Funder: American Council of Learned Societies
Due Dates (Anticipated): October 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $42,000 stipend plus up to $8,000 in supplemental funds and $2,000 for mentorship; 9–12 months
Summary: Supports early-stage doctoral research expanding humanities and interpretive social sciences through innovative methods, dissertation formats, and collaborations.
Key Information: Fellows must remain fully enrolled and be released from coursework, assistantships, and teaching during the fellowship.
Description
The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship is administered by the American Council of Learned Societies with support from the Mellon Foundation. It supports doctoral students at the formative stage of dissertation development, before research and writing are advanced. The program seeks to broaden the methods, subjects, formats, and forms of scholarly communication considered suitable for doctoral work in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.
Supported activities include interdisciplinary research, methodological and digital training, new dissertation designs, equitable community partnerships, and short practicums with non-academic organizations. External mentorship helps fellows develop expertise and expand their advisory networks. ACLS encourages thoughtful engagement with historically underrepresented or understudied communities and topics, welcoming research grounded in any historical period, community, or world region.
