UCHRI

University of California President’s Faculty Research Fellowships in the Humanities, 2018–19


The Faculty Research Fellow program began in 1986 as part of UC President David Gardner’s Humanities Initiative. The program provides UC faculty with fellowship support to carry out an extended research project in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. All applicants, including junior faculty, are also required to apply to appropriate extramural agencies that offer fellowship funding in their research fields. These may include, but are not limited to, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and various humanities centers offering residential fellowships. Fellowships will be awarded regardless of the applicant’s success in obtaining extramural funding, and successful applicants are expected to take fellowships concurrently. The fellowship cannot be deferred and must be used in the academic year following the year in which the fellowship is awarded (for a minimum of two quarters or one semester).

Eligible Applicants
UC Ladder Rank Faculty
Maximum Award
$30,000
Application Opens
Monday, September 25, 2017
Application Deadlines
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Award Announced
(Expected)
April 2018
Funding Source
UCHRI/UCOP

Final awards for all of our grants are contingent upon available funding. Funding must be spent in accordance with all applicable UC rules and regulations.

Applications must be submitted online via FastApps by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.

Eligibility Details

Fellowships are awarded to UC ladder rank faculty regardless of tenure status; however, emeriti faculty or faculty on recall status are not eligible. Assistant Professors are especially encouraged to apply. Following the criteria used by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the fellowship supports faculty research in the following areas: language studies, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism, and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to human, social, and cultural issues.

Faculty may not hold a Presidential Faculty Fellowship more than once in a five-year period. It is the responsibility of applicants to confirm with their campus dean’s office their eligibility in the context of UC and local campus policies governing sabbatical and other forms of leave. Generally, a fellow should have accrued a minimum of two teaching credits toward sabbatical leave by June 30 in the year in which the fellowships are announced. However, the actual use of the sabbatical leave credits in conjunction with the fellowship will be a matter of negotiation between the home campus and the Fellow. Prior to submitting the application, candidates should consult with their dean and Academic Personnel Office in advance to determine UC and campus policies governing sabbatical and other forms of leave, including campus policies regarding the minimum number of sabbatical credits that a Fellow must contribute.

Award Details

The fellowship may be used for salary and benefits only. The maximum award is $30,000 for faculty. Funding received from all sources, including the fellowship, may not be greater than the Fellow’s salary for the academic year in which the fellowship will be used. Funds may not be used to pay for research expenses or course replacement. Sabbatical leave credit or salary supplements may contribute toward the Fellow’s salary during the period of the award.

The awarded fellow campus administration will assist in developing a package. Since this award is a fellowship, fellows are expected to be on leave and released from teaching and service responsibilities. UC and campus policies concerning return from leaves apply.

Application Details

Applications for academic year 2018-2019 must be submitted online via UCHRI’s FastApps by 11:59 p.m. (PST), January 30, 2018. The application for a President’s Faculty Research Fellowship in the Humanities consists of the following:

  • Title of Research and Proposal Abstract (200 words max)
  • Description of Research and Timetable (2500 words max), including plans for how this research will eventually be disseminated and the current stage of the project
  • Bibliography (1 page max) of the most important works to be consulted
  • Curriculum Vitae (2 pages max)
  • List of Potential External Fellowships or other potential means of support during fellowship year

Selection Criteria

The selection committee comprises previous fellows and prominent UC faculty nominated in consultation with UC humanities deans. The committee will use the following criteria in evaluating each application:

  • The significance of the contribution that the proposed project will make to thought and knowledge in the applicant’s research areas and to the humanities generally
  • The clarity and cogency of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the proposed project;
  • The extent to which the project engages in interdisciplinary research
  • The coherence of the proposed project goals, strategies, and timetable
  • The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project within a reasonable period. This criterion does not assume that the project should be completed within the fellowship year

Fellow Responsibilities

Fellows agree to:

  • Submit a written statement describing their accomplishments (include titles of books or papers published) and the status of their research project in the humanities
  • Show the following acknowledgment, preferably on the copyright page of any major publication that was supported by the fellowship: “This project was supported in part by funding from the President’s Research Fellowships in the Humanities, University of California”
  • Send copies of the published work to UCHRI (at the discretion of the fellow) and inform UCHRI of any publications resulting from the fellowship
  • Deliver a public lecture or seminar at a campus humanities center either during the fellowship year or in the following academic year
  • Write a short essay describing the outcome of the project supported by his or her fellowship for inclusion in an e-publication disseminated to the UC community by UCHRI
  • Serve on a fellowship selection committee once during the five years following his or her fellowship year (upon request, tenured fellows only)
  • Provide biographical and project information for UCHRI’s website upon request

For program related questions, please contact Shana Melnysyn, competitive grants officer, at smelnysyn@hri.uci.edu.

For technical assistance with FastApps, contact techsupport@hri.uci.edu.

Please include the name of the grant you are applying for in the subject line of your email.