National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipends
Project Description
Stipends from NEH, in the amount $3,000 per month, must be used for two consecutive months of full time summer study or research. The NEH defines the term “humanities” as including, but not limited to, "the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, theory and criticism of the arts; those aspects of 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 the current conditions of national life." The field of the project determines the eligibility for a stipend rather than the field of the applicant.
Eligibility
Northern Illinois University may submit two proposals. The Office of Sponsored Projects will convene an ad hoc committee of humanities scholars to review the proposals internally and select the projects to be forwarded to NEH.
- Nominees should be U.S. citizens, native residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been legal residents in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.
- Members of our faculty who hold the rank of assistant professor, associate professor or professor may be nominated.
- Adjunct faculty, academic faculty with appointments terminating by the summer of 2011, and other scholars not employed by colleges or universities are exempt from nomination by the institution, and may apply directly online to the NEH.
- A person who has held a major fellowship or research grant within the last three academic years prior to the deadline is not eligible to apply. A "major fellowship or research grant" is a postdoctoral research award that provides a stipend of at least $15,000. Sabbaticals and grants from an individual's own institution and stipends and grants from other sources supporting study and research during the summer are not considered major fellowships.
- Previous recipients of NEH Summer Stipends must wait five years before they re apply. Individuals who received awards in 2006 or later are not eligible to apply for 2011 awards.
Internal Competition Application Instructions
- Prepare applications in 12-point font, single-spaced.
- Include the following sections in the candidate’s application for the internal review.
a. A letter of nomination from the department chair
b. A CV
c. Most significant research to-date (1 page maximum)
d. A detailed description of the proposed study (three single-spaced pages)
e. A bibliography
f. A list of the names and titles of two people willing to write reference letters (we don’t need the actual letters at this point)
- Save the document as a .pdf file and submit to asosp@niu.edu by July 30, 2010 with "NEH-Your Name" in the subject line.
- Each applicant will be offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit, based on the committee's feedback. From those revised applications, two will be selected. The Office of Sponsored Projects will work with these two applicants to ensure the strongest possible proposal is submitted for funding.
- The final proposals will be submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities through grants.gov. The applicant submits the proposal as an individual rather than through the institution. However, OSP staff is available to help with that submission process. The NEH Summer Stipend deadline is Thursday, September 30, 2010.
If you have any questions about the procedure, please contact David Stone, Director of the Office of Sponsored Projects at (815)753-1581 or Andrea Buford at (815) 753-9283.
For complete program details, please visit the NEH website.
