General Resources for Faculty
Lewis-Burke compendium of federal funding opportunities
Follow this link to access the Lewis-Burke compendium of federal funding opportunities in the behavioral and social sciences, arts, and humanities 17th edition (2023) on BU’s Federal Relations site (Kerberos required). The Federal Relations staff are happy to have follow up one-on-one meetings with faculty as they consider which opportunities to pursue.
External Faculty Fellowships, Grants, and Calls for Papers
American Academy in Berlin
Each year, the American Academy in Berlin welcomes around two dozen fellows, who support our mission to enrich transatlantic dialogue in the arts, humanities, and public policy through the development and communication of projects of the highest scholarly merit. Past recipients have included anthropologists, art historians, literary scholars, philosophers, historians, musicologists, journalists, writers, filmmakers, sociologists, legal scholars, diplomats, economists, and public policy experts, among others.
For all projects, the Academy asks that candidates explain the relevance of a stay in Berlin to the development of their work.
Please note that artists, composers, and poets are selected through invitation-only competitions.
Following a peer-reviewed evaluation process, an independent Selection Committee reviews finalist applications. All candidates will be notified in late March 2024.
The American Academy in Berlin is an institution of advanced scholarship and practice in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and public policy. Its flagship program is the Berlin Prize Fellowship, a semester-long residency awarded to scholars, artists, writers, composers, and journalists from the United States. Fellows are joined each semester by a number of Distinguished Visitors and guest lecturers, all of whom participate in the Academy’s dynamic public programming and engage with their German and European counterparts.
Dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany, the Academy is funded entirely through tax-deductible donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate partners on both sides of the Atlantic.
Each year, the Academy awards roughly 20 semester-long Berlin Prize fellowships to outstanding scholars, writers, and artists from the United States. Fellows, who come from the humanities, social sciences, public policy, and the arts, pursue independent projects in a residential community at the Hans Arnhold Center, a historic villa on Lake Wannsee. They share their work with German colleagues and audiences at lectures, readings, discussions, concerts, and film screenings, which form the core of the Academy’s rich program of public events.
In addition, the Academy fosters greater understanding and dialogue on current issues by hosting Distinguished Visitors—influential figures from the United States in public policy, law, business, finance, journalism, the humanities, and the arts. During their visits of a few days to a few weeks, they engage with the public and their professional counterparts in Berlin and throughout Germany.
Since the Academy opened its doors, in 1998, it has built up an extensive and enduring network in the academic, cultural, political, and corporate communities of the United States and Germany. Its cross-cultural, interdisciplinary environment and creative programming have made the Academy a highly regarded center in Germany and beyond, leading the German newsweekly Der Spiegel to describe the American Academy in Berlin as “the world’s most important center for American intellectual life outside the United States.”
American Academy in Rome
For one hundred thirty years, 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 Rome Prize is given to about thirty artists and scholars who represent the highest standard of excellence.
Fellowships are chosen from the following:
Arts
Architecture
Design
Landscape Architecture
Literature
Musical Composition
Visual Arts
Humanities
Ancient Studies
Historic Preservation and Conservation
Medieval Studies
Modern Italian Studies
Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
Tsao Family Rome Prize
Cross-Disciplinary
American Council of Learned Societies
ACLS’s fellowship and grant competitions provide a range of opportunities for scholars at all career stages (from graduate students to distinguished professors to independent scholars) working with varied disciplines and methodologies in the US and abroad.
Deadlines vary by award (Sept-Mar)
Society of Fellows at Cornell University
The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University invites applications for residential fellowships from scholars and artists whose projects reflect on the 2025-26 theme of Scale. Up to six fellows will be appointed. The fellowships are held for one year (August through July). Each Society Fellow will receive $60,000.
Fellowships and Awards at Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks programs award over 150 appointments annually in the expanded fields of Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian Studies. Residential fellowships for an academic year, semester, or summer are awarded in all three areas of study to scholars from around the world. In addition, Dumbarton Oaks offers one-month nonresidential awards to researchers and short-term predoctoral residencies to advanced graduate students. A program of project grants primarily supports archaeological research, as well as materials analysis and photographic surveys of objects and monuments. Summer schools and workshops bring together students for in-depth study of languages, material culture, and theory.
Folger Institute Fellowships
The Folger Institute offers long-term fellowships for scholarly and public humanities research and short-term fellowships for both scholarly and artistic research.
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation offers fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.
Fellowships at The Huntington Library and Museum
The Huntington Library awards over 150 research fellowships annually. Recipients of all fellowships are expected to be in continuous residence at The Huntington and to participate in, and make a contribution to, its intellectual life. Long-Term Fellows are expected to present at a two-day introductory symposium in September and to participate in weekly working group sessions from October–May.
Federal Funding Opportunities
Please see the “Overview of Federal Funding Opportunities for Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts, Humanities” for a comprehensive list of federally funded opportunities.
National Geographic Society and John Templeton Foundation Big Questions Award
Supported by the John Templeton Foundation, The National Geographic Society seeks innovative photography, short film, writing, data visualization and other storytelling proposals to help people consider some of the greatest questions of our time.
