Mellon Research Travel Fellowship

The CLAS Mellon Research Travel Fellowship supports outstanding doctoral students in the Social Sciences Division who need to conduct research or fieldwork in Latin America at any stage of their doctoral program.

SSD students who apply for Tinker Field Research Grants to support pre-dissertation research will automatically be considered for the CLAS Mellon Research Travel Fellowship if overall demand for funding exceeds our capacity to fund Tinker applications.

This program is funded with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Eligibility

  • University of Chicago doctoral students in the Social Sciences Division (Anthropology, Comparative Human Development, Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, Economics, History, Political Science, Psychology, Social Thought, Sociology) are eligible to apply.
  • Students may apply at any stage of their doctoral program, but can receive funding no more than once before defending their proposal and no more than once after defending the proposal.
  • Any dissertation topic that has Latin America as its central focus will be considered.

Duration of the Grant

  • Students may propose research for periods of 2 weeks to 3 months.
  • Funds are disbursed in the summer following the application deadline for research to be conducted over the summer or in the following academic year.

Fellowship Benefits

  • Fellowship funds are intended to support transportation, living costs, and research expenses for the duration of a fellow's proposed trip abroad

Application Process

Please send all the following materials as a single PDF file to clas@uchicago.edu with the subject line: Mellon Fellowship 2024, by Friday February 23, 2024. Please have your faculty adviser send their letter of support separately to clas@uchicago.edu.

  • Application Form
  • Two-page curriculum vitae
  • Itinerary for the trip and itemized budget (use template here; see sample itinerary and budget)
  • 2-4-page research proposal narrative. The proposal should briefly explain the purpose and significance of the research project, detail the research plan, describe the candidate’s preparedness for project, provide local contacts who may facilitate field work, and specify the proposed length of trip.
  • Current transcript (please download from my.uchicago.edu)
  • Short letter of support from faculty adviser (no more than 500 words recommended)

As you prepare your application, please review the Grant Proposal Tips.

Questions? Please contact CLAS Student Affairs.