Graduate Division Fellowships and Awards
Most commonly awarded to students in English. Please see the Graduate Division Fellowships page for a complete list and applications.
Doctoral Completion Fellowship (DCF)
The DCF replaces the DNTF for students admitted in fall 2010 and after. Students who pass the Ph.D. oral qualifying exam and advance to candidacy for the degree by the end of their sixth semester of study automatically qualify for two semesters of the DCF. Students may claim the DCF in any year through the seventh year. Students who accept the DCF may not receive any U.C. funding (fellowships or teaching) other loans after the seventh year. DCF Acceptance Form (PDF).
U.C. Dissertation-Year Fellowship
Awarded to eligible graduate students whose doctoral work will be completed by the end of the program and who demonstrate strong potential for university teaching and research. Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident whose background and life experiences enhance the level of diversity within the department or discipline. The English Department nominates one or two students to the Graduate Division. Fellows will receive a $22,000 stipend, payment of in-state fees, travel allowance and $3,000 bonus for early dissertation filing. Applications will be requested by email in mid-January and due in mid-February.
Mentored Research Award
Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident whose background and life experiences enhance the diversity within the department or discipline. The English Department nominates one to two students, typically post-orals, who are doing early dissertation research to the Graduate Division. Fellows will receive a $20,000 stipend plus payment of in-state fees. Applications will be requested by email in late January and due in mid-February.
Diversity and Community Fellows Program
Diversity and Community Fellows, individually and collectively, will advance and implement the Diversity and Inclusion goals of the Office for Graduate Diversity and the Graduate Division. Critical components of this work will include but are not limited to, supporting an inclusive graduate community and enhancing the cultural, academic, and professional experience of historically underrepresented students (e.g., students of color, low income and first generation college students, and LGBTQ+ students, undocumented students, etc.). Fellows will work across and within academic units to create healthy communities for graduate students. Fellows will receive a stipend of $7,500 per academic year.
Conference Travel Grants
Academic masters (M.A. & M.S.) and all doctoral students may apply for funding to attend professional conferences; however, students in professional degree programs are not eligible. Grant amounts will depend on the location of the conference (up to $600 within California, $900 elsewhere in North America, including Canada and Mexico, and $1,500 outside of North America). Master’s students are eligible for only one conference travel grant per academic career. Doctoral students are eligible for two grants per academic career, regardless of how many degrees they earn.
Foreign Language and Area Studies Awards (one-year and summer awards)
Enables students who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents to acquire a high level of competence in one or more foreign languages. Fellowships are awarded to students in modern foreign language and area studies, with priority given to students in the humanities, social sciences, and professional fields. Academic year awards provide a $15,000 stipend plus fees and summer awards a $5,000 stipend. Deadline: late January
Graduate Student Parent Grant
For registered graduate student parents (single, married, or registered domestic partners) who live with dependent children and demonstrate financial need. If funding permits, awards of up to $11,000 per year ($5,500 per academic term) will be made to eligible applicants.Deadline: late June.
Tuition Support for External Fellowships
The Graduate Division strongly encourages graduate students to pursue external fellowship funding in support of their research at Berkeley and, through the Tuition Support for External Fellowships program, financially supports many students who win external fellowships. Most external fellowships include only partial payment of tuition, fees, and health insurance, and some fellowships include no such component at all. In many cases, the Graduate Division makes up the difference between the external fellowship’s tuition/fee allowance and a fellow’s actual fee charges. This difference is often substantial.
Other Berkeley Award Programs
Bancroft Library Study Awards
Awarded to outstanding continuing students enrolled at any University of California campus who plan to conduct advanced research on a subject for which source materials are available in the Bancroft Library. Applications are available at the Administrative Office of the Bancroft Library, (510) 642-3781, or online. Application deadline is the first Monday in February by 5 p.m.
Townsend Dissertation Fellowship
Awarded to graduate students writing Ph.D. dissertations whose research projects significantly involve humanistic material or problems that have a significant bearing on the humanities. The competition is open to graduate students who are advanced to candidacy. More information, including application materials, is available online at the page linked in the header. Application deadline: mid November.
Townsend Center Working Grants
The Townsend Center Working Groups program sponsors research in the humanities and the humanities-related social sciences. Working group awards range from $250-$750 for the academic year.
The Center for British Studies Grants
The Center for British Studies offers two grants:
- Dissertation Research Grant (March 1 deadline): This grant of $2,000 will be awarded to graduate students who have defended their dissertation prospectus to finish research in the UK and aid them in completing their dissertation.
- Graduate Travel (Pre-Dissertation) Grant (March 1 deadline): This grant is specifically intended to fund airfare expenses to Britain for UC Berkeley graduate students in their second or third year who have not yet advanced to candidacy. The winner will receive a round-trip ticket to the UK for the purpose of research, to be booked and paid for by the Center.
