Yes, you are eligible to apply for consideration. 

No. Applications are open to any eligible scholar at an accredited institution. Prior participation is not required.

No. IHS provides funding to PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty at accredited universities.

Occasionally, applicants receive decision updates sooner than the designated timeline for the program they are applying to, but this depends on the volume of applications being reviewed. Our review committee cannot guarantee a quicker turnaround.

We realize this was not the outcome you were looking for, but we appreciated your application regardless. When reviewing applications, our review committee leans into whether the topic falls within our current research priorities, the cost, and the trade-offs with other applications. Unfortunately, our review committee is unable to provide individual feedback due to the volume of applications we receive. However, you are welcome to apply for future funding opportunities.

Our review committee consists of a variety of individuals with differing backgrounds in academia and IHS’s current research priorities. Our recommendation is to write for an interdisciplinary audience while including a few signals that will help experts within your field situate your project.

Submission guidelines vary depending on the funding opportunity. Please refer to the information provided for the specific opportunity you're interested in.

You may need to ensure pop-up blockers are turned off and/or submit the application on a different web browser. If you are still unable to submit the application form, please reach out to Funding@TheIHS.org.  

There is not a certain amount of time you will need to wait to apply for funding to support other projects. However, we ask that you wait until substantial progress has been made to apply for funding to support your current project. 

Please select the IHS topic that you feel most closely aligns with your research. If you have a question about a specific IHS topic, please reach out to Funding@TheIHS.org. 

Most of our application questions have a word or character limit. If you require more space, please include additional information in an attachment at the end of your application. 

Most often, we ask that each activity you are requesting funding for has its own application. For example, if you are requesting funds for a conference presentation and research assistant support, we would appreciate two applications to review the expenses and the impact on your project separately. If you are unsure, please contact us at Funding@TheIHS.org.

Yes. Each application is reviewed independently. If you are pursuing complementary funding, note the relationship between the projects in your application.

We do not require letters recommendation, however, you are welcome to provide any additional documentation by contacting Funding@TheIHS.org. 

Yes, proposals for all of our funding programs are reviewed by an internal review committee. 

If your university isn’t showing up on the list, please simply type it in the box and submit once the application is complete. 

A line-item breakdown of anticipated expenses tied to your research goals—travel, materials, conference fees, research assistance, and so on. The budget should reflect what you actually need to complete the proposed work.

Once you provide all of the information and documents needed to be able to pay out the grant, you should receive the funds within 2–3 weeks. Please allow this time for processing. If it is after the three-week mark, please reach out to Funding@TheIHS.org and we will be happy to assist.

Once we receive your completed DocuSign forms or other required paperwork, you should receive your award payment within 2–3 weeks. Please let us know if you do not receive the funds within this timeline by contacting Funding@TheIHS.org. 

No, IHS grants cannot support institutional overhead or indirect costs.

All 1099 forms will be sent via email by late-January, while 1042-S forms will be sent via email by mid-March. Electronic copies of these documents are available upon request by emailing Funding@TheIHS.org. 

Please refer to the specific RFP webpages for full details on eligibility, deadlines, and other requirements. 

Yes. If your research is genuinely relevant to multiple open RFPs, you may submit separate applications. Each will be reviewed on its own merits.

Funding decisions turn primarily on how well a proposal engages the questions posed by the RFP. Proposals that reframe or sidestep the central questions are unlikely to be competitive.

IHS welcomes proposals that hold significant promise for advancing the liberal intellectual tradition. Funding opportunities are limited and highly competitive, but you may apply for funding through Advancing the Tradition if you have an idea you think might qualify.

Expense Support grants are typically supplemental and are designed to offset a project’s total cost. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Travel for conference presentations and archival research
• Research collaboration and hiring a research assistant
• Journal submission fees 
• Purchase of data sets
• Book publication expenses (e.g. copy editing, indexing)

• Living expenses (e.g. rent)
• Hardware costs (e.g. laptops, printers)
• Tuition expenses
• Retroactive expenses

Yes, previous applicants and winners are welcome to apply. 

We recognize that new and unexpected expenses may emerge in the process of engaging in a research project. Should you be the recipient of an Expense Support award for a particular project and new expenses arise (such as the need for additional data sets, the assistance of an editor or research assistant, an archival trip), you may apply for additional support.

You will receive a decision within six weeks of submitting your application. Feel free to follow up on the confirmation email you should have received after submitting your application. If you do not see this message in your inbox, it may have filtered to your spam folder.

A receipt needs to include payment date, method of payment, vendor, items/services received, and amount. If you are acquiring a hotel or flight receipt, often calling the hotel or airline/booking agency will allow you to get a receipt emailed to you. If you are unable to acquire one of these, a screenshot of your credit card/bank account that shows the same vendor and price as the booking confirmation and includes the date of payment works. You can find more information about reimbursements here.

