The 2012-2013 Dissertation Fellowship competition is closed.

This page contains the descriptions for each of the GSAS Dissertation Fellowships, 2012-13. Submission instructions are on the bottom of the page and below is the link to the information and forms page.

Dissertation Writing Fellowships

Each award includes a stipend, a waiver of maintenance of matriculation fees, and 100% coverage of the NYU comprehensive health insurance plan for an individual. The stipend for the Dean's Dissertation and James Arthur Fellowships will reflect the GSAS minimum stipend for 2012-2013. In 2011-2012 the minimum stipend was $23,622. The stipend for the Mellon Dissertation Fellowship will reflect the GSAS minimum stipend for 2012-2013, with an additional $500.00 merit supplement. The stipend for the Horizon Fellowship is $25,000. It is expected that these awards will enable students to complete their dissertation and graduate at the end of the 2012-2013 year.

Important note for departments who support their students with MacCracken awards: Dissertation writing fellowships are awarded only to students who have completed the full term of their MacCracken fellowship. Exceptions will be considered for programs in which students typically complete the doctoral degree within five years.

Important eligibility restriction: No student is eligible to receive both a Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship and a Mellon Dissertation Fellowship, either in the same year or in different years.

Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship
Thirty Dean's Dissertation Fellowships are available to eligible GSAS doctoral students in all departments who will be entering the final year of writing their dissertations. Departments may nominate no more than two students. The Departments of English, History, and Philosophy will not make nominations directly to the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship this year. Students nominated but not selected for Mellon Dissertation Fellowships will be designated as nominees for the Dean’s Dissertation Fellowships (see below).

Mellon Dissertation Fellowship in English; Mellon Dissertation Fellowship in History; and Mellon Dissertation Fellowship in Philosophy
Five Mellon Dissertation Fellowships are available in each of the Departments of English, History, and Philosophy. These fellowships are available to students in these departments who are entering the final year of writing their dissertations. The Departments of English, History, and Philosophy will each submit up to six nominations for this award. Students nominated but not selected for the Mellon Dissertation Fellowship in English, History, and Philosophy will automatically be considered departmental nominees for the GSAS Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. Recipients must submit a final progress report by September 1 after the award year to the GSAS Office of Academic and Student Life (OASL).

Mellon Dissertation Fellowship in the Humanities
Five Mellon Dissertation Fellowships in the Humanities are available to students in Arts and Science based humanities departments who are entering the final year of writing their dissertations. Students in English, History, and Philosophy are not eligible for this award and should apply to the department specific Mellon Fellowships listed above. Each department will submit one nomination for this award. Students nominated but not selected for the Mellon Dissertation Fellowship will automatically be considered for the GSAS Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. Recipients must submit a final progress report by September 1 after the award year to the GSAS Office of Academic and Student Life (OASL).

James Arthur Fellowship
One award is available to a GSAS student whose dissertation concerns the measurement, meaning or conceptualizing of time. This could include current or past technologies, subjects like cosmology, relativity theory, carbon dating, anthropological, psychological, historical, linguistic or literary perspectives, or many other areas of inquiry. The Dean’s Office makes the final decision whether a nominee’s research meets the topic requirement. Departments in which eligible work is being conducted may nominate one student. Students nominated but not selected for the James Arthur Fellowship will automatically be considered for the GSAS Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. Recipient must submit a final progress report by September 1 after the award year to the GSAS Office of Academic and Student Life (OASL).

Horizon Fellowship
Two awards, of $25,000 each, are available to outstanding GSAS doctoral students from the departments of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Departments may nominate one student. Students nominated but not selected for the Horizon Fellowship will automatically be considered for the GSAS Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. Recipients must submit a final progress report by September 1 after the award year to the GSAS Office of Academic and Student Life (OASL).

Dissertation Research Fellowships

Each award includes an annual stipend, a waiver of maintenance of matriculation fees, and 100% coverage of the NYU comprehensive health insurance plan for an individual. The stipend will reflect the GSAS minimum stipend for 2012-2013. In 2011-2012 the minimum stipend was $23,622.

Lane Cooper Fellowship
One award is available to a GSAS student who intends to pursue a teaching career in history, literature, philosophy or classical and medieval languages. Research may concern any period up to and including, but not later than, the Renaissance. Departments in which eligible work is being conducted may nominate one student.

Torch Prize Fellowship
Three Torch awards are available for GSAS doctoral students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. International students who are not permanent residents are also eligible to apply as long as their country of proposed research is not the country indicated on their student visa. Awards are to be used to conduct the student’s final year of dissertation research abroad. Consideration will be given to students who plan to conduct research in the region or country that has a demonstrable connection to the student’s family of origin, as this program seeks to encourage scholars to “give back” to the land of their heritage. The research must be conducted in, and related to, a country or region outside the United States. There is no age limit for individuals applying for the Torch Prize Fellowship. A small stipend will also be awarded to the host institution at which the recipient will conduct the research. Departments in which eligible work is being conducted may nominate one student. Recipients must submit a final progress report to the GSAS Office of Academic and Student Life (OASL) by September 1 after the award year.

Submission Instructions and Deadlines

Students are nominated for these awards through their department.  Students should check with their department for internal application deadlines.

Departments must submit ALL original paper documents for nominated applicants no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2011. It is recommended that student- and department-submitted material be double-spaced, Times New Roman, font size 12 point, for text and Times New Roman, font size 10 point, for headers and footers. Furthermore, a single scanned PDF of the entire nomination should be emailed to Kristofor Larsen (kristofor.larsen@nyu.edu) by the Department Administrator no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2011.

Note: The Office of Academic and Student Life only accepts nominations as one complete document submitted by the department. OASL does not accept the various documents included in the nomination separately from the nomination itself. Instructions concerning the submission process will be sent to department administrators, if you have questions concerning this process, please feel free to contact Kristofor Larsen at kristofor.larsen@nyu.edu.

GSAS Office of Academic and Student Life 
6 Washington Square North, 2nd Floor 
(212) 998-8060
gsas.studentlife@nyu.edu

Additional information and forms for students and departmental administrators.