AHSS: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Graduate Fellowships

New Graduate Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences 

  • The 1885 Society Graduate Fellowships in Arts and Humanities 

  • The UA Excellence Graduate Fellowships in the Social Sciences 

With funding provided by the Office of the President Robert Shelton, the Office of Provost Meredith Hay, and the UA Foundation, the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Graduate College are pleased to announce the establishment of two new fellowship programs.

The 1885 Society Graduate Fellowships in Arts and Humanities will support graduate students in the colleges of Fine Arts (CFA) and Humanities (COH). The UA Excellence Graduate Fellowships in the Social Sciences will support graduate students in the social sciences in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS). Both programs will include relevant graduate interdisciplinary programs (e.g., American Indian Studies, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching). Annual support totaling $150,000 for each program is available respectively for graduate students in all areas of the humanities as well as in the creative, visual, and performing arts, and in all areas of the social sciences.

These two graduate fellowship programs will be among the most competitive of their kind in support and prestige nationally and internationally, and they will bring to the University of Arizona a world-class group of graduate scholars in the arts, humanities and social sciences. These fellows will be recognized for their potential to transform scholarship and creativity and distinguish themselves within their fields.

The fellowships will be awarded to two select groups: incoming (first-year) students and those in the final year of their studies. The fellowships will therefore promote recruitment of students with the highest potential as well as support and launch top-performing students who are completing the dissertation/final project and who are poised to make a significant impact in their field. The program is designed to attract the highest quality graduate students to the University of Arizona in both interdisciplinary areas and traditional fields. Each set of fellows will form a critical mass of graduate scholars and artists who will bring additional distinction to our distinguished graduate programs.

There will be one competition per year, with a deadline of Feb. 15 (or the first working day thereafter). Fellowships will be awarded in the Spring semester each year (on March 15, or the first working day thereafter), so that the award process aligns with annual recruiting and funding decisions. Each award will be effective in the immediately following academic year.

In the first year of this funding, and for one time only, we will have two nomination and award cycles: 1) a competition for the full $150,000 for final-year students, with an Oct. 1 Oct 15, 2009 deadline, announcement of awards on Nov. 15, 2009, and funding for the awards available during the Spring semester, 2010; 2) the regular competition as described above, for first-year and final-year students.

The amount of the awards is $25,000 for first-year students and up to $20,000 for final-year students; for the one-time competition this year, the awards for final-year students will be $10,000.


The official request for applications is available here.