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Date posted: March 12, 2009
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 45.160
Questions?
Contact NEH’s Division of Research Programs at 202-606-8200 or fellowships@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities.
Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, and other scholarly tools.
Fellowships support continuous full-time work for a period of six to twelve months.
Fellowships may not be used for
Fellowships for Research on Italian Cultural Heritage
NEH and the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) of the government of Italy are cooperating in the support of scholarly research. NEH invites applications for humanities research focusing on Italy’s cultural heritage in relation to that of the United States. Recipients will be awarded fellowships through the regular NEH Fellowships program. CNR will award fellowships to Italian scholars for research on America’s cultural heritage in relation to Italy. NEH anticipates awarding up to three such fellowships, as does CNR.
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 grant products. For the Fellowships program, such products may include digital tools, 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 Section IV,
Final Product and Dissemination, below.
Fellowships cover periods lasting from six to twelve months at a stipend of $4,200 per month. The maximum stipend is $50,400 for a twelve-month tenure award period. Applicants should request award periods that suit their schedules and the needs of their projects. Requesting an award period shorter than twelve months will not improve an applicant's chances of receiving a fellowship.
Recipients may begin their awards as early as January 1, 2010, and as late as July 1, 2011.
The award period must be continuous, and award recipients must work full time
on their projects. Teaching assignments or other major activities may not be undertaken
during the fellowship period. NEH permits part-time awards only in exceptional
circumstances, which might include unusual institutional administrative duties that
cannot be relinquished or hardships unforeseen at the application deadline.
Prospective applicants who have questions are encouraged to contact the Fellowships staff at
fellowships@neh.gov.
Cost Sharing
NEH Fellowships do not require cost sharing.
The Fellowships program accepts applications from researchers, teachers, and writers, whether they have an institutional affiliation or not.
All applicants must have completed their formal education by the application deadline. While applicants need not have advanced degrees, individuals currently enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible to apply. Applicants who have satisfied all the requirements for a degree and are awaiting its conferral may apply, but such applicants need a letter from the dean of the conferring school or their department chair attesting to the applicant’s status as of May 5, 2009. This signed letter may be faxed to the Fellowships program at 202-606-8204; alternatively a PDF version of the signed letter may be included as an attachment to an e-mail message sent to fellowships@neh.gov.
Citizenship
All U.S. citizens, whether they reside inside or outside the United States, are eligible to apply.
Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the
three years prior to the application deadline are also eligible.
Projects Previously Supported by NEH Fellowships
An applicant may apply for funding for a project that has previously received an NEH Fellowship. NEH will ask evaluators to review the accomplishments from the prior fellowship and determine if the project warrants additional support.
Concurrent Grants from Other Organizations
Recipients of NEH Fellowships may simultaneously hold fellowships or grants from institutions other than NEH—including sabbaticals and grants from their own institutions—in support of the same project during their award period.
Multiple Applications
Fellowships applicants may not compete concurrently for
Faculty Research Awards for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Applicants may compete concurrently in the following programs for individuals in a given year:
Successful Fellowships applicants who plan research at the LOC may be offered a jointly funded NEH-LOC Kluge Center Fellowship.
Applicants may not receive both an NEH Fellowship and an NEH Summer Stipend in the same federal fiscal year (October 1, 2009-September 30, 2010).
Ineligible applications will not be reviewed.
Applications must be submitted on or before the May 5, 2009, deadline.
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR APPLICATION
Application advice
Prior to beginning, applicants should review the evaluation
criteria listed below in Section V and consult the
Frequently Asked
Questions.
Because of the large number of applications, the Fellowships staff is not able to read and comment on draft proposals.
However, potential applicants may discuss with staff specific concerns or questions that arise during the preparation of their proposals. Contact NEH’s Division of Research Programs at 202-606-8200 or fellowships@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.
Once an application has been submitted, staff will not comment on it except with respect to issues of completeness and eligibility.
NEH does not accept applications by e-mail or fax.
All applications must be downloaded, completed, and submitted via Grants.gov. In addition to the forms described in Step 4 below, your application should consist of the following five parts:
All applicants for Fellowships must submit their proposals through
Grants.gov, the central federal government portal for
all grant applications. To do so, applicants must have a computer with Internet access and
the current version of the free Adobe Reader. (Please note: Grants.gov no longer requires use of the
PureEdge Viewer software.) 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).
What follows is a step-by-step guide for submitting
your Fellowships application through Grants.gov.
STEP 1: Register with Grants.gov
Please note that the Grants.gov registration process has recently changed.
For new applicants only: Applicants who have never registered as individual applicants at Grants.gov must go to: https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/IndCPRegister and enter this Funding Opportunity Number:
20090505-FA
Tip: NEH strongly recommends that you complete your registration at least one week before the application deadline. Grants.gov has provided easy step-by-step instructions (in pdf format) here: http://www.grants.gov/assets/IndvUserGuide.pdf.
For returning applicants only: Applicants who have registered as individuals for past competitions need not re-register with Grants.gov to submit their fellowships proposals.
Applicants who lose their username and password can request a reminder at https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/secured/ApplicantLogin.jsp.
If you have problems registering with Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.
STEP 2: Download the current version of the free Adobe Reader
To fill out your application, you will need to download and install the current version of the free Adobe Reader. To download the Reader or update
the Reader already installed on your computer, go to
www.adobe.com. Click on “Get Adobe Reader” and then “Download Now.” Once installed, this software will allow you to view and fill out Grants.Gov application packages for any federal agency.
STEP 3: Download the Application Package
You can save your work 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 will receive a message indicating that your application is not valid. Click “OK” to save your work and complete the package another time.
The application package contains two forms that you must complete in order to submit your application:
In addition, you need to download the NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals form. This form—in Portable Document Format (.pdf)—can be found here.
