or other archival holdings related to American diplomacy at Yale (http://web.library.yale.edu/digital-collections/kissinger-collection; http://guides.library.yale.edu/american-diplomacy-primary-sources). They will pursue original research for academic publication using these sources.

Kissinger Visiting Scholars will also work with an active academic community of post-doctoral associate fellows and pre-doctoral fellows, as well as Yale faculty in history, political science, and other disciplines. A member of the Yale faculty will serve as a mentor during the fellowship and will meet on a regular basis with the fellow.

Predoctoral Kissinger Visiting Scholars work closely with Yale faculty, participate regularly in research colloquia on campus, and are granted opportunities to present their work. Predoctoral Kissinger Visiting Scholars are expected to remain in residence through the duration of their fellowship and contribute to the intellectual life of the Program in Grand Strategy, International Security Studies, and the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs by participating in its activities and development.

All fellows must be in residence in New Haven or its environs during their fellowship year. Eligible candidates will have completed the archival research for their doctoral dissertation, and winners will be expected to use the award to make substantial progress in writing their dissertation. Applications from non-U.S. citizens are welcome, but successful applicants bear final responsibility for all immigration-related issues.

The stipend is $25,000 per year, with an additional $3,000 in research expenses. Each fellow is provided shared office space. Fellows will not be eligible for Yale financial aid or degrees, nor will they be allowed to enroll in or teach classes. You can apply on-line via Interfolio.