Graduate Fellowships, Research Support, and Exchange Student Opportunities of interest to students in Linguistics
The Department encourages all graduate students to look for outside fellowship opportunities, as well as external research support. It never hurts to have a fellowship or research grant on your CV, it makes the Department's own funding go further, and some fellowships include benefits that the Department can't provide, such as summer or research support.The best opportunities are available to beginning and dissertation-year graduate students, but there are opportunities for students at every stage of graduate study. Check the fellowship descriptions for specific eligibility requirements. Unfortunately, many of the Stanford-external opportunities are only open to US citizens and permanent residents. You should check out these sites regularly to identify new and future opportunities, so you can be ready to apply when the time comes.
Keep in mind that many fellowship programs have application closing dates in the fall and almost all of them have deadlines by mid-January.
The list below includes programs and sites that might be particularly useful to graduate students in linguistics. If you discover any particularly useful web sites as you browse, do let the Department know, so we can improve this list.
Fellowship opportunities
For beginning graduate students and students applying to graduate school
Beinecke Scholarship Program (available to undergraduate juniors at about 100 selected universities, including Stanford, who plan on graduate study)The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund provides a stipend and tuition towards a year of graduate study. Applications are due mid-January and must be submitted via the student's current institution, which must be on a list of eligible institutions.
Golden Key Graduate Scholar Award for students who are members of Golden Key and are within five years of receiving their undergraduate degree. Award is based on academic achievement, Golden Key involvement, and extracurricular activities.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship Program awards fellowships to seniors and recent graduates, beginning with an internal competition at the undergraduate institution
National Academies Ford Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship provides 3 years of support to doctoral students in all fields, with particular consideration of applicants belonging to the following groups: Alaska Natives (Eskimo or Aleut); Black/African Americans; Mexican Americans/Chicanas/Chicanos; Native American Indians; Native Pacific Islanders (Polynesian/Micronesian); Puerto Ricans. Applications due November 15.
Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
Stanford Graduate Fellowships (students must be nominated by the Department for these fellowships)
For graduate students at all stages of graduate study
Microsoft Graduate Fellowships (for 2nd and 3rd year students at Stanford and selected universities; these involve a Stanford-internal competition and have a very early fall closing date)National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Graduate Fellowships provide one semester to two years of funding for area and language study; they have post-PhD obligations attached. Applications are due in late January of each year.
Phi Beta Kappa of Northern California Scholarships (for graduate students who are members of Phi Beta Kappa and attending Northern California universities)
SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships (for Canadians)
The Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowships (SIGF) Program is a university-wide program to award three-year fellowships to outstanding doctoral students engaged in interdisciplinary research. These fellowships include three summers of support and expect students to be TGR during their third year, so they are best applied for at the end of the second year. Applications are due towards the end of April.
For dissertation-year graduate students
AAUW American Dissertation Fellowships. Applications are due in mid-November of each year.The American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellowships assist graduate students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of Ph.D. dissertation writing.
The Council for European Studies Fellowship Program provides students with an opportunity to travel to Europe to test the feasibility of their dissertation projects
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies from the Foundation for Jewish Culture. Applications due in late November.
The John Hope Franklin Dissertation Fellowship supports the Ph.D. projects of minority students and other students with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities and enlarging minority representation in academia. Requires at least three months in residence at the APS Library in Philadelphia. Due April 1 of each year.
The Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund provides grants to advanced
doctoral candidates at Northern California universities for research in
the humantistic disciplines. Grants include a 12 month stipend and 3
quarters of TGR tuition. Due date is in mid-January of each year.
For information e-mail 
or call the Executive Secretary at 408-293-9952.
Mellon Fellowships for Dissertation Research (research must involve use of original sources/archives)
National Academies Ford Diversity Dissertation Fellowship provides one year of support to doctoral students in all fields, with particular consideration of applicants belonging to the following groups: Alaska Natives (Eskimo or Aleut); Black/African Americans; Mexican Americans/Chicanas/Chicanos; Native American Indians; Native Pacific Islanders (Polynesian/Micronesian); Puerto Ricans. Applications due late November.
