Dissertation-year fellowships are designed to help students complete the writing of their dissertation in the final year of graduate study (they’re also referred to as dissertation write-up fellowships). The Division of the Social Sciences provides a number of these fellowships on a division-wide competitive basis. Some departments and centers also offer dissertation fellowships for students in their fields. There are also many external dissertation-year national fellowship competitions.

Divisional Dissertation-Year Fellowships

The Division offers 15 Dissertation-year fellowships in four competitions: the Mellon, the Harper/Visiting Committee fellowships, the Markovitz and the Bloom. International students as well as U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible. These awards are among the highest honors the Division can confer on it students. Departments announce the competitions, and students apply through their departments. The competitions take place in early spring. Selections are made by faculty committees and the Dean of Students notifies students of the competition outcomes in late May or early June.

Dissertation-year fellowships provide tuition, a stipend and University students health insurance (Basic option), deployed over four consecutive quarters, and they can begin in either the Summer or Autumn quarter. They are meant to provide enough support for students to focus exclusively on writing the dissertation, and consequently prohibit significant employment, including serving in a teaching capacity, during the fellowship period. Since they are designated for students in the final year of study, an important condition is that the Fellows will be ineligible for any subsequent financial aid from the University, and ineligible to take teaching assignments, with the following exception. For two quarters after the end of the fellowship, students may take teaching positions, and the Division will provide the tuition grant associated with such assignments. Following those two quarters, students may not be employed in a teaching capacity at the University, and are ineligible for gift aid.

Harper/Visiting Committee Fellowships

The oldest (the Harper, in honor of William Rainey Harper, the University’s first president) and newest (the Visiting Committee) fellowships are awarded in the same competition, to the same requirements and standards. Students in all Social Sciences departments are eligible. Applicants must be formally admitted to candidacy at the time of nomination. Students who would be beyond the seventh year of study in the tenure of the fellowship are not eligible. Students apply through their departments. Departments may nominate only one candidate for the Divisional competition. The Division awards three fellowships in this competition, one with a $23,000 stipend, and two with stipends of $18,000. The competition takes place early in the Spring quarter. The Dean of Students notifies applicants of the outcomes in June.

Markovitz Fellowship

The Michael and Ling Markovitz Dissertation Fellowship supports dissertation projects that explore important aspects of the linkages and influences between social/cultural and economic/commercial behavior. Students in all Social Sciences departments are eligible. Students who would be beyond the seventh year of study in the tenure of the fellowship are not eligible. Students apply through their departments. Departments may nominate only one candidate for the Divisional competition. The Division awards two fellowships in this competition, one with a $23,000 stipend, and one with a stipend of $18,000. Depending on available funding, a third fellowship may be provided at $18,000. The competition takes place early in the Spring quarter. The Dean of Students notifies applicants of the outcomes in June.

Bloom Fellowship

The Benjamin Bloom Fellowship supports dissertation projects that focus on education carried out in any social science discipline. Students in all Social Sciences departments are eligible. The Division awards two fellowships in this competition, one with a stipend of $23,000 that can be held no later than the seventh year of study, and one with a stipend of $15,000 that can be held in through the 12th year of study.

Departments and Centers

Some departments, notably History and Economics, award dissertation-year fellowships, and students should contact the department administrators for more information. The Center for Gender Studies, the Center for East Asian Studies, and the Nicholson Center offer dissertation year fellowships that may interest students in the Social Sciences.