Summer Dissertation Writing Fellowships provide a $8000 summer stipend to advanced UCR graduate students in Ph.D. programs in the humanities who need dedicated time to significantly advance their dissertation over the summer (July – September). Priority will be giving to applicants with a feasible plan to complete before the end of the calendar year (December 2026).

• Office space is available at the Center for Ideas and Society for fellows who prefer to work on campus in the summer months.
• Awardees will be invited to participate in the UC Humanities Graduate Fellows Collaborative Convening, hosted by UC Santa Barbara’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Center. The virtual event, hosted in September, convenes fellows for a workshop with Bri McWhorter of Activate to Captivate. During the workshop, fellows will develop their ability to speak about their research and work in a range of settings, including conferences, non-academic settings, and job interviews.

Application Preview & Guidance

The online application will require:

• Your name, email, and department/program
• Details on other summer fellowships
• Details on summer employment and the impact of the fellowship on those plans
• Project title and abstract (2000 character limit)
• Statement of Dissertation’s Significance and Contribution to the Field (2000 character limit)
• Outline of Dissertation Chapters. Indicate progress made on each chapter (complete, drafted, not started, etc). (10,000 character limit)
• Feasibility plan, including a timeline for work over the Summer 2026: Outline the work to be completed over summer and the target date for completion of the dissertation. (2000 character limit)

Application guidance

• We suggest that you prepare a draft of the application components and copy/paste the text into the form fields.
• Character count limits on form fields include punctation and spaces.
• You may return to the form to make edits up until 11:59 on the deadline.
• Submit the online application form and all required documentation by the deadline. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

Statement of Support Preview

In the Statement of Support form, faculty advisors will be asked to:

• identify their name and department
• confirm that the student is ABD and in good standing
• Assess the student’s progress and the feasibility of the proposed plan to complete the dissertation by the end of the calendar year

Statement of Support form

Award Guidelines

A fellowship of $8000 will be awarded to a CHASS graduate student, competitively selected from applicants to this call. Awards will be paid through financial aid and students are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to receive the award. Fellowships cannot be deferred or transferred. A short narrative report will be requested at the end of summer.