NEH Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
Fellowships provide recipients time to conduct research or to produce books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, digital materials, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, or critical editions resulting from previous research. Projects may be at any stage of development.
NEH invites research applications from scholars in all disciplines, and it encourages submissions from independent scholars and junior scholars.
Eligibility Information
The Fellowships program accepts applications from individuals who meet the following requirements.
- Citizenship: U.S. citizens, whether they reside inside or outside the United States, are eligible to apply. Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline are also eligible.
- Currently enrolled students: While applicants need not have advanced degrees, individuals currently enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible to apply. Applicants who have satisfied all the requirements for a degree and are awaiting its conferral are eligible for NEH Fellowships; but such applicants must include a letter from the dean of the conferring school or their department chair attesting to the applicant’s status as of the application deadline.