Mellon Dissertation-Year Fellowships

Deadline: 4/15/2013 to the Dean of Students office, earlier to the department

Length: One year

A grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in combination with matching funds from individual donors provides endowment support for dissertation-year fellowships in the Division of the Social Sciences. Up to eight fellowships may be awarded in academic year 2013-2014. In accord with conditions set by the Mellon Foundation, this program is designed to increase completion rates and promote reductions in time-to-degree in the humanistic social sciences : Anthropology; Committee on Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science; Comparative Human Development; History; Political Science; Social Thought; and Sociology.

Value of Award 

Mellon dissertation fellowships will provide tuition, fees, and University Basic student health insurance plus an academic-year stipend of $23,000.

Departments and committees are invited to submit ranked  nominations to the Dean of Students. Nominations should be submitted by Monday, April 15.  Announcements of the winners will be made in mid-May. 

Each application must include:

1. SSD Dissertation Year Fellowship Application Form (available online at: https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/about/dean-of-students#forms ).

2. At least two letters of support* to be sent directly to the departmental administrator or included with the application (if included, the recommender should sign her/his name across the sealed flap).

3. Statement from the applicant (of no more than four pages, single-spaced) that describes the dissertation project, a table of contents and current completion status of each chapter, and one completed chapter.

4. A curriculum vitae (CV).

5. Transcripts will be provided by the Office of the Dean of Students upon receipt of nomination packets.

*One of the supporting letters must be from the principal dissertation supervisor who should address candidly and in some detail the applicant's expected academic progress over the next 12 to18 months and the likelihood of degree completion within that period.

Other things being equal, preference in making the awards will be given to those students who are likely to complete the degree within tenure of the fellowship.

Conditions of Award

1. Students who will be beyond their sixth year of doctoral study in 2013-2014 are not eligible for a dissertation fellowship (see #3 below for clarification for students entering with a master's). Quarters during which the student has been registered in pro forma status do  count toward the years of study in the doctoral program. If a student was on leave of absence for a full academic year, that year will not count toward the total years of study.

2. Students must have been admitted to candidacy at the time of application.

3. Students who entered a Ph.D. program in Scholastic Residence 2 must not be beyond their fifth year of doctoral study in 2013-2014.

4. Mellon fellows may not engage in any remunerative activity, including teaching, either on or off campus while holding the award.

5. Fellowships will be awarded for the 2013-2014 academic year.

6. Mellon fellows who do not complete their degrees within six months of completion of their fellowships are ineligible for further internal University funding from any source, including the tuition grant associated with teaching assignments.

7. For students pursuing joint programs, eligibility is through the home department only.

Departments set deadlines and procedures individually.  Nominations are due in the Office of the Dean of Students, Foster 107, by Monday, April 15, 2013. Late applications will not be accepted. 

Questions may be directed to Kelly Therese Pollock, Office of the Dean of Students in the Social Sciences, at kpollock@uchicago.edu or at 795-3238.