Funding Opportunities

We all know graduate school funding can be precarious, at best. To help aid in the process, we have compiled a short list of national fellowships and scholarships, as well as some research and travel grant suggestions. We encourage everyone to apply for outside funding opportunities, either to boost your vitae, to help with research and travel expenses, or to secure a much needed additional year of resources. The following list is by no means comprehensive, so please conduct research on your own to find specific sources of funding for your research interests and circumstances.

First, we recommend you explore the following links on Types of Funding and Graduate Resources. These resources yields an incredible variety of Internal and external funding opportunities for graduate students from all backgrounds, countries, and research interests.

For research and travel grants, we recommend you search the library, archives, or conference websites for opportunities. The majority of national conferences and annual meetings offer graduate student travel grants usually ranging from $200-$500. Also, large private organizations, state libraries, presidential libraries, and national archival collections will often offer research grant programs for students and scholars.

Lastly, always be sure to apply for the Purdue Graduate Student Government Travel Grants for conference presentations as well! The deadlines generally are March and September every Fall and Spring Semester. They are very competitive, so if you get denied, don't be discouraged. If you get accepted, well done!

National Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

Many of the following fellowships are designed for history graduate students. However, some of them are not specifically geared towards history research, but with the right topic and some creative application writing, they might work!

NOTE: The monthly deadlines listed below are intended to be estimates for future years, but specific deadlines will fluctuate between individual years. Be sure to check the program's website to determine the exact deadline for the current year.

AUGUST
American Educational Research Association Dissertation Grants
National Endowment for the Humanities Grants

SEPTEMBER
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowships and Grants
(Multiple Fellowships and Grants with deadlines from September to January)

ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowships
ACLS/New York Public Library Fellowships
Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowships
Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars
ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowships
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/ACLS Early Career Fellowship Program
Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Dissertation Fellowships in American Art
Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Grants in East Asian Archaeology and Early History
Southeast European Studies Program Fellowships and Grants
China Studies Programs Research Fellowships
Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation (CCK) New Perspectives on Chinese Culture and Society
ACLS Humanities Program in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine

Gerald R. Fold Presidential Library Research Grants

OCTOBER
American Antiquarian Society Fellowships
Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowships
Fulbright Fellowship for International Study
Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF)
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Program
The Organization for American Historians Awards and Prizes
Social Science Research Council Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

NOVEMBER
American Association of University Women (AAUW) funding opportunities
Society for Eighteenth Century Studies (ASECS) Grants and Fellowships
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/ACLS Early Career Fellowship Program
Ford Foundation Dissertation and Pre-Doctoral Fellowships
Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) at the Library Company of Philadelphia
Mellon Fellowships for Dissertation Research in Original Sources
National Endowment for the Humanities Grants
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
Spencer Dissertation Fellowships
Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship

DECEMBER
AAUW (American Association of University Women) Educational Foundation American Fellowships
Foundation for Jewish Culture Fellowships
The Huntington Library Fellowships
Society for French Historical Studies Awards

JANUARY
American Educational Research Association Dissertation Grants
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Fellowships
Association of Women in Science Education Foundation Fellowships
Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowships in American Indian Studies
Environmental Protection Agency - NNEMS Fellowships
Institute for Historical Studies at University of Texas-Austin
Knowles Science Teaching Foundation Teaching Fellowships
The Louisville Institute Dissertation Fellowship Program
National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Graduate Fellowships
Phi Beta Kappa Society: Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship for French/Greek Studies
Smithsonian Institution Fellowships
US Department of Homeland Security Fellowships

FEBRUARY
American Educational Research Association Dissertation Grants
American Historical Association (AHA) Research Grants
American Meteorological Society Graduate Fellowship in the History of Science
Rocky Mountain Nature Association Research Fellowship

MARCH
American Historical Association (AHA) Fellowships
Greenfield Foundation Dissertation Grants
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship
The McNeil Center for Early American Studies (MCEAS) Dissertation Fellowship Program
Mercantile Fellowship in the Study of the American West and American Transportation History
Phi Alpha Theta Graduate Student Scholarship

MAY
WREI Congressional Fellowships on Women and Public Policy

JUNE
The State Historical Society of Missouri Awards and Grants

Additional Fellowships