NEH Grant Programs
Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanitites RECEIPT DEADLINE: February 18, 2009 for projects beginning July 2009)
 
Date posted: December 2, 2008
Draft Proposals: Program staff recommend that draft proposals be submitted six weeks before the deadline. Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.169
Questions?
Contact the NEH Office of Digital Humanities via email at at odh@neh.gov. Hearing impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Grant Program Description
These NEH grants support national or regional (multi‑state) training programs for scholars and advanced graduate students to broaden and extend their knowledge of digital humanities. Through these programs, NEH seeks to increase the number of humanities scholars using digital technology in their research and broadly disseminate knowledge about advanced technology tools and methodologies relevant to the humanities. The projects may be a single opportunity or offered multiple times to different audiences, although the duration of a program should allow for full and thorough treatment of the topic.
Today, complex data—its form, manipulation, and interpretation—are as important to humanities study as more traditional research materials. Datasets, for example, may represent digitized historical records, high-quality image data, or even multimedia collections, all of which are increasing in number due to the availability and affordability of mass data storage devices and international initiatives to create digital content. Moreover, extensive networking capabilities, sophisticated middleware applications, and new collaboration platforms are simultaneously providing and improving interactive access to and analysis of these data as well as a multitude of other resources.
The goals of the Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program are
  • to bring together humanities scholars and digital technology specialists from different disciplines to share ideas and methods that advance humanities research and teaching through the use of digital technologies;
  • to reflect on, interpret, and analyze new digital media, multimedia, and text-based computing technologies and integrate these into humanities scholarship;
  • to teach current and future generations of humanities scholars to design, develop, and use cyber-based tools and environments for scholarship;
  • to devise new and creative uses for technology that offer valuable models that can be applied specifically to research in the humanities.
NEH strongly encourages applicants to develop proposals for multidisciplinary teams of collaborators that will offer the necessary range of intellectual, technical, and practical expertise. This program is designed to bring together humanities scholars, advanced graduate students, computer scientists, and others to learn new tools, approaches, and technologies and to foster relationships for future collaborations in the humanities. Partners and collaborators may be drawn from the private and public sectors and may include appropriate specialists from within and outside the United States.
Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities may be hosted by colleges, universities, learned societies, centers for advanced study, libraries or other repositories, and cultural or professional organizations. The host site(s) must be appropriate for the project, providing facilities for scholarship and collegial interaction. Projects that will be held more than once and at different locations are permissible.
Possible topics and areas to be addressed might include, but are not limited to:
  • Text Encoding Initiative, electronic editing, and publishing;
  • e-literature;
  • textual analysis and text mining;
  • immersive and virtual environments in multimedia research;
  • 3-D imaging technology, including laser scanning;
  • creativity, culture, and computing;
  • digital image design;
  • information aesthetics;
  • computer gaming and the humanities;
  • high performance or supercomputing and the humanities; and
  • advanced Geographic Information Systems applications.
Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities grants may not be used for:
  • digitization of collections;
  • support for workshops on routine computer applications (e.g., training in HTML mark-up) from which little new knowledge about techniques or approaches in the digital humanities will emerge;
  • the development and presentation of courses or programs that focus on the skills and knowledge required to preserve, digitize, or catalog humanities collections, such as training in digital scanning;
  • graduate programs in the digital humanities; or
  • programs that are not regional (multi-state) or national in scope.
Applications seeking support for training programs on the care and management of, and the creation of intellectual access to, library, archival, and material culture collections, including digital preservation programs, should apply to the Education and Training Grants program of the NEH Division of Preservation and Access.

Applicants seeking support for conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit ongoing research should apply to the Collaborative Research Program of the NEH Division of Research Programs.

Providing Access to Grant Products
As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its awards available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH award products. For the Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities program, such products may include digital curricula, Web sites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of Web sites, all other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public. Detailed guidance on access and dissemination matters can be found in Impact and Evaluation.
III. Award Information
Awards normally range from one to three years and from $50,000 to a maximum of $250,000. Successful applicants will be awarded a grant in outright funds, federal matching funds, or a combination of the two, depending on the applicant’s preference and the availability of NEH funds. Matching funds are released when a grantee secures gift funds from eligible third parties.
Cost sharing
Cost sharing consists of the cash contributions made to the project by the applicant, third parties, and other federal agencies, as well as third-party in-kind contributions, such as donated services and goods. Cost sharing also includes program registration fees and gift money that will be raised to release federal matching funds.
Although cost sharing is not required, NEH is rarely able to support the full costs of projects approved for funding. In most cases, NEH grants cover no more than 80 percent of project costs.
