External Funding Opportunities
The College’s Development Office and Provost's office assist Muhlenberg faculty in their advancement of professionally significant research. While the Provost’s Office provides a number of internally funded, competitive research opportunities, all applicants are strongly encouraged to explore thoroughly the possibilities of external grants and should indicate the progress they have made in finding such support with the Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Office. Individuals planning proposals for external grants should contact Deb Kipp, Assistant Vice President for Development and Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations, for information and assistance.
The Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Office is responsible, on behalf of Muhlenberg College, to ensure that proposals are consistent with College policies and sponsor proposal guidelines and that commitments made in proposals can be honored if the proposal is funded. This office will assist in narrative development, budget preparation, indirect cost verification, fringe benefit calculations, cover letters, endorsement letters, securing matching funds, 501© (3) forms, etc.
The Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Office is the only College office authorized to submit proposals that comply fully with sponsor and university guidelines on behalf of Muhlenberg College. Accordingly the Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Office is also authorized to elect NOT to submit proposals that do not comply fully with sponsor and university submission guidelines. It is College policy that no external grants, including faculty research and professional development grants, can be submitted without joint approval of the Provost’s Office and the Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations Office.
The American Council of Learned Societies (http://www.acls.org/)
ACLS Fellowships
Support for six to twelve consecutive months devoted to full-time research in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences. Amount of support depends on academic rank of applicant.
ACLS Fellowships include
ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowships
To supporthumanistic research in area studies, special funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the ACLS has been set aside for up to 10 ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowships to be designated among the successful applicants to the central ACLS Fellowship competition. Scholars pursuing research and writing on the societies and cultures of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union will be eligible for these special fellowships.
ACLS/New York Public Library Fellowships
A collaborative program with the New York Public Library to provide up to five residential fellowships at the Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. The Center provides opportunities for up to 15 Fellows to explore and use the collections of the NYPL Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Further information at www.nypl.org.
Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowships (http://www.acls.org/rysguide.htm)
Support for one academic year and possibly a summer for advanced assistant professors and untenured associate professors in the humanities and related social sciences whose scholarly contributions have advanced their fields and who have well designed and carefully developed plans for new research.
Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars (http://www.acls.org/burkguide.htm)
Open to recently tenured humanists—scholars who will have begun their first tenured contracts by the application deadline but began their first tenured contracts no earlier than four years prior to the deadline. Supports long-term, unusually ambitious projects in the humanities and related social sciences, requires an academic year (normally nine months) of residence at any one of the national residential research centers participating in the program. Requires that the fellow’s home institutions provide support for an additional period
ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowships (http://www.acls.org/difguide.htm)
Support for digitally based research projects in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences, to help advance digital humanistic scholarship by broadening understanding of its nature and exemplifying the robust infrastructure necessary for creating further such works. Support for an academic year dedicated to work on a major scholarly project that takes a digital form.
The American Philosophical Society (http://www.amphilsoc.org/)
Sabbatical Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences https://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/research
Support for mid-career faculty of universities and 4-year colleges in the United States who have been granted a sabbatical/research leave but for whom financial support from the home institution is available for only part of the year. No restriction on where the fellow resides; in May fellows participate in a two-day, all-expenses-paid symposium at the APS in Philadelphia to discuss their work.
Other programs include
Phillips Fund Grant for Native American Research
(http://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/phillips.htm)
Franklin Research Grants (http://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/franklin.htm)
To help meet the costs of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes; the purchase of microfilm, photocopies, or equivalent research materials; the costs associated with fieldwork; or laboratory research expenses.
Library Resident Research Fellowship
Short-term residential fellowships for conducting research in its collections (https://www.amphilsoc.org/grants/research).
The Carnegie Corporation (http://www.carnegie.org/)
Carnegie Scholars Program, which supports individual scholars to conduct research that extends the boundaries of its grant making priorities. For the next few years, the Scholars Program will focus on supporting scholars whose research relates to intellectual and policy developments in Islam and Muslim communities (http://www.carnegie.org/sub/program/scholars.html).
The J. Paul Getty Foundation (http://www.getty.edu/grants/)
Grants for Residential Scholars
Support for scholars in residence at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa in Los Angeles including Getty Scholars and Visiting Scholars, Villa Getty Scholars and Visiting Scholars, and Library Research Grants.
Grants for Non-residential Scholars
Include Postdoctoral Fellowships, Collaborative Research Grants, and Curatorial Research Fellowships.
(http://www.getty.edu/grants/research/scholars/index.html)
The National Endowment for the Arts (https://www.arts.gov/)
Literature Fellowships
Support for published creative writers and translators of exceptional talent in the areas of prose and poetry. Creative Writing Fellowships enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Translation Projects enable recipients to translate work from other languages into English.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (http://www.neh.gov/)
Summer Stipends (https://www.neh.gov/grants)
For full-time work on a humanities project for a period of two months; to support individuals pursuing advanced research that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the public's understanding of the humanities. Recipients usually produce scholarly articles, monographs on specialized subjects, books on broad topics, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly tools.
Fellowships (https://www.neh.gov/grants)
For full-time work on a humanities project for a period of six to twelve months; support individuals pursuing advanced research in the humanities that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of the humanities.
Collaborative Research Grants (https://www.neh.gov/grants) For support full-time or part-time activities for periods of one to three years, support original research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars; or research coordinated by an individual scholar that, because of its scope or complexity, requires additional staff and resources beyond the individual's salary.
Grants for Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions (FPIRI) (https://www.neh.gov/grants)
Fellowships to support research at institutions devoted to advanced study and research in the humanities. A list of currently supported institutions is available at the web site.
Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants (https://www.neh.gov/grants)
For the planning or initial stages of digital initiatives in all areas of the humanities, support full-time or part-time activities for periods up to eighteen months, should result in plans, prototypes, or proofs of concept for long-term digital humanities projects prior to implementation.
Summer Seminars and Institutes (https://www.neh.gov/grants)
These grants support national faculty development programs in the humanities for school teachers, and for college and university teachers. Seminars and institutes may be as short as two weeks or as long as six weeks.
The Sloan Foundation (http://www.sloan.org/main.shtml)
Industry Studies Fellowships
To support the development of industry studies, a multidisciplinary field of research on industries that is grounded in direct observation; to recognize and support junior faculty members in a wide range of academic disciplines who show the most outstanding promise of making important contributions to understanding the complex systems of companies, product and labor markets, institutions and their interactions that shape the multifaceted environment of modern industrial enterprises.(https://sloan.org/programs)
Sloan Research Fellowships
For Ph.D.s (or equivalent) in chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, economics, neuroscience, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, or in a related interdisciplinary field, who are members of the regular faculty (i.e., tenure track) of a college or university in the United States or Canada. They may be no more than six years from completion of the most recent Ph.D. or equivalent as of the year of their nomination, unless special circumstances such as military service, a change of field, or child rearing are involved or unless they have held a faculty appointment for less than two years. Candidates are nominated by department heads or other senior researchers. Fellowships are awarded for a two-year period directly to the Fellow's institution and may be used by the Fellow for such purposes as equipment, technical assistance, professional travel, trainee support, or any other activity directly related to the Fellow’s research. (https://sloan.org/programs)
The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program
(http://www.si.edu/ofg/infotoapply.htm)
Support for research in a discipline pursued at the Smithsonian, especially projects that broaden and diversify the research conducted within these disciplines. Fellowships are offered to support research at Smithsonian facilities or field stations. Fellows are expected to spend most of their tenure in residence at the Smithsonian, except when arrangements are made for periods of field work or research travel. Appropriate members of the Smithsonian professional staff must be willing and able to serve in the capacity of principal advisor or host, and space and facilities must be available to accommodate the proposed research. Postdoctoral Fellowships are offered to scholars who have held a Ph.D. or equivalent for less than seven years. Senior Fellowships are offered to scholars who have held a Ph.D. or equivalent for seven years or more. The term is 3 to 12 months (note: postdoctoral fellowships in science may be awarded for up to twenty-four months).
Other programs include
Lemelson Center Fellowships at the National Museum of American History(http://www.si.edu/ofg/fell.htm#fnmah) and
The Douglass Foundation Fellowship in American Art for scholarly research in American art, The Patricia and Phillip Frost Fellowship for research in American art and visual culture, The James Renwick Fellowship in American Craft for research in American studio crafts or decorative arts from the nineteenth century to the present, The Sara Roby Fellowship in Twentieth-Century American Realism for research topic in the area of American realism, and The Terra Foundation for American Art Fellowships which seek to foster a cross-cultural dialogue about the history of art of the United States, support for work by scholars from abroad who are researching American art or by U.S. scholars, especially those who are investigating international contexts for American art.
All at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (http://www.si.edu/ofg/fell.htm#fsaam)
The Social Sciences Research Council (http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/)
The Abe Fellowship
Designed to encourage international multidisciplinary research on topics of pressing global concern, supports research in the social sciences or the humanities relevant to any one or combination of three themes: (1) global issues, (2) problems common to industrial and industrializing societies, and (3) issues that pertain to US-Japan relations.
JSPS Fellowship Program
(The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship Program) for U.S. researchers provides promising and highly qualified recent PhDs and ABDs with opportunities to conduct research in Japan.
The Eurasia Fellowship
For research on the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the New States of Eurasia. Research related to the non-Russian states, regions, and peoples is particularly encouraged.
Eurasia Teaching Fellowship
Supports faculty members, at all career levels, wishing to create and implement significantly revised or wholly new university courses on or related to any of the New States of Eurasia, the Soviet Union, and/or the Russian Empire.
South Asia Regional Fellowship Program (SARFP) Enables successful applicants to take time off from teaching and other responsibilities to write up completed research on a theme. Past themes have included “Resources & Society,” “Migration,” “Boundaries of Bodies, States and Societies,” and “The ‘Long’ 1950s.” The South Asia Program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is particularly interested in applications from junior scholars who have had relatively fewer opportunities to attend international conferences and/or receive international fellowships and grants.
The Spencer Foundation (http://www.spencer.org)
Research grants provide funding for investigations that promise to yield new knowledge about education in the United States or abroad. fit within one or more of four areas of inquiry: The Relation between Education and Social Opportunity; Organizational Learning in Schools, School Systems, and Higher Education Institutions; Teaching, Learning, and Instructional Resources; and, Purposes and Values of Education. In addition to proposals in these defined areas, applicants may submit field-initiated proposals outside these areas. (https://www.spencer.org/research-grants)
The National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowships and the Spencer Fellows at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University
For more narrowly tailored opportunities, such as
Postdoctoral Behavioral Research Training on Variations in Child and Adolescent Development at the Wellesley Centers for Women, resident fellowships in the Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana at the School of Business Administration at the University of Evansville, the Kislak Fellowship at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, in Washington, D.C., the Scholars-in-Residence Program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Research Fellowships at the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and the Research Fellowships at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at University of Texas at Austin
See the Chronicle of Higher Education
(http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5)
Prepared by Professor Patrice DiQuinzio
484-664-3416, diquinzi@muhlenberg.edu
