NEH Summer Stipends

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers summer stipends for "two consecutive and uninterrupted months of full-time independent study and research." Applicants must be nominated by their institutions. Each college and university in the United States and its jurisdictions may nominate one member of its faculty for the summer stipends competition. If the University's nominee is not ultimately granted the NEH stipend, they will receive an equivalent stipend from University and Center funds, as long as they follow CFH procedures.

Watch a short interview with  our NEH 2017 Summer Grant winner Dr. Martin Camper, Writing.

CFH's 2018 NEH candidates discuss their research and the application process.
Dr. Leslie Zarker Morgan, Professor of French in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and CFH’s senior candidate for a 2018 NEH Summer grant for her research titled, “Charlemagne, Ideal Progenitor of Country and Lineage:  The Image of Charlemagne in the Prose compilations of Andrea da Barberino” discusses her work.

Dr. Willeke Sandler, Assistant Professor of History and winner of a 2018 NEH Summer Grant for her research titled, “Unofficial Empire: Germans between Germany and Tanganyika, 1925-1945” discusses her research.

Eligibility

Tenured or tenure-track faculty members in the humanities departments who have not previously held an NEH award in any of its programs for individuals may apply. Tenured or tenure-track faculty members from non-humanities departments who have not previously held an NEH award in any of its programs for individuals may apply if their topic is within the humanities.

Non-faculty college and university staff, full- and part-time affiliate faculty, as well as non-tenure-track instructors are eligible for the NEH summer stipends program and may submit applications to the NEH without nomination by their institution. However, the Center's policy of guaranteeing an equivalent stipend to applicants who do not receive the NEH stipend applies only to the University's tenured or tenure-track faculty nominee.

Application Procedures and Standards for Proposals

1. Applicants should prepare a full proposal, strictly following NEH guidelines, which includes a narrative, a one-page attachment indicating your plan of work, a one-page bibliography, a resume, and optional appendices. Send the proposal in a Word or PDF document to Bess Garrett esgarrett@loyola.edu by the last working day in July of the summer preceding that for which the stipend is sought.
2. A sub-committee of the Center for the Humanities steering committee selects the University's nominees, and informs the Center's director, who then informs the nominees. In most cases, the nominees are selected and informed by mid-August.
3. Nominees then prepare a final electronic application for the NEH on the NEH website, which includes the already completed description of the proposed study and bibliography along with the NEH cover sheet, and a resume (cover sheet is available at www.neh.gov). Before applying, please check the NEH website for the NEH's application deadline. The electronic application asks nominees to designate the University's nominating official. That person is the director of the Loyola Center for the Humanities, Dr. Peggy O'Neill.
4. Please send a copy of the full NEH proposal, with cover sheet, resume, and routing form to Loyola’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs five working days before the deadline for submitting the electronic application to the NEH.
5. Applicants are also required to submit their proposal, vita, and cover page for the Summer Research Application to the University's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, which is due by the first Friday of the Spring semester.
6. If a University nominee does not receive the NEH stipend and is granted a Loyola summer research grant, an additional amount is granted to that nominee from Center for the Humanities funds to make the grant comparable with the sum of the NEH stipend.
7. If a University nominee does not receive the NEH stipend and is not granted a Loyola summer research grant, the Center for the Humanities grants a summer stipend comparable to the NEH summer stipend to that nominee.
8. If a University nominee a) fails to apply for a Loyola summer research grant or b) is disqualified for failing to follow NEH instructions and c) therefore does not receive the NEH stipend, the nominee is not guaranteed a stipend from the Center for the Humanities.

Deadlines

• Initial proposal, with bibliography, due July 31, 2024; send in Word or PDF format to Bess Garrett esgarrett@loyola.edu.
• Nominees are selected and informed by the middle of August.
• Send the full NEH proposal, with cover sheet, resume, and routing form to orsp@loyola.edu by the deadline September 11, 2024. 
• Be sure to check the NEH website for the application date for the final form of electronically submitted application. The date is usually toward the end of September but changes from year to year. The anticipated date this year it will be Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
• Once the application is submitted, references will be contacted electronically; the NEH wbsite will provide the date their letters are due at NEH; it is usually by mid-October.
• Loyola University Summer Research Grant applications are due the first Friday of the Spring semester. Submit your proposal to ORSP. Please consult the webpage: https://www.loyola.edu/department/orsp/funding-sources/institutional-funding/summer-research 
• Notification: The expected notification date from NEH is April 30, 2025; Loyola’s Research and Sabbatical Committee (R&SC) will notify faculty applicants in mid-March.

Sample successful proposals. Camper; Sandler