ACLS invites research proposals from scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and interpretive social sciences. In the 2025-26 competition cycle, the program will award up to 60 fellowships to scholars across all stages of the scholarly career. Approximately half of this year’s awards will support early-career scholars.
ACLS invites applications from scholars pursuing research on topics grounded in any time period, world region, or humanistic methodology. ACLS aims to select fellows who are broadly representative of the variety of humanistic scholarship across all fields of study. ACLS is committed to inclusive excellence, which it defines as the pursuit of academic excellence that is enriched by a plurality of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. ACLS welcomes and encourages applications from all eligible scholars, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, age, or any aspect of identity. It also encourages applications from scholars across the range of academic institutions and beyond. In ACLS’s peer review, funding packages, and engagement with fellows, it aspires to enact its values of equity and inclusion as integral components of scholarly excellence.
The ultimate goal of the project should be a major piece of scholarly work by the applicant, which can take the form of a monograph, articles, publicly engaged humanities project, digital research project, critical edition, or other scholarly resources. The fellowships support projects at any stage of development – beginning, middle, or end. This program does not fund works of fiction (e.g., novels or films), textbooks, straightforward translation (without significant scholarly interpretation and apparatus), or projects that are primarily pedagogical in focus.
The fellowship stipend is set at $60,000 for a 12-month fellowship. Awards of shorter duration will be prorated at $5,000 per month, with the minimum award set at $30,000. ACLS provides award supplements of between $3,000-$6,000 for independent scholars, adjunct faculty, and faculty with teaching-intensive roles for costs incurred during the fellowship term, including research support, access to manuscript development workshops, learned society conference attendance, health insurance, or child- or eldercare.
Tenure of the fellowship may begin no earlier than July 1, 2026, and no later than July 1, 2027. The fellowship term must conclude no later than December 31, 2027. ACLS Fellowships are intended to help scholars devote six to twelve months to full-time research and writing. The awards are portable and are tenable at any appropriate site for research. An ACLS Fellowship may be held concurrently with other fellowships and grants and institutional support (such as sabbatical pay) within limits pre-set by ACLS each competition year. See the FAQ for further information about the expectations of the award term and rules for limits on concurrent sources of support.
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- be US citizens, permanent residents, Indigenous individuals residing in the United States through rights associated with the Jay Treaty of 1794, DACA recipients, asylees, refugees, or individuals granted Temporary Protected Status in the United States. In addition, foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or US territories for three or more years before the application deadline are also eligible, provided that they do not establish permanent residence outside the United States during the period of the fellowship.
- have earned a PhD in the humanities or interpretive social sciences no later than the application deadline. (An established scholar who can demonstrate the equivalent of a PhD in publications and professional experience may also qualify. See FAQ for more information).
- (for applicants who hold a tenure-track position – tenured or untenured – at the time of application) have had a lapse of at least two years between their last supported research leave of a semester or more and September 1, 2026. Please see FAQ about the definition of supported research leaves and how the timing of such leaves affects eligibility.
- devote six to twelve months to full-time research and/or writing during the award period, to be initiated between July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027, and to be completed by December 31, 2027. Please see FAQ for more information, including additional options for scholars holding contingent faculty positions.