Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships

The 2011-12 competition is now closed. The specifics below are for information purposes only. The results will be announced here in the spring.

ACLS invites applications for the sixth annual competition for the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships, which support a year of research and writing to help advanced graduate students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of Ph.D. dissertation writing. The program encourages timely completion of the Ph.D. Applicants must be prepared to complete their dissertations within the period of their fellowship tenure and no later than August 31, 2013. A grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports this program.

ACLS will award 65 Fellowships in this competition for a one-year term beginning between June and September 2012 for the 2012-2013 academic year. The Fellowship tenure may be carried out in residence at the Fellow's home institution, abroad, or at another appropriate site for the research. These Fellowships may not be held concurrently with any other fellowship or grant.

The total award of up to $33,000 includes a stipend plus additional funds for university fees and research support. In addition to the monetary support that the fellowship offers, Dissertation Completion Fellows are able to apply to participate in a seminar on preparing for the academic job market.  The seminar takes place over three days in the fall of the fellowship year.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

• be Ph.D. candidates in a humanities or social science department in the United States. (1)
• have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. except the dissertation and obtained ABD (all but dissertation) status by the application deadline.
• be no more than six years in the degree program; awardees can hold this Fellowship no later than their seventh year. (2)
• Unsuccessful applicants may reapply to this program only once.
  

Application Requirements

Applications must be submitted online and must include:

• Completed application form
• Proposal (no more than five pages, double spaced, in Times New Roman 11-point font
• One-page timeline for the expected completion of dissertation writing and defense
• Up to three additional pages of images, musical scores, or other similar supporting non-text materials [optional]
• Bibliography (no more than two pages)
• Completed chapter of the dissertation (that is neither the introduction, nor the conclusion, nor the literature review) of not more than 25 double-spaced pages, in Times New Roman 11-point font, or a representative 25-page excerpt from a longer chapter. The chapter must be in English, though citations may be in other languages (with translations provided).
• Two reference letters
• A letter from the applicant’s institution (preferably from the applicant’s department chair or dean), including (1) a statement attesting to the viability of the proposed timeline for completion; (2) stipulation that, in the event of an award, the university will not charge the student tuition or fees beyond a limit of $5,000 and will provide for any additional costs, such as health insurance; and (3) a pledge that if an ACLS award is made, the university will not provide the applicant with any subsequent aid. The writer of the institutional letter cannot be one of the reference letter writers.

Note that transcripts are not required.

Criteria Used in Judging Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship Applications

Scholars asked to review applications in this program are instructed to use the following three criteria:

1. The potential of the project to advance the field of study in which it is proposed and make an original and significant contribution to knowledge.
2. The quality of the proposal with regard to its methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature.
3. The feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will execute the work within the proposed timeframe.
4. The scholarly record and career trajectory of the applicant.
   

1. The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship program does not accept applications from students receiving a Ph.D. in the following disciplines: business, public administration, education, clinical or counseling psychology, law, social work, social welfare, public health, filmmaking, or performing arts. Students completing master’s degrees are not eligible, even if they are the terminal degree in the field. Back to text.
2. In special circumstances an applicant and his or her advisor may petition to have an application for an eighth-year fellowship considered. Such applicants must present a compelling case for eligibility. Back to text.
   For the purpose of these competitions, the humanities and related social sciences include but are not limited to American studies; anthropology; archaeology; art and architectural history; classics; economics; film; geography; history; languages and literatures; legal studies; linguistics; musicology; philosophy; political science; psychology (excluding clinical or counseling psychology); religious studies; rhetoric, communication, and media studies; sociology; and theater, dance, and performance studies. Proposals in the social science fields listed above are eligible only if they employ predominantly humanistic approaches (e.g., economic history, law and literature, political philosophy, history of psychology). Proposals in interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary studies are welcome, as are proposals focused on any geographic region or on any cultural or linguistic group.