Phi Beta Kappa's Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship (for women studying Greek language, literature, history, or archealogy or French language or literature)
Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowships (allows students to conduct 3-12 months of dissertation research at the Smithsonian)
Social Science Research Council Eurasia Program Dissertation Write-up Fellowships (for dissertations on the New States of Eurasia, the Soviet Union, and/or the Russian Empire). Applications are due in mid-November of each year.
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowships for Research Related to Education
Stanford's Center for East Asian Studies' Fellowship for the Study of Women in Asia: a fellowship for dissertation research or write-up on women in Asia. Provides a $10,000 stipend plus TGR fees. Applications are due in January.
Stanford's Clayman Institute Graduate Dissertation Fellows Program provides awards ($7000 in 2008-09) to registered Stanford students who have reached TGR and whose research focuses on issues of women and/or gender. Applicants are expected to be Graduate Affiliates of the Institute. Applications are due in early February.
Stanford's Diversifying Academia Recruiting Excellence (DARE) Fellowships for advanced doctoral students who plan to pursue academic careers, and whose presence will help diversify the professoriate.
Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences Dissertation Fellowships:
- Humanities Center Geballe Dissertation Fellowships
(require being in residence at the Humanities Center) - G.J. Lieberman Fellowships (require evidence of leadership and teaching ability and interest in a university teaching career)
- Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellowships
- Whiting Fellowships in the Humanities
For research support
The American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies Dissertation Planning Grant enable graduate students intending to do dissertation research in Sri Lanka to make a pre-dissertation visit to investigate the feasibility of their topic, to sharpen their research design, or to make other practical arrangements for future research.American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Research Fellowships (for research in Indian studies in India)
The American Institute of Pakistan Studies has fellowships for 2-9 months of dissertation research on Pakistan anywhere except Pakistan and the US. Applications due early Feburary.
The American Philosophical Society's Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research (for doctoral students who wish to participate in field studies for their dissertations or for other purposes)
The American Philosophical Society's Phillips Fund grants for Native American Research (for one year of research in Native American linguistics or ethnohistory; covers travel, tapes, and informants' fees)
American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellowships (for short term visits or one year of study/research in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden; for U.S. citizens or permanent residents; preference given to dissertation level students)
The Belgian American Educational Foundation has fellowships for US citizens to study in Belgium and for Belgian citizens to study in the US.
Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies for up to one year of support for research on modern and contemporary German and European affairs at the Freie Universität Berlin for graduate students who have completed all coursework requirements for the PhD and who are US and Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
Bourses Chateaubriand (for nine months of research in France)
The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) at SOAS, University of London, provides individual graduate studentship and pilot project grants.
The Endangered Language Fund provides small grants for language maintenance and linguistic field work, with a preference for projects which serve both the native community and the field of linguistics. Applications are due in late April.
Foundation for Endangered Languages
Fulbright Travel Grants (for research or study in Germany, Hungary, and Italy; see also the IIE site)
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad provides grants to fund doctoral students to conduct research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies for 6-12 months. Proposals focusing on Western Europe are not eligible.
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers various types of grants for study and research in Germany for citizens of other countries. Of particular interest are Research Grants for Doctoral Candidates and Young Academics and Scientists.
Institut Francais de Washington: Gilbert Chinard Fellowships and Edouard Morot-Sir Fellowship in Literature provide small grants for visits of at least two months to France to work on doctoral dissertation research. Applications due on January 15 of each year.
International Field Research Fellowship from the Social Sciences Research Council (for 9-12 months of field research for the dissertation; need not be US citizen)
IREX Individual Advanced Research Opportunities (pays for travel and living expenses for 2 to 9 months of research in countries in Eastern Europe, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan; see web site for precise list)
The Jacobs Research Fund is a grant program supporting anthropological research on the indigenous peoples of Canada, Mexico, mainland United States, including Alaska, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest. Applications are due February 15th of each year.
Korea Foundation Fellowship for Field Research allows for research stays of 3 to 12 months in Korea. Applications due in late July.