(Learn more about different types of grant funding.)
Eligibility
Any U.S. nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status is eligible, as are state and local governmental agencies and tribal governments. Grants are not awarded to individuals.
NEH generally does not award grants to other federal entities or to applicants whose projects are so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities. This does not preclude applicants from using grant funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in their projects.
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
Application and Submission Information
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
Application advice and proposal drafts
Prior to submitting a proposal, applicants are encouraged to contact program officers who can offer advice about preparing the proposal and review draft proposals. These comments are not part of the formal review process and have no bearing on the final outcome of the proposal. Program staff recommend that draft proposals be submitted at least six weeks before the deadline. Time constraints may prevent staff from reviewing draft proposals submitted after that date. Draft proposals should be submitted by e-mail attachment to odh@neh.gov.
Prepare your application for submission via Grants.gov just as you would a paper application. Your application should consist of the following parts:
  1. Description of the project and its significance
    Provide a one-page abstract written for a non-specialist audience, clearly explaining the project’s importance to the humanities, its principal activities, and its expected results. Describe the research questions or the learning outcomes to be considered that would benefit humanities scholarship, and describe the project's intended outcome in quantitative terms (e.g., the number of participants).
  2. Table of Contents
    List all parts of the application and, beginning with the narrative, number all pages consecutively.
  3. Narrative
    Limit the narrative to ten single-sided and single-spaced pages. All pages should have one-inch margins, and the font size should be no smaller than eleven point. Use appendices to provide supplementary material.
    Individuals with a variety of professional backgrounds will read these applications and advise NEH on their merits. Project narratives should, therefore, be written so that they can be understood by persons who may not know as much about technology as the applicant.
    Keep the application review criteria (see Section V) in mind when writing the narrative, which consists of the following sections:
    • Significance
      Discuss the national or regional needs that this program will serve. This discussion should include the program’s intended audience, its potential impact on digital humanities practices, and the ultimate audience that will benefit. Describe how this program relates to others of a similar nature that currently exist or have been conducted in the past. Clarify the degree to which this program will build on past work or break new ground.
    • Institutional profile
      Provide general information about the applicant institution or organization and explain the chosen venues. Describe any special facilities, such as laboratories or libraries, or collections that will be made available to participants. If the proposed project will be residential, discuss provisions for housing.
    • Curriculum and work plan
      Thoroughly describe the content of the project, including requirements for attendance; the time, location, duration, and structure of the program; and the materials to be used. Summarize presentations and discussion topics, include assigned and recommended readings, and identify other resources and materials to be used. (A detailed work plan and schedule should be included in an appendix.)
    • Participants
      Describe how participants for the institutes will be chosen. Discuss the procedures for ensuring a nationwide applicant pool. If some or all of the applicants have been preselected, provide a rationale for this approach. Explain how the curriculum and duration of the program reflect the subjects taught and the educational needs or level of the attendees.
    • Impact and evaluation
      Discuss the program’s expected results, their impact on digital humanities scholarship, and any plans for wider dissemination. Describe any plans, including listservs and Web sites, to facilitate discussion and collaboration among participants after the initial learning opportunity. Indicate how the program and its results will be evaluated by participants and by the applicant organization.
    • Staff, faculty, and consultants
      Using short paragraphs, identify the principal faculty, visiting lecturers, master teachers, and support staff and describe their roles, responsibilities, and qualifications. Include in the appendix letters of commitment and brief résumés (two pages).
    • Budget Notes
      Discuss the rationale for stipends and travel funds offered to participants.
      For projects that have received past NEH funding, applicants should describe plans to broaden the base of financial support.
  4. Budget
    Using the instructions, complete the NEH budget form (PDF). While all items should be justified by the narrative, further explanation may be included in brief budget notes.
    If stipends are to be offered to participants, we recommend that those stipends not exceed $125 per day. Stipends should be commensurate with the time commitment expected of the participants.
    Project directors are generally compensated for the time required to oversee all arrangements, recruit and select the participants, and conduct the active portion of the project. For example, the following percentages of the base annual academic salary are recommended as appropriate compensation for multiple-week projects: 13.9 percent for a two-week session, 16.6 percent for a three-week session, 19.4 percent for a four-week session, 22.2 percent for a five-week session, and 25 percent for a six-week session. Codirectors would each receive 80 percent of these amounts.
    Generally, the honoraria for visiting faculty and other consultants should be no higher than $500 per person per day or $2,000 per person per week.
    For any outsourced work, third-party contractor costs should be included in the budget category “Services.” Attach a complete itemization of these costs to the budget form. If there is more than one contractor, each one must be listed on the budget form and the costs itemized separately.
