FAQ

The final deadline is Saturday, December 16, 2023.

To download the list of items required for our fellowship application, click here.

Please Note:  Be sure to check the exact requirements when you apply for the 2024-2025 CES fellowship through our online portal.

Applicants must be enrolled in either a social science or history Ph.D. program or in an interdisciplinary program with a substantial social science component. We do not support work in such humanities fields as English, Foreign Languages, Classics, Art History, and Philosophy.

We also do not consider applicants in professional degree programs such as Education, Social Work, Public Health, Law, and Public Policy. We recognize that important work is being done in all of these fields, but with limited resources, we have to focus our efforts.

However, applicants in these fields should not apply unless their dissertation projects have a substantial social science component.

You will receive an email confirmation when your recommender accepts the request as well as when the recommendation has been submitted.

Make sure your settings to receive notifications are turned on. To learn more, click here.

Yes. If your faculty recommenders are not familiar with the Center for Engaged Scholarship, we have prepared a letter for you to give them that explains what we are doing. The explanation is intended to clarify that we are interested in supporting high quality scholarly work.

To download the letter, click here.  We also include a link in the form that the recommender has to fill out.

The fellowship is for 9 months.

The first fellowship payment will be made on September 1st, 2024. The last payment will be on May 1st, 2025.

The answer is no unless you are in a joint program with a social science department. CES is focused on encouraging people who are on a traditional academic track to do work that is engaged with real world problems such as racism, gender oppression, economic exploitation, and environmental degradation. We acknowledge that people on professional school tracks, including law, planning, social work, public health, and education routinely do research work that is engaged with real world problems. We commend them for doing this work, but since our resources are limited, we cannot provide funding.

Yes, but your application will be judged as to whether or not it contributes to achieving social, racial, gender, or environmental justice.

Only online applications submitted through our online portal will be accepted. Please submit your application in advance of the deadline to accommodate any technical problems.

You may apply only in the event that you will be ABD by February 29, 2024. We recognize that requirements to be ABD vary by institution, so we are using the definition of your particular institution. The CES fellowship is intended for graduate students who will have finished the majority of their research or data collection by June of the current academic year and will be writing their dissertations during the fellowship period: September 2024 – May 2025.

In addition to an applicant’s academic background, reviewers will expect to see a strong explanation of how the research could contribute to struggles for justice in the United States. Reviewers will also consider the applicant’s engagement with the community.

We recommend you plan to submit well ahead of the deadline to avoid any technical glitches at the last minute.  Applications are due Saturday,  December 16, 2023 at 11:59 pm PDT.  No exceptions.

NOTE:  Once the application has been submitted, you will no longer be able to go back to make any changes. We strongly suggest you go over your application carefully as well as download it and review it before hitting “Submit”.

You may find the ‘Exemplary Research’ section on this website helpful to provide you with ideas on how social science research can inform progressive change and social justice.

Although we do not have any kind of template, we highly recommend that applicants use The Art of Writing Proposals to develop these proposals.

Your application is complete only AFTER all three of your recommendations and other supporting documents have been submitted. However, we urge you to provide your recommenders ample time to write their recommendation letters.

Please remember that you will receive individual notifications after each recommendation is filed.

No, you are not eligible to apply for the fellowship if you are close to completing your dissertation.

You are however eligible to apply if you have advanced to candidacy, completed your research, and plan to be writing your dissertation during the fellowship period: September 2024 - May 2025.

We gather information about that from the timeline narrative you provide in your application. We also ask your recommenders to specifically comment on your writing plans for the 2023-2024 academic year. Your dissertation chair will have to also report on your progress in their recommendation letter.

However, you may not apply if you have previously received a CES fellowship.

You are eligible for the fellowship competition but you must explain how your findings could contribute to struggles for justice in the U.S.

You may still apply as long as you complete your requirements to be advanced to candidacy on or before February 29th, 2024. Our fellowship is for students who have finished the majority of their research or data collection and will be in the early stages of writing when the fellowship begins in September 2024. Do not apply if you have already completed much of the writing.

This is a hard deadline and you must provide documentation from your dissertation chair/graduate division that you have advanced to candidacy.

If you do not provide documented proof, you will be deemed ineligible for the fellowship.

For more detailed instructions, click here.