Kosciuszko Foundation for Graduate Study and Research in Poland (for nine months of research at a Polish university; housing and living stipend only, no travel or tuition)
Library of Congress Kislak Fellows Program allows up to four months of research at the Library of Congress in Washington DC
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants
NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes provide US graduate students in science and engineering first-hand research experience in Australia, China, Japan, Korea, or Taiwan in the context of a research laboratory; an introduction to the science and science policy infrastructure of the respective location; and orientation to the culture and language.
Organization of American States Regular Training Program (PRA) Graduate Fellowship: provide for one year of study/research in an OAS country; possibility of renewal for a second year. Must be a resident of an OAS country; pays travel, tuition, stipends, books.
Pantech Student Research Fellowships (to help Stanford graduate students finance a short research trip to Korea related to a project on Korea.)
Pantech Student Conference Fellowships (to reimburse Stanford students for travel expenses related to presenting Korea-related papers at a professional conference or seminar.)
SSILA (Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of America); small grants (for graduates), dissertation awards.
Smithsonian Graduate Fellowships (allows 10 weeks of research at the Smithsonian for graduate students who have not been advanced to candidacy)
Social Science Research Council Eurasia Program Predissertation Training Fellowships to support the development of research skills and/or language training for graduate students in early stages of their doctoral programs whose research is on or related to the New States of Eurasia, the Soviet Union, and/or the Russian Empire.
Stanford Center for African Studies FLAS Fellowships for African Language Study (can also be used to support dissertation research expenses)
Stanford Center for East Asian Studies has several awards for graduate students, including summer grants for academically related work for students of Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, as well as travel grants for presenting papers at major academic conferences.
Stanford Dissertation Research Opportunity Fund provides funding on a competitive basis to support dissertation research expenses on diversity-related topics. Deadlines in mid-November and mid-April.
Stanford Graduate Research Opportunity (GRO) Program
Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies:
- O'Bie Shultz Fellowships in International Studies
- Dissertation Grants in Japanese Studies
- Dissertation Grants in Chinese Studies
Stanford Latin American Studies Graduate Student Grants
The Stanford Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research Graduate Dissertation Fellows Program provides $3000 towards research-related expenses for students whose dissertation research focuses on women and/or gender.
Volkswagen Foundation (big grants must be in a partnership with a German researcher)
Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grants
General web sites devoted to graduate fellowship opportunities and other forms of research support
These sites are maintained by other universities and for this reason they duplicate each other to some extent. It's worth browsing through at least one of them to see if there is something that suits you.Cornell Fellowship Database provides *by far* the longest list of opportunities, including lists of summer and postdoctoral opportunities; searchable as a database, contains detailed descriptions of programs, as well as links to their web sites.
Graduate Student Grant/Fellowship Blog provides a very lengthy list of all kinds of fellowships for graduate and postdoctoral study.
The Linguistic Society of America's grants calendar (this list includes graduate opportunities, but is not limited to them; it does not contain links to the grant/fellowship sites)
Stanford University's List of Graduate Fellowships (a web site designed for advanced undergraduates, with links to the major fellowship programs; includes list of application due dates; except for opportunities specifically for Stanford undergraduates, most of these opportunities are subsumed under the North Carolina State University list)
Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences' list of fellowship opportunities
Stanford's Center for East Asian Studies provides lists of funding opportunities for research on China, Japan, Korea, and Asia, in general.
NSF's Division of Graduate Education's list of fellowship opportunities (includes links to the web sites, which include sites with general information on financial aid)
North Carolina State University List of Nationally Competitive Graduate Fellowships (links to full descriptions of some of the best-known and most prestigious fellowship programs, plus links to their web sites; sorted by application due date)
NYU Grants in Graduate Studies Linguistics Page (descriptions of programs, but no links)
Northwestern University's Graduate School's list of funding meta-sites and specific opportunities (links to resource sites and to specific programs; unfortunately, not all the links are up-to-date)
A list of fellowship opportunities of interest to students with interests in cognitive science maintained by University of California, Irvine
Exchange Programs
Exchange Scholar Program. Allows Stanford graduate students to spend up to an academic year at universities such as: University of California at Berkeley, Brown University, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. (Students at these schools can also use this program to spend up to an academic year at Stanford.)Fulbright Scholarships (for research and language study in selected countries outside the US; includes maintenance allowance, as well as travel, research, and language study support. See the IIE website for more details.)