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University of Wisconsin–Madison

Mellon Foundation Higher Learning Program Open Call for Concepts 2026

PostedNovember 10, 2025
To:Chairs and Administrators, Departments in the Humanities and Social Sciences; Associate Deans for Research; College/School Research Administrators
From:Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
Date:November 10, 2025
Subject:Mellon Foundation Higher Learning Program Open Call for Concepts 2026

Deadline

Deadline for Internal Review:December 08, 2025

Project Description

Higher Learning’s Open Call for Concepts supports inquiry into issues of vital social, cultural, and historical import. Projects should engage teams of scholars and/or students, and have visible, enduring impact at the institution. The Mellon Higher Learning team will review all submissions and invite a small number of the most promising concepts to be developed into full proposals for potential grant funding.

Amount per Award: $250,000 to $500,000
Duration of Award: up to 4 years

Eligibility

All principal investigators must have an appointment in the Humanities or Humanistic social sciences per the Mellon Foundation guidelines. Interested applicants outside these disciplines are encouraged to collaborate as a Co-PI. Final eligibility is evaluated and determined by the Mellon Foundation.

Registration is required for each individual concept, and there is no limit to the number of individual registrations.

Registration Process:

Registration information must be submitted to Randall Gentry, Director – Foundation Relations, at Randall.gentry@supportuw.org by Sunday, November 30, 2025. This must include the following:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Job Title
  • Department
  • Field of Study
  • Work Phone
  • Project Topic: Normalization and Its Discontent or Unruly Intelligence

 

Internal selection process:

All PIs who register must submit a two-page application to OVCR by EOB Monday, December 8, 2025. The internal committee will provide feedback and schedule meetings with finalists by EOB Friday, December 19, 2025. All finalists are encouraged to attend the optional webinar by the Mellon Foundation on Wednesday, January 14th or Thursday, January 15th. The Foundation will send the webinar registration email on December 16, 2025. Finalists will then meet with the internal committee following the webinars in January.  All registrants who are not finalists will also receive a link from the Foundation to attend a webinar and are highly encouraged to do so in preparation for future Mellon Foundation funding opportunities.

UW-Madison is allowed to submit 3 concepts.

Website

The following link contains additional information on the program and specific application instructions:
https://www.mellon.org/article/higher-learning-open-call-for-concepts-2026

Internal Competition Application Instructions

Applications for Internal Review

To submit your application, attach a single PDF to an email to grants@research.wisc.edu.

Please include the following information (no more than 2 pages):

  • Clearly stated idea for a potential project
  • Project’s goals
  • Project’s potential impact
  • Principal Investigator and any co-principal investigator names
  • Budget estimate (Award is between $250,000 and $500,000) and budget description
    • Description should include any relevant expense categories, such as stipends, course releases, fellowships, on-campus or community programming, workshops, etc.

 

Sponsor Deadlines

Registration are due to The Mellon Foundation by December 01, 2025. Applications are due to The Mellon Foundation by February 17, 2026.

Questions?

Contact grants@research.wisc.edu.