Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowships for PhD Students

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowships give PhD candidates US$20,000 each to finish writing their dissertations. The foundation offers the award to students anywhere in the world whose work deals with violence and aggression, including social change, intergroup conflict, war, terrorism, crime and family relationships, or closely related subjects.

This money supports the writing stage, not doctoral research. Reviewers read dissertation fellowship applications against each other; they do not compare them with the foundation's postdoctoral research grant proposals.

• Host: Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
• Level: PhD dissertation, final year
• Study destination: colleges and universities in any country
• Award: US$20,000 per fellowship
• Number of awards: 10 or more
• Deadline: 1 February each year
• Start date: ordinarily 1 September

Colleges and universities in any country.

The fellowship is for a PhD dissertation written by a student in the final year. The dissertation must address violence and aggression in relation to social change, intergroup conflict, war, terrorism, crime, family relationships, and similar topics.

10 or more.

PhD students from any country.

Each fellowship is worth US$20,000. The money helps a doctoral candidate finish the thesis on time, so it suits students who are already close to the final year of their PhD work.

Awards usually begin on 1 September. If the project calls for it, you may ask for a different starting date after 1 July.

You may be a citizen of any country and study at a college or university in any country. You must be a graduate student who will finish writing the dissertation within the award year.

Your dissertation must relate to subjects that interest the foundation: violence and aggression in relation to social change, intergroup conflict, war, terrorism, crime, family relationships, among other topics. Work with no relevance to understanding human violence and aggression will not be supported. Priority also goes to areas and methodologies that other funding sources do not support adequately.

The grants go to PhD candidates entering the dissertation stage of graduate school. Usually that means fieldwork or other research is complete and writing has begun. If your analysis and writing are not far enough along for you to be confident of finishing the dissertation within the year, do not apply. In some disciplines, especially experimental fields, research and writing can reasonably be expected to finish within the same year, and in those cases applying is appropriate.

This award fits a PhD candidate whose research is done or nearly done and whose main task for the coming year is writing. Your topic must sit within the foundation's interest in violence and aggression.

If you are still designing research or collecting data, wait until you reach the writing stage. Students in experimental fields who can complete both research and writing within the year may also apply.

Applications are currently closed. The application will be available beginning 1 October each year, for grants to be awarded the following year.

Submit your application online. Dissertation fellowship applications must reach the foundation by 1 February each year, and the decision comes in June of that year. Review takes place during the spring, and the Board of Directors makes the final decisions at its meeting in June.

If you receive a dissertation fellowship, send the foundation a copy of the dissertation, approved and accepted by your institution, within 6 months after the end of the award year. Any papers, books, articles or other publications based on the research should also go to the foundation.

Read the official website (link below) for full details on how to apply.

• Who can apply for the dissertation fellowship? PhD students from any country who are entering the dissertation stage and will complete the writing within the award year.
• What does the fellowship cover? It provides US$20,000 to support the doctoral candidate in completing the thesis on time.
• Does it fund doctoral research? No. The fellowship is not for support of doctoral research; it is for the writing stage.
• When is the deadline? Applications must be received by 1 February each year, and the application opens on 1 October each year.
• How do I apply? Submit the application online through the official website.

• Read the official guidelines before you start and check that your topic matches the foundation's interests.
• Prepare your documents early so you are ready when the application opens on 1 October.
• Show clearly in your application that your research is complete and the writing is under way.
• Explain how your project relates to understanding human violence and aggression.
• Keep a copy of everything you submit for your own records.