Humanities Division Dissertation Research Travel Grants 2025-26
Application deadline: Wednesday, April 30, 2025

The Humanities Division provides limited funding for students who plan to travel to conduct dissertation research. A student may only receive a Dissertation Research Travel Grant once in their graduate career and the grants are not renewable.

The funding for these grants comes from several endowments, some which have no limitations regarding student department, area of research, or location, and others, such as the ones below, have a more specific focus:

* Arnaldo Momigliano Dissertation Research Travel Award provides dissertation research travel awards for students in Classics, Philosophy, and MES

* Biamonte Fellowship Fund provides students with support to study various forms of art (visual, musical, theatrical) in Italy.

* Robert Christy Fellowship Fund provides support for research projects and travel grants to graduate students studying East Asian Art. Students are not required to be ABD to receive the fellowship and may be in the pre-dissertation writing stage.

Funding from these grants is extremely limited. Students may receive up to $5,000. Students should first apply for travel grants from departments and centers (e.g., UChicago Global Travel Grant, Nicholson, France Chicago, CEAS, CAEA, COSAS) before requesting these funds.

Dissertation Research Travel Grant Parameters:

• Applicants will be awarded funds based on their specific travel and financial needs, the quality and feasibility of their projects, in addition to other academic qualifications.
• If a student's research needs can be met in Regenstein Library, funding from these grants will not be possible.
• Students who have previously done research at the location for which they are applying must explain why a return trip is necessary to complete their research, and they must ask their recommender to comment on their explanation. 
• These grants are not intended for pre-dissertation survey trips*
• Students will not be awarded travel grants who are traveling to Level 4 countries per the State Department travel advisory, and Level 3 countries will be evaluated on an individual basis.

*Note the Robert Christy Research Fellowship is open to pre-dissertation trips for those students studying East Asian Art. 

Eligibility Requirements:

• Begin research at location no earlier than the start of Summer Quarter 2025;
• Complete research at location no later than end of Spring Quarter 2026;
• Admission to candidacy before disbursement of the award.*

*Note the Robert Christy Research Fellowship fund does not require students to be ABD, but only students who are conducting dissertation research related travel or projects in the field of East Asian Art are eligible.

Application Requirements:

• A completed application form. A statement of intent, CV, itinerary, and budget should all be uploaded to the form as attachments;
• One letter of recommendation, which should be from the chair of the student's dissertation committee, emailed to Sarah Hill, Assistant Dean of Students, at shill26@uchicago.edu;
• Transcripts will be provided by the Dean of Students office.

The selection committee reserves the right not to consider dossiers that do not comply with these requirements.

All materials should be submitted no later than Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Announcement to the recipients of these research travel grants will be made in late May 2025.

Many of these funds come from endowed accounts, and the Development Office may seek out information about research travel and dissertation preparation if a grant is awarded.

If a student is unable to conduct their research travel as planned, they must inform the Dean of Students Office immediately. In those situations, travel funds may need to be repaid regardless of circumstance or alternative travel plans may need to be arranged with the approval of the Dean of Students Office.

Following completion of their travel, awardees are required to provide a summary (no more than 500 words) focusing on how the travel grant furthered their dissertation research to Sarah Hill at shill26@uchicago.edu.

Anyone traveling as part of the Dissertation Research Travel Grant MUST register with UChicago Traveler prior to departure. 

If you have questions about this application process, please email Sarah Hill at shill26@uchicago.edu.