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University of Wisconsin–Madison

NEH Summer Stipend 2021

To:Chairs and Administrators, Departments in the Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences; Associate Deans for Research; College/School Research Administrators
From:Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Education
Date:July 10, 2020
Subject:NEH Summer Stipend 2021

Deadline

Deadline for Internal Review:September 09, 2020

Project Description

The internal competition for National Endowment for the Humanities summer stipends is a great opportunity for faculty seeking summer salary support for humanities research. The UW-Madison has the opportunity to nominate up to two faculty to the national NEH summer stipend competition. The nominees are chosen by a subcommittee of the Research Committee. Anyone advanced to the national competition automatically receives 2/9ths summer salary support from the OVCRGE irrespective of whether or not they are successful in the national competition. Tenured faculty with distinguished publishing records are especially encouraged to apply.

Amount per Award: $6,000
Duration of Award: continuous full-time work on a humanities project for a period of two consecutive months
Number of Awards: 81 Awards per year– last 5 years average

Eligibility

Scholars in all disciplines of the humanities and related social sciences

  • Individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both
  • Projects at any stage of development, but most especially early-stage research and late-stage writing in which small awards are most effective.
  • Projects resulting in articles, monographs, books, digital materials and publications, archaeological reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources

 

More on the program, funding restrictions, proposal guidelines, as well as examples of successful proposals, may be found here:

 

UW–Madison may nominate 2 faculty.

Website

Internal Competition Application Instructions

Applications for Internal Review

The proposal needs to be submitted to the internal UW competition by September 9, 2020. The review committee will provide feedback to successful nominees by September 16, 2020. Nominees are responsible for submitting their revised proposals to the NEH through Grants.gov by 5:00 pm on September 23, 2020, as an individual applicant.

Please note that you need to register or verify your personal registration with Grants.gov by September 9, 2020.  The Grants.gov system will not allow you to submit a Summer Stipends application through an institutional account.

Utilize the following opportunity number: 20200923-FT

Applicants should format pages with one-inch margins and with a font size no smaller than eleven point. Single-spacing is permissible (and is the norm among successful applications). Your proposal should contain the following items in order:

  • Cover page
  • CV (two single-spaced pages; be sure to follow NEH guidelines)
  • Narrative (three single-spaced pages)
  • Bibliography (one single-spaced page)
  • Names and titles of two referees (do not include letters for the internal review committee)

 

To submit your application for internal review, please email a single PDF to grants@research.wisc.edu

PROPOSAL NARRATIVE (3 pages)

The narrative provides a comprehensive framework and description of all aspects of the proposed project.  It should not assume specialized knowledge and should be free of technical terms and jargon. Use the following section headings.

Significance and contribution

Describe the intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. State the project’s thesis or claim and provide an overview, explaining the basic ideas, problems, or questions examined by the study. Explain how the project will complement, challenge, or expand relevant studies in the field.

Methodology and work plan

Describe your method(s) and clarify the part or stage of the project that will be supported by the Summer Stipend. Provide a work plan, describing what you will accomplish during the period of performance. Your work plan must be based on a full-time commitment to the project for two consecutive months; part-time work is not allowed. If you do not anticipate finishing the entire project during the period of performance, discuss your plan for doing so.

For book projects, explain how the final project will be organized. If possible, provide a brief chapter outline. For digital projects, describe the technologies that will be used and developed, and explain how the scholarship will be presented to benefit audiences in the humanities. For edition or translation projects, describe the annotations or other scholarly apparatus that you plan to include. If you are proposing to translate into English a work for which other English translations already exist, provide a rationale for the new translation.

Note that work plans should not be wholly dependent upon factors beyond an applicant’s control. For example, an applicant should not request an award solely to respond to readers’ reports on a book manuscript if the applicant has not yet received those reports.

If you are requesting funding for the development, acquisition, preservation, or enhancement of geospatial data, products, or services, you must conduct a due diligence search at the Data.gov list of datasets to discover whether the needed geospatial-related data, products, or services already exist. If not, you must produce the proposed geospatial data, products, or services in compliance with applicable proposed guidance posted at http://www.fgdc.gov.

Competencies, skills, and access

Explain your competence in the area of your project. If the area of inquiry is new to you, explain your reasons for working in it and your qualifications to do so. Specify your level of competence in any language or digital technology needed for the study. Describe where the study will be conducted and what research materials will be used. If relevant, specify the arrangements for access to archives, collections, or institutions that contain the necessary resources.

Final product and dissemination

Describe the intended audience and the intended results of the project. If relevant, explain how the results will be disseminated and why these means are appropriate to the subject matter and audience.

If the final product will appear in a language other than English, explain how access and dissemination will be affected.

NEH expects recipients to provide broad access to all award products, insofar as the conditions of the materials and intellectual property rights allow.  If you are planning to develop a website or other digital material, explain how the public will access the material. If the project has a website, please provide the URL.

NEH also expects that any materials produced in digital form as a result of its awards will be maintained so as to ensure their long-term availability. To that end, describe how the project’s digital results, if any, will be maintained and supported beyond the period of performance.

PROPOSAL BIBLIOGRAPHY (1 page)

Items referenced in the narrative need not appear in the bibliography, if the citation in the narrative enables readers to identify the work. The bibliography should consist of primary and secondary sources that relate directly to the project. Include works that pertain to both the project’s substance and its theoretical or methodological approaches to give a well-rounded representation of your project. Evaluators will use the bibliography to assess your knowledge of the subject area.

Address questions to Florence Hsia, florence.hsia@wisc.edu

Expected notification date: April 1, 2021

Project start date: May 1, 2021

Sponsor Deadlines

Applications are due to NEH by September 23, 2020.

Questions?

Contact grants@research.wisc.edu.