Dissertation Fellowships FAQs

Only Stanford graduate students are eligible to apply for these fellowships.

Applicants from the interpretive social sciences may apply for all three of graduate fellowships (SHC Dissertation Prize, Mellon Foundation Dissertation, and SHC Career Launch). Applications in the social sciences should employ a research methodology that focuses on historical, philosophical, and/or literary methods of inquiry and should be concerned with questions of culture or value. A project that is largely quantitative or analytical is unlikely to receive support from the selection committee.

Applicants from outside the School of Humanities and Sciences are eligible to apply for SHC Dissertation Prize Fellowships and the Career Launch Fellowships, but not the Mellon.

Please note: The humanities Lieberman fellowship is now by nomination only. Please see https://vpge.stanford.edu/fellowships-funding/gerald-j-lieberman-fellowship/details for further details.

Graduate students may apply to the SHC Dissertation Prize AND Mellon Dissertation fellowships, OR to the Career Launch fellowship but not DP/Mellon and CLF in the same application cycle. 

Applicants are encouraged to apply for both the SHC DP and Mellon fellowship if they would accept either and if meet the eligibility criteria regarding residency at the Humanities Center. Applicants for these two awards are typically in their 5th or 6th year of the doctoral program. From the applicant pool, a top group of approximately 50 potential awardees is identified for the approximately 25 fellowship spots. The same selection committee collectively evaluates applicants for both SHC DP and Mellon fellowships (as well as the Career Launch fellowship). Only at the very end of the selection process are specific applicants matched up with specific fellowships. Designating multiple fellowships gives the selection committee more award options.

SHC Dissertation Prize Fellowships go to applicants whose work would be of interest to an interdisciplinary group of scholars, and who would benefit from the professional and intellectual resources offered by a year in residence at the Humanities Center.

Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellowships are typically given to students who have made timely progress through their early years in graduate school (i.e., those who will be in their 6th year of the graduate program for the tenure of the fellowship). The fellowship is well suited to those who do not want the residency obligations of a Humanities Center fellowship (e.g., daily lunches, weekly seminars, etc.). Please note that Mellon fellows must still fulfill the campus residency requirements set by their dean and departments.

Career Launch Fellowships are given to outstanding students who show strong progress toward completing the dissertation, demonstrate a level of professional acculturation that corresponds to their years in the program, and would benefit from additional professional development in their transition to the academic  job market. Unlike the SHC Dissertation Prize and Mellon Foundation awards, candidates who have held other competitive dissertation fellowships are not at a disadvantage in their applications. Career Launch fellows are not obligated to be in physical residence at the Humanities Center. However, because residency will allow fellows to benefit from and contribute to the SHC fellowship community, Career Launch fellows are encouraged to take active part in the daily life of the Center, including participating in weekday lunches and weekly research seminar. Pending availability, fellows may have access to shared office space at the Center.

SHC Dissertation Fellows are are expected to take regular part in the life of the Center for the duration of their fellowship; they should not spend more than a week per academic quarter (plus University holidays and breaks) away.

Mellon Dissertation fellows are obligated to fulfill only those residency requirements set by their dean and departments.

Career Launch Fellows are encouraged to take active part in the daily life of the Center. Travel for the completion of the dissertation is permitted as long as departmental residency requirements are being met.

Reapplicants are not at a disadvantage in the selection process. Each year, the selection committee has many more fundable projects than fellowships to grant. Not being awarded a grant in a previous competition will in no way negatively prejudice an application. Additionally, each group of applications is read by a new set of reviewers, as selection committee membership changes each year.

Previous Stanford humanities dissertation fellowship recipients (SHC and Mellon) may reapply for a fellowship they have not previously received. They are at a disadvantage in the competition for the SHC Dissertation Prize and Mellon because we try to make those two fellowships available to as broad a group of scholars as our resources will allow, and there are so few fellowship spots to go around. However, previous recipients of a dissertation fellowship (including the SHC DP and Mellon) are not at a disadvantage for the Career Launch fellowship, and are welcomed to apply.

Please write a brief note explaining this in the “Optional Notes" section of the online application. 

Incompletes should be resolved by the beginning of your fellowship term. Please upload an explanation for any exceptional circumstances for an incomplete or degree milestone in the “Optional Notes” section of the online application.

A   No other employment, assistantship, or fellowship (unless specifically intended for limited travel or research expense, or as part of the professionalization component of the Career Launch Fellowship) may be held concurrently. Exceptions to this restriction must be approved in advance by the Humanities Center Director (for SHC Dissertation Prize and CL Fellowship) or the H&S Dean’s Office (for Mellon).

Please notify the fellowship manager at the Humanities Center if you decide to accept another fellowship or a job before the competition results are announced. With so few fellowships and so many deserving applicants, we would like to make offers as soon as possible to students in the position to accept them.