Townsend (Dissertation) Fellowship

Our longest-running program, the Townsend Fellowships Program supports the research of graduate students and assistant professors at UC Berkeley. Throughout the year, the fellows meet for weekly discussions with several tenured faculty and other invited guests. These discussions allow for interdisciplinary peer review of work in progress in a discussion format.

The purpose of the Fellowship is to further the research of the individual recipients and to enable faculty and graduate students within the humanities to meet and work with their colleagues in other departments. However, the project need not be "interdisciplinary" by definition. Awards are based on the scholarly merit of the individual applications. The selection committee will also take into consideration the research project's potential interest to scholars in different fields of the humanities and the likelihood of the applicant’s contribution to interdisciplinary discussion. The Fellows meet over lunch every Tuesday from 12 – 2 pm. The award of a Townsend Fellowship carries with it the understanding that the recipient will attend the meetings and participate actively in discussions.

Townsend Dissertation Fellows will be eligible for the Jacobson Award. The purpose of the Jacobson Award is to support innovative teaching efforts in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. An additional stipend will be awarded to one dissertation fellow from the 2012-13 fellows group. Applicants wishing to be considered for the additional award are asked to submit a Jacobson Award proposal along with their Townsend Fellowship application. Jacobson proposals will be evaluated on the strength of the applicant’s teaching dossier and on his/her description of a teaching-related project to be carried out during the course of the academic year. Please see application materials for more information.

Eligibility

Townsend Dissertation Fellowships are awarded to graduate students writing Ph.D. dissertations whose research projects significantly involve humanistic material or problems that have a significant bearing on the humanities. The competition is open to graduate students who are advanced to candidacy, or who will be advanced to candidacy by June 2012. Once selected, Dissertation Fellows who have submitted a proposal will be considered for the Jacobson Award.

Grant Provision

Townsend Graduate Student Fellows receive an $18,000 stipend. The Jacobson Award provides an additional $2,500 stipend to one Townsend Dissertation Fellow participating in the 2012-13 fellows group. Effective September 1, 2011, Townsend Dissertation Fellows may combine fellowship awards up to the maximum amount set by the Graduate Division. The Townsend award will not affect the student's eligibility to receive the Dean's Normative Time Fellowship (DNTF). However, because the purpose of the Townsend Fellowship is to enable full-time research Townsend Fellows are not eligible to teach or hold other academic appointments in the academic year during which they are appointed.

Deadline

November 15, 2011 – received by 5 p.m.

Application Materials

The call for applications is now closed.

For questions about the program, please contact The Townsend Center Fellowships Administrator at townsend_fellowships@berkeley.edu or 510-643-8082.