Description

The Research and Development program from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funds projects that tackle significant challenges in preserving or providing access to humanities collections and resources. This includes fragile artifacts, manuscripts, analog and digital recordings, and other culturally important materials. The program supports projects at all stages—from early planning and studies to advanced implementation.

Projects may produce diverse outcomes such as laboratory datasets, standards guidelines, open access software tools, workflow and equipment specifications, or metadata schemas. The program covers a broad range of humanities collection types including moving image and sound recordings, archaeological artifacts, born digital and time-based media, rare books and manuscripts, archival records, material culture, and art.

Special areas of interest include:

• Advancing theory and practice in core heritage collections work (e.g., appraisal, cataloging, digital curation)
• Preserving audiovisual and digital heritage
• Applying artificial intelligence to collections-based activities
• Conserving the material past and protecting cultural heritage
• Stewarding collections by and with underrepresented communities
• Responding to the impact of climate change

This grant is part of NEH’s Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence initiative, encouraging research on the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI.

The program also aligns with NEH’s special initiative, American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future, which supports projects addressing themes such as strengthening democracy, advancing equity, and addressing climate change.