National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Nomination – Application Instructions

Deadline: Monday, August 28, 2023 11:59pm

OVERVIEW

National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipends support full-time work on a humanities project for two consecutive, uninterrupted summer months. Home institutions may nominate two faculty members who normally teach full time for the national NEH Summer Stipend competition. The Hall Center for the Humanities is the nominating body for the University of Kansas. Nominees who are successful in the national competition receive a $6,000 stipend and may begin their funding period as early as May 1, 2024, and as late as September 1, 2025. Please see the NEH program description for national competition details.

HALL CENTER DEADLINE: Monday, August 28, 2023, at 11:59PM CDT

NEH DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 10:59PM CDT

NOMINATION PROCESS

The Hall Center Director appoints a proposal review committee of KU faculty members from humanities-related disciplines, which selects two KU nominees. The Hall Center Director notifies the candidates and conveys the reviewers' comments. Nominees are encouraged to discuss this feedback with the Director and Research and Grant Development Office (RGDO) staff and make any necessary revisions prior to emailing their final documents to RGDO for assistance with submission to the NEH via grants.gov.

ELIGIBILITY

  1. Individuals may apply for both an NEH Summer Stipend and an NEH Fellowship, but they cannot hold both in any given federal fiscal (Oct. 1 - Sept. 30) or calendar year (Jan. 1 - Dec. 23).
  2. U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who have been living in the U.S. or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the current deadline are eligible.
  3. Individuals who have either held or been awarded a major fellowship or research grant or its equivalent within the three academic years (Jul. 1 - Jun. 30) prior to the deadline are eligible. Everything else being equal, the program will give preference to applicants who have not received such support. A "major fellowship or research grant" is a postdoctoral research award that provides a stipend of at least $15,000. Sabbaticals and grants from an individual's own institution and stipends and grants from other sources supporting study and research during the summer are not considered major fellowships. If you have received any fellowships or research grants within the three years prior to the deadline, please indicate on your résumé the total amount of each award or grant. If you fail to do so, your application may be disqualified.
  4. Individuals who have already received Summer Stipends may apply to support a new stage of their projects.
  5. Students enrolled in a degree program are not eligible.

APPLICATION PROCESS

All application materials must be submitted through the Hall Center Competitions Portal. Paper submissions will not be accepted. For an application to be verified as complete, and thus forwarded for committee review, applicants must:

1.   Create an account or log in to an existing account.

2.   Select the Apply Now button next to this competition.

3.   Complete the Applicant Information form in the Portal.

o   This form will ask you for information on your letters of reference. At this point, letters should not be submitted to the Hall Center. You should indicate, however, whom you are asking to write on your behalf, should you be nominated to apply to the NEH.

o   This form will ask you for a project description. This description should not exceed 1,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

4.   Upload the following materials, which must have pages no larger than 8.5x11, one-inch margins on all sides, single spacing, and use no smaller than 11 pt. font (recommended fonts: Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, or Times New Roman), as 4 separate PDF files:

o   Three-page single spaced project Narrative organized exactly as follows: Significance and Contribution, Organization and Methods, Competencies, Skills, and Access, Final Product and Dissemination.

o   One page Work Plan based on a full-time commitment for two consecutive months that describes the part or stage of the project to be supported by the Summer Stipend and the activities or steps proposed to carry it out; with a timeline that includes each activity.

o   One-page Bibliography consisting of primary and secondary sources related directly to the project.

o   Two-page NEH-formatted Résumé in outline form as follows: Name, Current and Past Positions, Education, Awards and Honors, Publications, Other Relevant Professional Activities and Accomplishments, Level of Competence in Relevant Foreign Languages.

o   No extraneous material will be accepted.

See NEH application instructions for information on specific requirements of each section: http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends.

INTERNAL NOMINATION REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

The process to select the two KU nominees mirrors the NEH's review and selection procedures. Applications are ranked based on how well each meets the following criteria:

  1. The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
  2. The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant's clarity of expression.
  3. The feasibility and appropriateness of the proposed plan of work
  4. The quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work as an interpreter of the humanities.
  5. The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project (not necessarily during the period of performance), including, when relevant, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans.

QUESTIONS Research Development Officer Kathy Porsch (kporsch@ku.edu) is available to discuss your project.