Graduate Assembly Grad Student Parent Grant Travel Award
The GSP Travel Award provides funding for graduate student parents or legal guardians who, out of necessity, must bring their child(ren)/minor dependent and/or a caregiver for their child(ren) to conferences outside of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
The University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program was established in 1984 to encourage outstanding women and minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers at the University of California. The current program offers postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at UC.
Berkeley Chancellorʹs Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
The Berkeley Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program offers postdoctoral research fellowships, faculty mentoring, and eligibility for a hiring incentive to outstanding scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at the University of California.
American Council of Learned Societies
ACLS is one of the leading private institutions supporting scholars in the humanities and related social sciences at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels. See their page of upcoming deadlines for fellowships and grants.
Extramural Fellowships
Ford Foundation Fellowships
Through its program of Fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, to maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and to increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.
- Dissertation Fellowships: Dissertation fellowships provide one year of support for individuals working to complete a dissertation leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree. The Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship is intended >to support the final year of writing and defense of the dissertation. Provides a $28,000 stipend.
- Postdoctoral Fellowships: These fellowships provide one year of support for individuals engaged in postdoctoral study after the attainment of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree. Provides a $50,000 stipend.
Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF)
The program invites proposals for dissertation research conducted, in whole or in part, outside the United States, on non-US topics. It will consider applications for dissertation research grounded in a single site, informed by broader cross-regional and interdisciplinary perspectives, as well as applications for multi-sited, comparative, and transregional research. Fellowship amounts vary depending on the research plan, with a per-fellowship average of $23,000.
Charlotte Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
For 12 months of full-time dissertation research and writing on ethical or religious values.
Mabelle McLeod Lewis Fellowships
Provides grants to advanced doctoral candidates in the humanities for completion of a scholarly dissertation project on which significant progress has already been made. Due date is in mid-January of each year.
Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship
Liebmann Fellowships are awarded “to attract and support students with outstanding character and ability who hold promise for achievement and distinction in their chosen fields of study.” Candidates must be U.S. citizens with outstanding undergraduate records and demonstrated need for financial assistance. Eligible students include not only those in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, but also those in professional programs like law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. Fellowships provide fees and a living stipend, and are renewable for up to three years of total support. The sponsor does not have a website, but search or scroll down the Graduate Division Fellowships page for more information, including how to apply.
American Association of University Women (AAUW) Fellowships
Dissertation and career development grants for women in graduate programs who have achieved distinction or show the promise of distinction in their fields. Deadlines vary; applications can be requested online.
Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation Fellowships
The Bolin Fellowships enable graduate students from underrepresented groups to devote the bulk of their time during the academic year to the completion of dissertation work in residence at Williams College.
Huntington Library Fellowships
The Huntington Library awards over 150 research fellowships annually. Recipients of all fellowships are expected to be in continuous residence at The Huntington and to participate in, and make a contribution to its intellectual life.
The William L. Clements Library Research Fellowships
The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan offers both short-term and long-term fellowships, as well as a new digital fellowship to support the digitization of one of our collections. Applications are typically due mid-January for research to be undertaken the following academic year.
Winterthur Dissertation Fellowships
Doctoral candidates conducting research or writing a dissertation receive four- to nine-month fellowships. Stipend: up to $7,000 per semester. The deadline for all research fellowship applications is January 15.
Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University
Awards of up to $15,000 to graduate students and outstanding undergraduates embarking on liberty-advancing careers in ideas.
Paul and Daidy Soros Fellowship for New Americans
$25,000 stipend that supports new Americans, immigrants, or the children of immigrants, who are pursuing graduate school in the United States.
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships
$35,000 fellowship to support advanced graduate students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of Ph.D. dissertation writing.
The Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women's Studies
The Woodrow Wilson Women’s Studies Fellowships support the final year of dissertation writing for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences whose work addresses topics of women and gender in an interdisciplinary and original way. Fellows will receive $5,000 to be used for expenses connected with completing their dissertations, such as research-related travel, data work/collection, and supplies.
The Jim Fahey Safe Homes for Women Fellowship
The Jim Fahey Safe Homes Fund for Women endowment was established in 2007 to provide scholarships for graduate students at UC Berkeley with demonstrated financial need and a strong aptitude in relevant subjects as well as a deep commitment to combating domestic violence against women. Preference is given to students who are close to graduation.
Eudora Welty Fellowship
This competitive fellowship of $5,000 from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History will be offered for summer research conducted using the Eudora Welty Collection.
The Stephanie G. Hoffman Scholarship
Major in library science, literature, or a related field. One or more scholarships of $1,000 - $5,000 are expected to be given annually. Provided eligibility requirements are met, past recipients may reapply.