To assist applicants, Grants.gov provides a helpful
troubleshooting page.
STEP 4: Prepare the Application Forms
A complete application includes the following items:
How to Fill Out the SF424-Individual Form
Select the SF424-Individual Form in the Mandatory Documents field of
the application package. Move it to the Mandatory Documents for Submission
field using the right-facing arrow button. Click the “Open Forms” button
to begin using the form. Provide the following information:
Name of Federal Agency: This will be filled in automatically.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: This will be filled in automatically.
Date Received: Please leave blank.
Funding Opportunity Number: This will be filled in automatically.
Applicant Information: Supply your name, address, telephone, and other contact information.
For question “e,” please enter the number of your Congressional district.
For example, if you live in the 5th Congressional District of your state,
enter “5.” If you don’t have a Congressional district (i.e., you are in
a state or U.S. territory that doesn't have districts or you are in a
foreign country), enter a “0” (zero). To determine your Congressional
district, visit the House of Representatives Web site at
www.house.gov and use the “Find
Your Representative” tool.
Disclosure of all or part of your Social Security Number is optional. Funded applicants will be required to supply their full Social Security Number after the competition is completed.
Project Information: Enter the title of your project. Your title should be brief, descriptive, and informative to a nonspecialist audience. Provide a description of your project that does not exceed 1,000 characters, written for a nonspecialist audience, that states the importance of the proposed work to larger issues in the humanities. Enter the starting and ending dates for your project.
Check the box “By signing this Application. . .”
Use the “Close Form” button at the upper left of the form to save your work and return to the main menu.
How to Fill Out the NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals Form
This form can be downloaded and saved to your computer in Portable Document Format (.pdf)
here. Open the form and provide the following information:
Applicant’s Field of Study: From the drop-down menu, choose the field of study that best describes your area of expertise.
Project Field of Study: From the drop-down menu, choose the field of study that best describes the field of your project.
Address Information: Please indicate if the mailing address given on the SF424-Individual Form is your home or work address.
Institution: If you are not affiliated with an institution of higher education, please click “No” and continue to the Reference Letter section. If you are affiliated with an institution of higher education, please complete the information for that institution. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include their institution’s DUNS number and TIN/EIN number. These numbers are generally provided by an institution's sponsored research office and greatly improve efficiency when your application is being processed.
Reference Letters: Provide the names, e-mail addresses, and
affiliations for your two recommenders. After the deadline, NEH will
contact these individuals, requesting that they write their letters of
recommendation. Letters must be submitted online not later than June 7, 2009.
Nominating Official: Please leave this section blank.
How to Use the NEH Attachments Form
The component parts of your application must be attached to the Attachments Form in Portable Document Format (.pdf). NEH cannot accept attachments in their original word processing, graphic, or spreadsheet formats. If you do not have access to software to convert your files into PDFs, many available low-cost and free software packages will do so. To learn more, go to www.neh.gov/grants/grantsgov/pdf.html
.
When you open the NEH Attachment Form, you will find fifteen 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, as listed below:
ATTACHMENT 1 : To this button, please attach the completed NEH Supplemental
Information for Individuals form. Please name the file “NEHinfo.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 2: To this button, please attach your project narrative. Please name the file “narrative.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 3: To this button, please attach your bibliography. Please
name the file “bibliography.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 4: To this button, please attach your résumé. Please name
the file “resume.pdf”.
ATTACHMENT 5: To this button, please attach your appendix. Appropriate appendices include translation samples and/or graphics files. Please name the file “appendix.pdf”.
No other attachments should be included. Applications submitted with additional attachments or with attachments that exceed the length limitations will be disqualified.
STEP 5: Upload Your Application to Grants.gov
When you have completed the SF424-Individual Form and attached the component parts of your application to the Attachments form, save your work to activate the "Submit" button. You are now ready to upload your application package to NEH via Grants.gov.
To submit your application, click the “Submit” button. Your computer will automatically connect to the Internet, and you will be asked to supply your username and password (see Step 1 above). Once you have successfully entered your username and password, electronically sign and submit your application. When you click the “Sign and Submit Application” button, your application package will be uploaded to Grants.gov.
Please note: Past NEH applicants have reported slower response times from
Grants.gov during the high usage periods between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
They have also reported difficulties using non-supported browsers, such as
Mozilla Firefox or Safari. Grants.gov is designed for optimal performance using
a PC with MS Internet Explorer or Netscape browsers.
After the upload is complete, a confirmation page, which includes a Grants.gov tracking number, will appear. This message indicates that you have submitted your application to Grants.gov. Please print this page for your records. You will also receive a confirmation e-mail message.
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 technical problems, 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.
![]() Applications for NEH Fellowships must be received by Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Time on May 5, 2009. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application
after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be
accepted.
Fellowships support projects at any stage of development.
Review and selection process
Knowledgeable persons outside NEH will read each application and advise the agency about its merits. NEH 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 notices
Applicants will be notified of the result of their application by letter or e-mail in early December 2009. They may obtain the evaluations of their applications by sending a letter or e-mail message to NEH, Division of Research Programs, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 318, Washington, D.C. 20506 or fellowships@neh.gov.
Responsibilities of Award Recipients
Before submitting an application, applicants should
review NEH’s Research Misconduct Policy.
Award Conditions
The requirements for awards are contained in the General
Information on NEH Fellowships and any specific terms and conditions contained in the award document.
Reporting Requirements
A final performance report will be due within ninety days after the completion date of the
award period. The final report form is available
online and electronic submission is required via NEH’s Web site.
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Division of Research Programs
Room 318 National Endowment for the Humanities 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8200 fellowships@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/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp Grant.gov support line: 1-800-518-GRANTS (4726) Grants.gov troubleshooting tips
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 that 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.
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