The Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) offers nine to twelve months of support to graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who are enrolled in PhD programs in the United States and conducting dissertation research on non-US topics. Seventy fellowships are awarded annually. Fellowship amounts vary depending on the research plan, with a per-fellowship average of $23,000. The fellowship includes participation in an SSRC-funded interdisciplinary workshop upon the completion of IDRF-funded research.

Eligibility
The program is open to graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences—regardless of citizenship—enrolled in PhD programs in the United States. Applicants to the 2021 IDRF competition must complete all PhD requirements except on-site research by the time the fellowship begins or by December 2021, whichever comes first.

The program invites proposals for dissertation research about US Indigenous topics that are conducted within the United States as well as proposals for projects that are conducted, in whole or in part, outside the United States on non-US topics. It will consider applications for dissertation research grounded in a single site, informed by broader cross-regional and interdisciplinary perspectives, as well as applications for multi-sited, comparative, and transregional research. Proposals that address topics within US Indigenous studies — Native America, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander studies — or that identify the United States as a case for comparative inquiry are welcome. Other proposals that focus predominantly or exclusively on the United States are not eligible.. 

The IDRF program supports research only and may not be used for dissertation write-up.