Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship 2025
URL: https://www.mellon.org/article/new-directions-fellowships
OBJECTIVES
New Directions Fellowships assist faculty members in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who seek to acquire systematic training outside their own areas of special interest to pursue serious interdisciplinary research. New Directions Fellows undertake systematic training—formal, substantive, and methodological—outside their fields of specialization to acquire the competencies required for advanced cross-disciplinary research. Such research goes beyond traditional boundaries and offers innovative and effective ways of bringing humanistic knowledge to bear on societal challenges. The New Directions program is intended to enable scholars-teachers to work on problems that interest them most, at an appropriately advanced level of sophistication. In addition to facilitating the work of individual faculty members, these awards should benefit scholarship in the humanities more generally.
Applications to the foundation are evaluated by Mellon staff and a panel of distinguished faculty. The principal criteria for selection are:
- Originality of the idea, overall significance of the research, and appropriateness of the proposed training program
- Case for the importance of extra-disciplinary training for furthering the research,
- Likely ability of the candidate to derive satisfactory results from the training program proposed, within a reasonable timeframe
- Potential for long-term impact on the candidate’s new or proposed field of study, beyond just the individual’s research
- Record of the nominee, including their history of effectively advancing public-facing and/or community-engaged work
Although it is anticipated that many fellows will seek to acquire deeper knowledge of other fields within the broadly defined sphere of the humanities and humanistic social sciences, proposals to study disciplines farther afield are eligible.
For nominees whose retraining would be a departure from the humanities, their application materials will also be evaluated on whether the proposed interdisciplinary approach would reflect an enduring humanities perspective. This fellowship is a longer-term investment in the scholar’s intellectual range and productivity.
Convening
Mellon will host an inaugural convening of New Directions awardees and alumni in early May 2026. Recipients of this year’s New Directions Fellowship will be invited to attend and should apply with that possibility in mind. The convening will be a day-long gathering of Fellows and alumni at Mellon’s offices in New York City to learn about each other’s work and develop networks.
FUNDING INFORMATION
Up to $300,000 for at least 2 years and up to 3 years.
Fellows will receive all the following:
- Equivalent of one academic year’s salary
- 2 summers of additional support, each at the equivalent two-ninths of the previous academic year salary
- Tuition or course fees or equivalent direct costs associated with the fellows’ training programs
The award normally can be delayed for up to one year, if circumstances require it. The Foundation also expects the fellow’s home institution to use budgetary relief resulting from the award for academic purposes, preferably in the fellow’s department.
ELIGIBILITY RESTRICTIONS
Candidates can be faculty members who were awarded a doctorate in the humanities or humanistic social sciences between 2013 and 2019. Non-PhD terminal degrees, such as MFAs, are not eligible.
Candidates’ research interests must call for formal training in a discipline other than the one in which they are an expert.
Proposed areas of study not eligible as new directions under this Fellowship include, but are not limited to:
- Enhancement of skills to go further in the primary field
- Language study
- Technical training
- Skills acquisition, such as GIS mapping by themselves
- Short-term outcomes, such as completion of a book
INTERNAL SELECTION PROCESS
BU may nominate one candidate.
Interested applicants should submit the following materials via InfoReady Review by: 10/23/2025
- 200-word Project Summary
- 2,000-word Proposal Statement explaining the overall significance of the research being undertaken and how the proposed new direction will assist in the development of the field
- Concise CV (maximum 5 pages)
- Name and Information of the candidate’s department chair or another senior colleague who could write a letter of recommendation – the letter is not requested for internal review
A faculty committee will review internal applications and recommend the institutional nominee. Foundation Relations will work with the nominee to develop and submit the institutional nomination letter and applicant materials. Interested applicants can review past proposals in the Proposal Library and can learn more about the program in a Meet the Funded webinar where past BU recipients discuss their experience.
DEADLINES:
Internal Materials Due: Thursday, October 23, 2025 by 11:59 pm ET
Anticipated Notification Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Sponsor Deadline: Thursday, December 11, 2025 by 3:00 pm ET