The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship Program is an interdisciplinary training program that helps early-stage doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences formulate dissertation research proposals. The program seeks students who can strengthen their proposals through exposure to the theories, literatures, methods, and intellectual traditions of disciplines outside their own. To that end, the program offers workshops, exploratory summer research, and writing opportunities guided by faculty mentorship and peer review.

The fellowship is open to all students in the humanities and social sciences who are beginning to formulate proposals for their dissertation research, regardless of topic.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be currently matriculated in PhD programs at accredited universities in the United States.
• Applicants may be US citizens or noncitizens.
• Applicants must have completed at least two full years of graduate study (MA and/or PhD) by the end of June 2016.
• Applicants must be on track to obtain approval of their dissertation proposals after the September 2016 DPDF workshop but before the end of the 2016-2017 academic year.
• Applicants must commit to attend the spring and fall workshops in their entirety and to conduct at least six weeks of summer research away from their home institutions between the 2016 spring and fall workshops.
• Students who have already submitted dissertation research proposals to their departments for approval or to funding agencies for support of their dissertation research are not eligible to apply to the DPDF Program.