At GradFund, we offer graduate students and post-doc scholars alike, guidance and advice for applying to different types of external funding. Most students know about the Fulbright-Hays fellowships, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, and the Ford Foundation Fellowships. However, there are many smaller awards for research and travel that are also available to students at different stages of their degree.
A good number of foundations, private and/or public archives, and libraries offer short-term funding awards for students who need to start, continue, or finalize their research for their dissertations, or even for the purpose of an article publication. Depending on your project’s geographical area, time period, and/or stage of completion, research awards ranging from $500.00 to a few thousand dollars are available to help you travel to your specific research area, gather information, and supplement the funding you may already be receiving from your department. In addition, smaller awards such as these tend to not have specific citizenship requirements, making them ideal for international students. This blog post will focus on research travel grants and awards for history students in the research or completion stages of their dissertations.
For any historian studying the United States, membership in the American Historical Association is a must. The AHA is the largest professional organization for historians, and provide awards and funding for graduate history students who are members in good standing. For access to the Library of Congress, the J. Franklin Jameson Fellowship in American History supports recipients for a full semester of study. For students who study histories of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Bernadotte E. Schmitt Grants provide short-term funding for research travel and expenses. Finally, the Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in the History of the Western Hemisphere is $1000.00 for research expenses like travel to archives, photocopying and even collecting microfilms.
Another set of research grants and awards are geared towards history students who are nearing completion of their degree. These special awards give an extra boost of funding and support for ABD (All But Dissertation) students. The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians sponsors the CCWH / Berks Graduate Student Fellowship, which provides one student with $1000.00 with a crucial stage of research or their final year of writing. Next, the Society for the History of Technology Melvin Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship helps history of technology students with $4000.00 to assist with anything they may need to complete their degree.
Ultimately, many research awards for any student working on their dissertations are available from associations like the AHA, major archives like the New York Public Libraries, and even from many schools like Duke University. Smaller research grants and awards are less competitive than larger multi-year fellowships, and have less requirements and stipulations.
To obtain advice with any small grants and applications, book an appointment with us at GradFund today, and also check out our Fellowship/Grant database to see these special awards and many others!
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