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Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships

American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)

The fellowship encourages timely completion of the PhD. It supports a year of research and writing to help advanced graduate students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of PhD dissertation writing.

Key Information

Eligibility Requirements

  • Age/Grade Level:
    Must be PhD candidates
  • Financial Need:
    Not Mentioned
  • Other Academic Requirements:
    Must have completed all requirements for the PhD except the dissertation (i.e., obtained ABD status) by the application deadline; Be no more than six years into the degree program at the time of application. This includes time spent earning an MA within that program.
  • Major/Career:
    Be PhD candidates in a humanities or social science department
  • Miscellaneous:
    Applicants must be prepared to complete their dissertations within the period of their fellowship tenure and no later than August 31, 2018; Not currently hold or have previously held a dissertation completion fellowship; Have not previously applied for this fellowship more than once
  • Other Benefits:
    In addition to the monetary support that the fellowship offers, Dissertation Completion Fellows are able to apply to participate in a seminar on preparing for the academic job market. The seminar takes place over three days in the fall of the fellowship year.

Application Details

  • Judging Criteria:
    Scholars asked to review applications in this program are instructed to use the following four criteria: 1) The potential of the project to advance the field of study in which it is proposed and make an original and significant contribution to knowledge. 2) The quality of the proposal with regard to its methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature. 3) The feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will execute the work within the proposed time frame. 4) The applicants record of scholarly engagement and potential for scholarly achievement.
  • Transcript:
    Not required
  • Resume/Activity List:
    Not required
  • Recommendation Letters:
    Two reference letters, one of which must come from the applicants dissertation advisor
  • Other Materials:
    Proposal (no more than 5 double-spaced pages in Times New Roman 11-point font); One-page timeline for the expected completion of dissertation writing and defense/filing; Up to 3 additional pages of images, musical scores, or other similar supporting non-text materials [optional]; Bibliography (no more than 2 pages); Completed chapter of the dissertation (that is neither the introduction, nor the conclusion, nor the literature review) of not more than 25 double-spaced pages in Times New Roman 11-point font; or a representative 25-page excerpt from a longer chapter. The chapter must be in English, though citations may be in other languages (with translations provided); A statement from the applicants institution (preferably from the applicants chair, director of graduate studies, or dean)

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