No. Retroactive expenses are not eligible. Applications should be submitted before the expense is incurred.

Eligible projects may include faculty-led undergraduate mentorship programs, reading groups or structured discussion series, colloquia or student research workshops, undergraduate symposia or mini-conferences, support for student research and conference participation, and innovative programming that deepens engagement with political, economic, and civic questions.

You may access the list of student registrations on ScholarsEdge by clicking on your grant listed under “Funding.” If you need help creating an account, please reach out to Funding@TheIHS.org. 

Any event where a speaker presents to a student audience without structured engagement activities. Q&A alone does not count as meaningful engagement. Preparatory readings, small group discussions, or follow-up sessions do.

Free Society Grants are awarded on a per-cycle basis. If your program demonstrates strong outcomes, you are welcome to apply for renewed funding in future cycles.

The Humane Studies Fellowship offers grants to PhD students conducting research within the liberal tradition at an accredited college or university. Whether you need support for completing major research projects, taking a semester sabbatical for writing, presenting work at top conferences, making journal submissions, or participating in other eligible activities, you are welcome to apply for funding. This program is intended to support key projects that maximize a recipient’s research impact and career prospects.

Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis, and decisions are sent on a biweekly basis. If you have not received an application within eight weeks of submitting a proposal, please contact us at Funding@TheIHS.org.  

You will either produce and submit a paper to a well-regarded peer-reviewed journal, attend an important conference in your field, or complete a substantial portion of your academic research for advancement in your program. Failure to produce one of these results could lead to ineligibility for future IHS programming and funding support. We also require that you share any changes or major updates on your project during the grant period. You will complete our post-program survey, along with a series of reporting emails sent six months and twelve months after the end date of your application.

Residency Funding supports PhD students and postdoctoral fellows seeking short-term placements—typically one week to one month—at universities, academic centers, or research organizations beyond their home institution. Focused time in a new intellectual environment can accelerate dissertation progress, sharpen arguments, and build lasting scholarly relationships. Funding may be used to access datasets or archival materials unavailable at your home institution, work directly with mentors or prospective collaborators, develop sustained research partnerships, or contribute to active scholarly projects aligned with your research agenda.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; applicants are typically notified within eight weeks of submission.

You will either produce and submit a paper to a well-regarded peer-reviewed journal or complete a substantial portion of your academic research for advancement in your program and field. Failure to produce one of these results could lead to ineligibility for future IHS programming and funding support. We also require that you share any changes or major updates on your project during the grant period. You will complete our post-program survey, along with a series of reporting emails sent one month, nine months, and 18 months after the end date of your application.

Yes. The host institution does not need to be in the United States.

Not at the application stage. However, awardees will be expected to confirm placement arrangements before funds are released.

Yes. Residency Funding is open to any enrolled full-time PhD student, including those who have completed coursework and are in the dissertation stage.

That’s fine. IHS will work with selected applicants to identify and confirm a strong mentor match based on your research area and goals. Suggesting a preferred mentor is optional, not required.

No. Mentors do not need to have prior IHS affiliation. What matters is that the mentor is an established scholar with relevant expertise and a genuine commitment to the collaboration.

You will collaborate on a research project with your mentor throughout the grant period and attend a conference together to present the work. Failure to produce one of these results could lead to ineligibility for future IHS programming and funding support. We also require that you share any changes or major updates on your project during the grant period. You will complete our post-program survey, along with a series of reporting emails sent one month, nine months, and eighteen months after the end date of your application.

Yes. Each mentorship pair is expected to attend and participate in at least one academic conference or scholarly event together during the grant period. This is a core part of the program’s professional integration goals.

The Institute for Humane Studies is a nonprofit organization with a 501(c)(3) status. 

Unfortunately, we do not provide scholarships or funding to cover tuition costs. Please let me know if you have any questions about our funding opportunities.

All submitted applications are subject to consideration for a different IHS funding opportunity. When this happens, a grantee receives an acceptance email from the appropriate funding opportunity.

The Institute for Humane Studies should be acknowledged as a sponsor of the supported project whenever feasible. Like the NSF and other leading grantmaking organizations, IHS asks that you acknowledge our support for this project using the unique identifier that you received with your award email. We suggest using language similar to the following in your funded publication(s):

• I am grateful to the Institute for Humane Studies for their support (grant no. XXXXX).
• This work received support from the Institute for Humane Studies under grant nos. XXXXX and XXXXX.

All But Dissertation 

“Retroactive expenses” refers to expenses incurred before the application is submitted.