National Humanities Center Fellowships 2024-2025
The National Humanities Center invites applications for academic-year or one-semester residential fellowships. Mid-career, senior, and emerging scholars with a strong record of peer-reviewed work from all areas of the humanities are encouraged to apply.
Scholars from all parts of the globe are eligible; stipends and travel expenses are provided. Fellowship applicants must have a PhD or equivalent scholarly credentials. Fellowships are supported by the Center’s own endowment, private foundation grants, contributions from alumni and friends, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Located in the vibrant Research Triangle region of North Carolina, the Center affords access to the rich cultural and intellectual communities supported by the area’s research institutes, universities, and dynamic arts scene. Fellows enjoy private studies, in-house dining, and superb library services that deliver all research materials.
Institute for Research in the Humanities
The IRH awards some 40-45 stipendary and non-stipendary fellowships to internal and external applicants each year. The College of Letters & Science and generous gifts to the Institute fund these fellowships, which are open to applicants in any discipline or field whose project has clear significance for the humanities. Most IRH fellowships are not limited by theme or research area.
National Endowment for the Humanities Grants
The National Endowment for the Humanities offers 1-3 year awards of up to $150,000 to strengthen the teaching and study of the humanities by developing new programs, resources (including digital), or courses, or by enhancing existing ones. Updated guidelines will be posted in advance of the next deadline. In the meantime, please use these guidelines to get a sense of what is involved in assembling an application.
Projects must be organized around a core topic or set of themes drawn from such areas of study in the humanities as history, philosophy, religion, literature, and composition and writing skills.
NEH welcomes applications for projects that are modest in scope, duration, and budget, as well as applications for expansive, long-term projects.
PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants
The PEN/Heim Translation Fund was established in the summer of 2003 by an endowed gift of $730,000 from Michael Henry Heim and Priscilla Heim, in response to the dismayingly low number of literary translations currently appearing in English. Its purpose is to promote the publication and reception of translated international literature in English.
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipends
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipends are awarded to individual scholars in the amounts up to $6,000 to support full-time work on a humanities project at any stage of development for a period of two months. Applications to the NEH require official institutional nomination. More information about applying for BU’s institutional nomination for Summer 2025 will be posted in June 2024 on InfoReady Review.
NEH Summer Faculty Stipends Summer 2025
Radcliffe Institute Fellowships
Read about How to Become a Fellow.
Radcliffe fellows are exceptional scientists, writers, scholars, public intellectuals, practitioners, and artists whose work is making a difference in their professional fields and in the larger world.
Based in Radcliffe Yard—a sanctuary in the heart of Harvard University—fellows join a uniquely interdisciplinary and creative community. A fellowship at Radcliffe is an opportunity to step away from usual routines and dive deeply into a project. With access to Harvard’s unparalleled resources, Radcliffe fellows develop new tools and methods, challenge artistic and scholarly conventions, and illuminate our past and our present.
Stanford Humanities Center Fellowships
External fellowships are intended primarily for individuals currently teaching in or affiliated with an academic institution, but independent scholars may apply. Faculty fellowships are awarded across the spectrum of academic ranks (assistant, associate, and full professor) and a goal of the selection process is to create a diverse community of scholars. Applicants who are members of traditionally under-represented groups are encouraged to apply. There are no citizenship requirements for these fellowships; non-U.S. nationals are welcome to apply. Awards are made from an applicant pool of approximately 350.
I Tatti Fellowships
The center offers fifteen full-year post-doctoral I Tatti Fellowships annually, as well as several fellowships for shorter periods. The center provides a tranquil setting where scholars can exchange ideas and carry out their research. Fellows join a community of scholars from all over the world, working in a wide range of fields and often with different methodological approaches. I Tatti’s academic community is rounded out with Research Associates, Visiting Professors, and the scholars on staff. Learn more.
Wolfsonian Fellowships
Wolfsonian fellowships engage scholars and artists around the world with resources held in the museum’s trust and with the possibilities contained in dedicated study and interpretation of the modern age. Learn more.
General Boston University Faculty Fellowships, Grants, and Calls for Papers
Pskowski Junior Faculty Research Fund in the Humanities
Individual awards up to a maximum of $2500 are available to tenure-track assistant professors completing a major research project in preparation for tenure review. To be eligible to apply, the faculty member must be a tenure-track professorial faculty member in a humanities department.
BU Arts Initiative Grants
To encourage the continued development of an intellectual community around the arts and arts practice at BU and enhance our student-life experience, the BU Arts Initiative offers research grants for graduate and undergraduate research, as well as grants to faculty, students, and staff for projects that directly engage students in the arts. Committees of faculty, staff, and students review all proposals. All BU Arts Initiative arts grants are subject to fiscal year restrictions and must be used in the fiscal year awarded.
BU Diversity & Inclusion
Several grants offered. Learn more.
Deadlines vary by award (Oct-Feb)
Jewish Cultural Endowment
The Jewish Cultural Endowment (JCE) supports Jewish cultural programs across the University, sponsoring lectures, conferences, literary events, curricular enhancement, and artistic performances and exhibitions. Its mission is to foster an appreciation of Jewish culture in all its richness and diversity. Annual deadlines in February, May, and October.
For an overview of BU Center for the Humanities faculty opportunities with links, please see the Opportunities for Faculty Members page on this Web site.