Funding for Graduate Students
*Please note that 2025-26 fellowships are subject to the availability of funds
Upcoming Application Deadline: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center offers dissertation fellowships to support UCSB doctoral candidates whose research facilitates dialogue across the traditional disciplinary boundaries within the arts and humanities and/or between the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. In addition to making a significant contribution to current scholarship and research practices, proposed projects should seek to frame their questions, methods, and modes of inquiry with reference to two or more established disciplines/fields of study and/or foster the development of new objects, areas of study, and ways of producing, presenting, and disseminating knowledge. Each fellowship carries a stipend of $7,000, with payment of full resident-level fees and health insurance for one quarter of the academic year. Fellowships are held in the academic year following the award application deadline. Applications are due no later than 5:00 pm on the deadline date. For further information, contact IHC Associate Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.
Dissertation Fellowship Restrictions and Requirements
- Students in the humanities (Division of Humanities and Fine Arts) and humanistic social sciences (Division of Social Sciences) are eligible to apply.
- Applicants must have either registered student status or approved research leave of absence (if appropriate), both at the time of application and for the duration of the fellowship. Students must have advanced to PhD candidacy by the application deadline. P3 students are not eligible to hold the dissertation fellowship.
- Fellowship recipients are not permitted to hold other campus fellowships or academic employment during the tenure of their fellowship quarter. Awards may not be deferred beyond the specified period of possible tenure.
- Award recipients are expected to enroll and participate in an IHC Dissertation Fellows Seminar during the three academic quarters following their acceptance of the fellowship. Dissertation Fellows are required to make a presentation based on a topic related to their research and to serve once as primary discussant. The seminar meets approximately twice per quarter in person. Fellows are permitted to not be in residence and to participate virtually for one quarter if their research necessitates travel.
- Fellowship recipients are expected to attend a minimum of six events (at least two per quarter) in the IHC’s public events series.
Application Instructions
To apply, submit an online application form, which also requires you to upload the following as PDF files:
- a project description (5 double-spaced pages maximum, see guidelines below) and a bibliography (1-2 pages)
- a brief curriculum vitae (no longer than 2 pages)
A letter of support from the applicant’s dissertation director or faculty graduate advisor should also be sent directly to the IHC at ihcucsb@gmail.com no later than the application due date.
Project Description Guidelines
The project description should:
- state the objectives, ideas, and methodology of the project. Your description should be directed toward non-specialists.
- discuss the project’s significance and originality with reference to current scholarship and/or arts practice
- specify the interdisciplinary scope of the project
- include a timetable and work plan, indicating the status of the project and outlining project activities in the proposed award period
- define the project’s target audience(s) and the form(s) in which the research will eventually be disseminated (e.g. book, article, art exhibit, performance)
Upcoming Application Deadline: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center offers collaborative project awards of up to $1,500 to encourage graduate student collaboration beyond the confines of particular departments and disciplines, both within the arts and humanities and between the arts and humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The award supports collaborative work whose interdisciplinarity is essential to the project’s conceptualization and that draws upon techniques, methodologies, and media from multiple disciplines for its execution. Eligible projects include conferences, symposia, exhibitions, and performances at UCSB or in the local community. Groups of graduate students from at least two UCSB departments and academic programs are eligible to apply. A faculty advisor is required. Proposals must clearly formulate the project’s interdisciplinary framework of inquiry and approach, the audiences and publics that will be engaged, and the format(s) of dissemination to be used. Funded projects will be designated IHC activities and accorded full administrative support. Award funds must be used within 18 months of award notification. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria. Applications are due no later than 5:00 pm on the deadline date. Note: Award decisions are announced approximately one month after the award deadline. Please factor this into your budget planning for projects that take place close to the award deadline.
For further information, contact IHC Assistant Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.
Application Instructions
To apply, submit an online application form, which also requires you to upload the following as PDF files:
- a project description (5 double-spaced pages, see instructions below)
- a preliminary budget. Please use this template as a starting point for your budget and briefly explain any budget items that are not self-explanatory. (NB: IHC funds can be used for equipment rental but not purchase. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria.)
- brief curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum) of the project organizers
Project Description Guidelines
The project description should:
- state the objectives, ideas, and interdisciplinary methodology of the project
- discuss the project’s significance and originality with reference to current scholarship and/or arts practices
- if the project is part of an ongoing series of similar events/projects or a recurring conference, explain how the current project or convening productively extends previous work and how the themes and topics to be addressed advance the interdisciplinary objectives of this award
- explain the new, interdisciplinary knowledge and scholarship the project will generate and its broader impacts (e.g. on campus culture or specific communities)
- state the particular expertise and potential contribution of each participant
- define the project’s target audience(s) and the form(s) in which it will be disseminated
- include a timetable and work plan, specifying project activities and names of outside speakers who have been or will be invited
Upcoming Application Deadline: Wednesday, January 15, 2025 (for projects taking place through Spring 2026)
The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center offers individual and collaborative awards of up to $1,000 for interdisciplinary projects in the visual, performing, and media arts. The competition is open to UCSB faculty and graduate students. The award supports creative work that uses its medium in innovative ways to explore topics of humanistic concern. Projects that engage audiences both within and beyond the university are strongly encouraged. Proposals should discuss the format(s) of dissemination to be used. Funded projects will be designated an IHC activity and accorded full administrative support. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria. Applications are due no later than 5:00 pm on the deadline date.
For further information, contact IHC Assistant Director Christoffer Bovbjerg at cbovbjerg@ihc.ucsb.edu.
Application Instructions
To apply, submit an online application form, which also requires you to upload the following as PDF files:
- a project description (5 pages, double spaced, see instructions below)
- a preliminary budget. Please use this template as a starting point for your budget and briefly explain any budget items that are not self-explanatory. (NB: IHC funds can be used for equipment rental but not purchase. Award funds may not be used for UC faculty stipends/honoraria.)
- a brief curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum)
Project Description Guidelines
The project description should:
- state the objectives, ideas, and methodology of the project, clearly articulating how it advances humanistic understanding
- discuss the project’s significance and originality with reference to current scholarship and arts practice
- specify the interdisciplinary scope of the project
- include a timetable and work plan, specifying project activities
- indicate how the project will engage audiences on and off campus and the form(s) in which it will be disseminated
- be clear and coherent to non-specialist readers
For collaborative projects, the description should also:
- explain the nature of the collaboration
- state the particular expertise and potential contribution of each participant