  5. Appendices
    Use appendices to provide:
    • course outlines;
    • brief résumés (no longer than two pages) for staff with major responsibilities for the project’s implementation;
    • job descriptions for any additional staff who will be hired specifically to work on the project;
    • letters of commitment from outside participants and cooperating institutions; and
    • a list in alphabetical order, surnames first, of staff, faculty, and their institutional affiliations. Because these individuals may not participate in the review process, this list is used to ensure that prospective evaluators have no conflict of interest with the projects that they will assess.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VIA GRANTS.GOV
Register or Verify Registration with Grants.gov
Applications for this program must be submitted via Grants.gov. Before using Grants.gov for the first time, each organization must register with the Web site to create an institutional profile. Once registered, your organization can then apply for any government grant on the Grants.gov Web site.
If your organization has already registered and you have verified that your registration is still valid, you may skip this step. If not, please see our handy checklist to guide you through the registration process. We strongly recommend that you complete or verify your registration at least two weeks before the application deadline, as it takes time for your registration to be processed. If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726.
Download the Free Adobe Reader software
To fill out a Grants.gov application package, you will need to download and install the current version of Adobe Reader. The latest version of Adobe Reader, which is designed to function with PCs and Macintosh computers using a variety of popular operating systems, is available at no charge from the Adobe Web site (www.adobe.com).
Once installed, the current version of Adobe Reader will allow you to view and fill out Grants.gov application packages for any federal agency. If you have a problem installing Adobe Reader, it may be because you do not have permission to install a new program on your computer. Many organizations have rules about installing new programs. If you encounter a problem, contact your system administrator.
Download the Application Package
To submit your application, you will need to download the application package from the Grants.gov Web site. You can download the application package at any time. (You do not have to wait for your Grants.gov registration to be complete.) Click the button to the right to download the package.
Save the application package to your computer’s hard drive. To open the application package, select the file and double click. You do not have to be online to work on it.
You can save your application package at any time by clicking the “Save” button at the top of your screen. Tip: If you choose to save your application package before you have completed it, you may receive an error message indicating that your application is not valid if all of the forms have not been completed. Click “OK” to save your work and complete the package another time. You can also use e-mail to share the application package with members of your organization or project team.
The application package contains three forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
  1. Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational (SF-424 Short)—this form asks for basic information about the project, the project director, and the institution.
  2. Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs—this form asks for additional information about the project director, the institution, and the budget.
  3. NEH Attachment Form—this form allows you to attach your narrative, budget, and the other parts of your application.
HOW TO FILL OUT THE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE SF-424 SHORT FORM
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
  1. Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically with “National Endowment for the Humanities.”
  2. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically with the CFDA number and title of the NEH program to which you are applying.
  3. Date Received: Please leave blank.
  4. Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
  5. Applicant Information: In this section, please supply the name, address, employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), DUNS number, Web site address, and congressional district of the institution. Also choose the “type” that best describes your institution (you only need to select one).
    If your institution is located, for example, in the 5th Congressional District of your state, put a “5.” If your institution doesn’t have a congressional district (e.g. it is in a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or is in a foreign country), put a “0” (zero).
    All institutions applying to federal grant programs are required to provide a DUNS number, issued by Dun & Bradstreet, as part of their application. Project directors should contact their institution’s grant administrator or chief financial officer to obtain their institution’s DUNS number. Federal grant applicants can obtain a DUNS number free of charge by calling 1-866-705-5711. (Learn more about the requirement.)
HOW TO FILL OUT THE SUPPLEMENTARY COVER SHEET FOR NEH GRANT PROGRAMS
Select the form from the menu and double click to open it. Please provide the following information:
  1. Project Director: Use the pull-down menu to select the major field of study for the project director.
  2. Institution Information: Use the pull-down menu to select your type of institution.
  3. Project Funding: Enter your project funding information. Note that applicants for Challenge Grants should use the right column only; applicants to all other programs should use the left column only.
  4. Application Information: Indicate whether the applications will be submitted to other NEH grant programs, government agencies, or private entities for funding. If so, please indicate where and when. NEH frequently cosponsors projects with other funding sources. Providing this information will not prejudice the review of your application.
    For Type of Application, check “new” if the application requests a new period of funding, whether for a new project or the next phase of a project previously funded by NEH. Check “supplement” if the application requests additional funding for a current NEH grant. If requesting a supplement, provide the current grant number. Before submitting an application for a supplement, applicants should discuss their request with an NEH program officer.
    For Project Field Code, use the pull-down menu to select the humanities field of the project. If the project is multidisciplinary, choose the field that corresponds to the project’s predominant discipline.
