Dissertation Year Graduate Students
This page contains a list of opportunities for students at the dissertation stage. Many of them offer stipends, while some also contribute towards tuition; others offer research support.
AAUW American Dissertation Fellowships provide $20,000 to offset living expenses during the final year of writing the dissertation. The application is open to all scholars who identify as women.
Applications are due in early November of each year.
Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) Graduate Dissertation Fellowship provides support to advanced Stanford Ph.D. students whose dissertations apply a comparative and interdisciplinary lens to the study of race and ethnicity. All currently enrolled Stanford Ph.D. candidates at TGR status are eligible.
Applications are due in February.
Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) Graduate Teaching Fellowships provide TA support to advanced Stanford Ph.D. students with an interest in teaching and research about race, ethnicity, and justice from transnational and comparative perspectives. There have been three types of teaching fellowships in the past: CCSRE Teaching Fellow, Senior Seminar Coordinator, and Community Engagement Fellow.
Applications are due in February.
Stanford’s Center for the American West Thomas D. Dee II Graduate Fellowship provides support to Stanford Ph.D. students who have reached TGR conducting dissertation research on the American West. In addition to tuition and a stipend, the fellowship provides some research support.
Applications are due March 31.
The Council for European Studies Fellowship Program provides students with an opportunity to travel to Europe to test the feasibility of their dissertation projects.
Applications due January 15.
The John Hope Franklin Dissertation Fellowship supports the Ph.D. projects of minority students and other students with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities and enlarging minority representation in academia. Requires at least three months in residence at the APS Library in Philadelphia.
The Josephine de Karman Fellowship provides one year of support to advanced Ph.D. students who have significant publications and have completed several chapters of the dissertation at the time of application.
Applications are due in late January.
The Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund provides grants to advanced doctoral candidates at Northern California universities for research in the humanistic disciplines. Grants include a 12 month stipend and 3 quarters of TGR tuition. For information e-mail or call the Executive Secretary at 408-293-9952.
Due date is in mid-January of each year.
Mellon-CES Dissertation Completion Fellowships in European Studies provides funding to facilitate the timely completion of the doctoral degree by late-stage (ABD) graduate students in the humanities working on Europe.
Applications due mid-January.
Mellon Fellowships for Dissertation Research offers about fifteen competitively awarded fellowships a year in amounts up to $25,000. Each provides a stipend of $2,000 per month for periods ranging from 9-12 months. Each fellow receives an additional $1,000 upon participating in a symposium on research in orginal sources and submitting a report acceptable to CLIR on the research experience.
Program currently suspended.
The Mitchem Dissertation Fellowship at Marquette University is intended to increase the presence of underrepresented ethnic groups by supporting Ph.D. candidates in completing their dissertation. The fellowship provides one year of financial support, including a stipend, fringe benefits, and research and travel funds. The fellow must in residence at Marquette for an academic year, and will teach one course in their area of specialization while completing their dissertation.
Applications are due March 31
MMUF Dissertation Grants support doctoral candidates who previously participated in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships as they near the completion of their dissertations.
Applications due in early December.
National Academies Ford Diversity Dissertation Fellowship provides one year of support to doctoral students in all fields, with particular consideration of applicants belonging to the following groups: Alaska Natives (Eskimo or Aleut); Black/African Americans; Mexican Americans/Chicanas/Chicanos; Native American Indians; Native Pacific Islanders (Polynesian/Micronesian); Puerto Ricans.
Applications due in early December.
National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program provides dissertation funding to individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and construction perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world.
Applications due in early October.
Penn Predoctoral Fellowships for Excellence Through Diversity is designed to provide mentorship and access to Penn’s resources for doctoral students in the humanities or social sciences, enrolled at universities other than Penn, as they complete their dissertations. Fellowship provide a stipend, a research/travel fund, and moving expenses.
Applications due in mid-December.
P.E.O. Scholar Awards provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada for their final two years of doctoral study.
Must be nominated by a local chapter between August and November for a fellowship to start the following year.
Phi Beta Kappa’s Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship (for women studying Greek language, literature, history, or archeology or French language or literature; the award alternates yearly between Greek and French).
Applications are due in mid-January.
The Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Student Fellowship allows students to conduct 3-12 months of dissertation research at the Smithsonian.
Applications due November 1.
Stanford’s Center for East Asian Studies’ Fellowship for the Study of Women in Asia: a fellowship for dissertation research or write-up on women in Asia. Provides a $15,000 stipend plus TGR fees.
Applications are due in mid-March.
Stanford’s Clayman Institute Graduate Dissertation Fellows Program provides awards to registered Stanford students who have reached TGR and whose research focuses on issues of women and/or gender. Applicants are expected to be Graduate Affiliates of the Institute.
Applications are due in early February.
Stanford’s Diversifying Academia Recruiting Excellence (DARE) Fellowships for advanced doctoral students who plan to pursue academic careers, and whose presence will help diversify the professoriate.
Applications are due in late March.
Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences Dissertation Fellowships:
- Humanities Center Geballe Dissertation Fellowships (require being in residence at the Humanities Center). Applications due in early January.
- G.J. Lieberman Fellowships (require evidence of leadership and teaching ability and interest in a university teaching career). Applications due in late February.
- Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellowships. Applications due in early January.
Stanford VPGE Diversity Dissertation Research Opportunity (DDRO) provides up to $5,000 of research support for doctoral students from any department or program whose dissertations focus on diversity-related topics.
Applications are due in late March.
The William Orr Dingwall Foundation offers Neurolinguistics Dissertation Fellowships of one year (12 months) for doctoral candidates who are specializing in the cognitive, clinical, and neural foundations of language. Smaller fellowship stipends may be available for shorter periods. The stipend may be used to defray living expenses, to purchase health insurance, to purchase equipment, for travel or for any other purpose reasonably related to the completion of the recipient’s doctoral dissertation. Candidates must be nominated by the Department Chair or Graduate Director.
Applications are due May 1.
The WW Women’s Studies Fellowships support the final year of dissertation writing for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences whose work addresses topics of women and gender in interdisciplinary and original ways.
Applications are due in mid-October.