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.
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
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:
Institutes for Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities grants may not be used for:
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.
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.)
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.
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:
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
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:
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:
HOW TO FILL OUT THE SUPPLEMENTARY COVER SHEET FOR NEH GRANT PROGRAMS
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.
Evaluators are asked to apply the following criteria in assessing applications:
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 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).
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
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.
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