The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Early Career Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Early Career Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies support recent PhDs without tenure, providing release from other duties to work full time on the proposed project. The six- to nine-month fellowship may be used for research or writing. Priority is given to applicants who are unemployed, underemployed, or hold contingent positions. 

Fellowship Details

• Stipend: Up to $67,500. The exact stipend will be calculated based on fellowship period length at $7,500 per month. 
• Supplement: Up to $7,500 for scholars who are unemployed, underemployed, or hold contingent positions.  
• Fellowship Period: Six to nine consecutive months, starting between July 1, 2027, and January 30, 2028, devoting full time to the project. 
• The stipend supports full-time work on the proposed project and may be used for research costs and living expenses. No teaching, administrative duties, or other employment is allowed during the fellowship period. Finalists may request a waiver of this requirement if their institutions do not provide leave. 
• No university overhead is permitted. 
• Applicants must identify a significant scholarly product (e.g., monograph, series of journal articles, translation) that will result from the fellowship. It may be written in any language.  
• Completed applications must be submitted through the ACLS Online Fellowship Administration system no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time, October 28, 2026. 
• Result notifications will be sent via email in late Spring 2027.  
• All eligible applicants will be able to request reviewer feedback in late Spring 2027. 

Additional Opportunities

The Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) is an international membership organization of interdisciplinary research centers with over 170 members and affiliates in 23 countries. Through a partnership between ACLS and CHCI, fellows have the opportunity to spend all or part of their fellowship terms in residence at selected CHCI member organizations. This is an optional enhancement to the award for fellows and does not require a separate application.  Further instructions will be provided to awardees. 

• Applicants must have a PhD degree conferred (officially awarded) by an institution of higher education (college or university) no earlier than January 1, 2019.  

• • If the PhD is not conferred (officially awarded) by the application deadline, then you must: 

• • • At the time of application, have an institutional representative (e.g., department chair, director of graduate studies, dean) confirm through a form in the OFA system that you are on schedule to complete the PhD by April 15, 2027. This is not a reference letter. 

• • • Finalists will be asked to submit documentation that the dissertation has been submitted and approved in the Spring.  

• • Scholars without a PhD who can demonstrate equivalency in publications and professional experience may still qualify. To request equivalency, please contact us at [email protected] to confirm eligibility before submitting an application. 

• Applicants who have obtained tenure, or who have submitted tenure materials for review by the application deadline, are not eligible. 

• The application must be written in English. 
• There are no restrictions as to the location of work proposed or the citizenship/residence of applicants.  
• Work proposed must be in the humanities or social sciences and focus predominantly on Buddhist Studies. For the purpose of this competition, the field of Buddhist Studies is defined broadly to include, but is not limited to, disciplines such as history, philology, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies. Projects may engage any Buddhist traditions and/or contemporary developments. 

AI Guidelines

Applicants may use AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to write their application. However, it is the responsibility of the named applicant to ensure that all content in their proposal is factual and that they have properly acknowledged and referenced all sources. As the applicant, you are responsible for any errors, omissions, hallucinations, or acts of plagiarism in your application. We encourage you to indicate in your application where and how you used AI assistance for full transparency. 

ACLS and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global believe that Buddhist Studies benefits from inclusivity of voices, narratives, and subjects from around the world. We encourage applications from all eligible scholars, and we value projects that demonstrate thoughtful engagement with communities and topics that have been historically underrepresented or under-studied in Buddhist Studies.  

Peer reviewers are asked to take into consideration ACLS’s commitment to inclusive excellence, understood as the pursuit of academic excellence enriched by a plurality of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and the broadening of humanistic inquiry to encompass a wide array of topics, methodologies, and communities. 

Reviewers in this program are asked to evaluate all eligible proposals on the following criteria: 

• Significance of the topic and its potential contribution to Buddhist Studies. Does the project engage successfully with Buddhist Studies? How will the project make a meaningful contribution to current knowledge? 

• Quality of the proposal with regard to its methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature. 

• Feasibility of the project and the work plan given the applicant’s academic background and experience. 

• Potential of the applicant’s career in and impact on Buddhist Studies, taking into account relative advantages and constraints on resources. What is the potential for the circulation and impact of their scholarship in the academy and in the classroom?  

Applications must be submitted online and must include the following uploaded documents, formatted in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font with at least 1-inch margins on all sides.  

• A completed application form that includes basic biographical information and short-answer questions about your project. 

• An uploaded proposal (no more than five pages, double-spaced, including any footnotes or endnotes) detailing project context and goals, work already undertaken, and resources needed to complete the project. The proposal should address the following points, using the italicized headings to label each section: 
  • Main Thesis: The principal argument or claim guiding the proposed research and writing. 

• • Research Questions: The background of the claim in more detail with a justification of the research focus and approach. What is already known about the topic and what more needs to be known? 

• • Literature and Sources: The proposed topic placed in the context of existing literature and potential new sources. How will the project extend, modify, or challenge existing scholarship? 

• • Methods: A detailed description of the methods to be used. How will the methodology address the project’s research questions and main thesis? 

• • Significance: An explanation of the importance of the proposed work to central issues in Buddhist Studies, to other disciplines, and to humanities scholarship in general. 

• • Note: Applicants who were previous awardees of any other Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies competition must clearly explain how this proposal differs from the previously funded project. For example, an applicant who previously received a Dissertation Fellowship must explicitly describe how the Early Career Research Fellowship will support significant new work on the project.   

• An uploaded work plan (no more than one page, single-spaced) describing the project timeline, including work in progress/already completed, tasks and activities during the fellowship period, and anticipated work to finish the proposed scholarly product. All applicants must use the work plan template provided by ACLS.  

• • Specify the individuals (colleagues or interlocutors relevant to project), institutions, and/or sites to be visited, including archives, libraries, geographical sources, as well as proposed institutional affiliations relevant to your project. 

• An uploaded bibliography (no more than two pages, single-spaced with hanging indents) demonstrating relevant primary and secondary sources to be utilized in the proposed project. 

• An uploaded personal statement (no more than two pages, double-spaced) describing your journey as a scholar and how personal experience, scholarly influences, and broader research interests inform your proposed project. 

• An uploaded publications list (no more than two pages, single-spaced with hanging indents). 

• If your PhD has not been conferred (officially awarded) by the application deadline, an institutional statement must be submitted through the OFA system. An institutional representative (e.g., department chair, director of graduate studies, dean) must confirm that you are on schedule to complete your PhD by April 15, 2027. Note that this is an online form, not a reference letter.

Supporting Documents

• • 2026-27 Sample Application for the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Early Career Research Fellowships
  • Work Plan Template

Find answers to common questions about this competition.

Questions should be directed to [email protected]. Please read the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) before making inquiries.

Institutional administrators (e.g., Office of Sponsored Projects) should read our general guidance.