HOW TO USE THE NEH ATTACHMENT FORM
You will use this form to attach the various files that make up your application.
Your attachments must be in Portable Document Format (.pdf). We cannot accept attachments in their original word processing or spreadsheet formats. If you don't already have software to convert your files into PDFs, there are many low-cost and free software packages available. To learn more, go to http://www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html.
When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find 15 attachment buttons, labeled “Attachment 1” through “Attachment 15.” By clicking on a button, you will be able to choose the file from your computer that you wish to attach. You must name and attach your files in the proper order so that we can identify them. Please attach the proper file to the proper button as listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1: To this button, please attach your one-page summary. Please name the file “summary.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your table of contents. Please name the file “contents.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your narrative. Please name the file “narrative.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your budget. Please name the file “budget.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your appendices (whichever are applicable). Please name the file “appendices.pdf”.
Please bundle all of your appendices together and send them as a single attachment. If you are concerned about the file size, you can group your appendices into multiple attachments. In this case, please name your attachments appendix1.pdf, appendix2.pdf, appendix3.pdf, etc. Please note, though, that you are limited to fifteen attachments total for your entire application.
Do not embed any additional .pdf files within any of the attachments.
Use the remaining buttons to attach any additional materials (if appropriate). Please give these attachments meaningful file names and ensure that they are PDFs.
UPLOADING YOUR APPLICATION TO GRANTS.GOV
When you have completed all three forms, use the right-facing arrow to move each of them to the “Mandatory Documents for Submission” column. Once they have been moved over, the “Submit” button will activate. You are now ready to upload your application package to Grants.gov.
During the registration process, your institution designated one or more AORs (Authorized Organization Representatives). These AORs typically work in your institution’s Sponsored Research Office or Grants Office. When you have completed your application, you must ask your AOR to submit the application, using the special username and password that was assigned to him or her during the registration process.
To submit your application, your computer must have an active connection to the Internet. To begin the submission process, click the “submit” button. A page will appear, asking you to sign and submit your application. At this point, your AOR will enter his or her username and password. When you click the “sign and submit application” button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov. Please note that it may take some time to upload your application package, depending on the size of your files and the speed of your Internet connection.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a tracking number, will appear, indicating that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. The AOR will also receive a confirmation e-mail.
NEH suggests that you submit your application no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the deadline. That way, should you encounter a technical problem of some kind, you will still have time to contact the Grants.gov help desk for support. The Grants.gov help desk is open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-800-518-4726. You can also send an e-mail to support@grants.gov.
Deadlines
Applications must be received by Grants.gov by February 18, 2009. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted.
The application submitted to Grants.gov must contain all the required elements, including résumés of advising scholars and letters of commitment. No material missing from the Grants.gov submission may be submitted in hard copy after the deadline.
Application Review
Evaluators are asked to apply the following criteria in assessing applications:
  • the significance and potential impact of the project for improving the use of advanced technology for research in the humanities;
  • the soundness of the methodology and the program’s structure and work plan in relation to its goals;
  • the professional training and experience of the staff in relation to the activity for which support is requested; and
  • the appropriateness of the project’s budget.
Late applications will not be reviewed.
Review and selection process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. The Endowment’s staff comments on matters of fact or on significant issues that otherwise would be missing from these reviews, then makes recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities. The National Council meets at various times during the year to advise the NEH chairman on grants. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.
Award Administration Information
Award notices
Applicants will be notified by e-mail of the decision by June 15, 2009. Institutional grants administrators and project directors of successful applications will receive award documents by mail after the June notification. Applicants may obtain the evaluations of their applications by sending an e-mail message to odh@neh.gov.
Administrative requirements
Before submitting an application, applicants should review their responsibilities as an award recipient and the lobbying certification requirement.
Award conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations, any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document, and the applicable OMB circulars governing federal grants management.
Reporting Requirements
A schedule of report due dates will be included with the award document.
Interim and final performance reports will be required. Further details can be found in Performance Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 2).
A Federal Cash Transactions Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. A final Financial Status Report (2-page PDF) will be due within 90 days after the completion date of the award period. Further details can be found in Financial Reporting Requirements (formerly Enclosure 1).
Points of Contact
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Office of Digital Humanities
National Endowment for the Humanities
Room 402
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20506
odh@neh.gov
If you need help using Grants.gov, contact:
Grants.gov: http://www.grants.gov
Grants.gov help desk: support@grants.gov
Grants.gov customer support tutorials and manuals : http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport
Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726)
Grants.gov troubleshooting tips
Other Information
Privacy Policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application Completion Time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.
Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506; and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.


back to top