ORSP welcomes internal applications from eligible tenured or tenure-track faculty interested in being nominated for NEH Summer Stipends Competitions (2021 and 2022 project periods).
The Summer Stipends program aims to stimulate new research in the humanities and its publication by supporting the work of individual scholars doing research or scholarly writing.
Summer Stipends support continuous full-time work of individuals for two-months on humanities projects. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources.
Award Information
Summer Stipends provide $6,000 to individuals (not their institutions) for two consecutive months of full-time research and writing, starting as early as May 1 of the fellowship year, and may be used to support recipients’ compensation, travel, and other costs related to the proposed scholarly research. Recipients must work full-time on their projects for these two months and may hold other non-NEH sources of support (for example, sabbaticals and supplementary funding) or grants for the same project during the Summer Stipend period of performance. Summer Stipends normally support work carried out during the summer months, but arrangements can be made for other times of the year.
UM Supplementary Funding
UM institutional nominees selected by NEH for Stipends for the summer of 2021 or 2022 are eligible for an additional $3,000 supplement from ORSP funding—typically as summer salary and fringe benefits. Individual applicants—those not nominated by UM—are not eligible for this supplement.
Institutional Nominations
Full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty must be nominated by their institutions, which are limited to two nominations per year. Jason Hale, Director of Research Development (jghale@olemiss.edu), coordinates UM’s internal selection process for limited submission opportunities. However, UM’s Nominating Official is Josh Gladden, Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs (jgladden@olemiss.edu).
Eligible UM tenured or tenure-track faculty who would like to be considered for these nominations should prepare an internal application and submit it to ORSP via the InfoReady Review Portal by the date indicated below for that competition year. Pre-proposals will be evaluated in keeping with the ORSP Standard Procedure on Limited Submissions, and in consideration of NEH’s posted review criteria for this program; UM’s two nominees will be chosen from among the internal applications received.
Individuals who are not full-time, tenured or tenure-track faculty members may also apply, and are exempt from the institutional nomination requirement. Nevertheless, ORSP encourages any such individuals who apply to notify their UM supervisors as a courtesy—especially if they expect to be UM employees during the period of performance of the fellowship, if awarded.
Eligibility for Institutional Nominations
UM full-time faculty holding tenured or tenure-track positions who:
· have completed their formal education, and
· are U.S. citizens or foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years immediately preceding the application.
Key Dates
2020
May 20 NEH Webinar (recording and slides available here.)
June 26 This ORSP Announcement
July 27 Internal Applications due at https://olemiss.infoready4.com.
July 28 – Aug 10 Internal review process conducted
Aug 11 UM selections completed; Nominees announced
Aug 12 – Sep 22 Selected nominees improve and finalize full proposals
(including registering at Grants.gov)
Sep 9 Suggested last date for applicant Grants.gov registration.
Sep 23, 10:59 p.m. CDT Proposals due to NEH;
· Nominees submit their own application via grants.gov.
· The institution will NOT submit the applications.
· No transmittal is required.
Oct 3 (approximately) NEH requests reference letters and nomination confirmation
Oct 12 Date by which you should have confirmed that NEH received your
references letters and nomination confirmations. If NEH has not
received them by this date, we suggest you send reminders.
Oct 16 Letters of rec. & confirmation of nomination due to NEH
2021
March NEH 2021 Selections announced
April 30 Last day for fellows to submit Summer Stipends Acceptance Form
May 1, 2021 Earliest fellowship/project start date
Sept 1, 2022 Latest fellowship/project start date
July 27 Internal Applications due at https://olemiss.infoready4.com.
July 28 – Aug 10 Internal review process conducted
Aug 11 UM selections completed; Nominees announced
Aug 12 – Sep 22 Selected nominees improve and finalize full proposals
(including registering at Grants.gov)
Sep 8 Suggested last date for applicant Grants.gov registration.
Sep 22, 10:59 p.m. CDT Proposals due to NEH;
· Nominees submit their own application via grants.gov.
· The institution will NOT submit the applications.
· No transmittal is required.
Oct 3 (approximately) NEH requests reference letters and nomination confirmation
Oct 12 Date by which you should have confirmed that NEH received your
references letters and nomination confirmations. If NEH has not
received them by this date, we suggest you send reminders.
Oct 15 Letters of rec. & confirmation of nomination due to NEH
2022 Dates
March NEH 2022 Selections announced
April 30 Last day for fellows to submit Summer Stipends Acceptance Form
May 1, 2022 Earliest fellowship/project start date
Sept 1, 2023 Latest fellowship/project start date
Instructions for UM Pre-Proposals
To be considered as one of UM’s two institutional applicants, prospective nominees should upload an internal application to the ORSP InfoReady Review Portal.
The internal pre-application will consist of one PDF containing the following items, in order, exactly following the format described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity: See pages 10-14 of the NOFO for detailed instructions of what is expected in these items and sections.
1. A 3-page project narrative, including:
a. Significance and Contribution: Why is the project important?
b. Methodology and Work Plan: How will you do the project? What will you do during the grant period? How does it fit into the larger arc of the overall project?
c. Competencies, Skills, and Access: Why are you the right one to do the project?
d. Final Product and Dissemination: How will your work reach its audience?
2. A 1-page Bibliography
3. A 2-page Resume
4. Appendices (only for editions, translations, database projects and visual materials)
An addition, for the UM pre-application only, individuals previously nominated by UM for these fellowships but not selected by NEH, and who are proposing the same or a very similar project as before, should also include:
5. The NEH Reviewers Comments on that previous application, and
6. The applicant’s Revision Plan for adapting this app based on those Reviewer Comments
If (and only if) you are selected for UM nomination, there will be additional forms for you to fill out in grant.gov including but not limited to (see the NOFO pp. 6 - 8 for detailed instructions):
· Title (understandable to a lay audience)
· Your name, contact info, congressional district, and mailing address
· 1,000-character project description (or abstract)
· SF 424: Application for Federal Assistance
· NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals
o The Field of your project
o YOUR disciplinary field
o Your status as a jr. (< 7 years since terminal degree) or senior (> 7 years) scholar
o Name, email address, and affiliation of each of your references
o Name and e-mail address of your institutional nominating official
· Project/Performance Site Location Form
Review Criteria (from page 15 of NOFO)
1.Why?
The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
a. What is the project about?
b. What is the projects value to humanities scholars and/or general audiences?
c. How will it change scholarship?
d. Who needs to read your book (or other work) and why?
e. How will your book (or other work) change the way the understand the topic?
f. Does your work tell us anything larger?
2.What? (Work Plan)
The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant’s clarity of expression.
a. Is it clear to general readers what you will do during the grant period?
b. Is it clear to general readers that the work will answer your research questions?
c. What is the quality of the conception, definition, organization, of the project?
d. How is the narrative clear?
3.How?
The feasibility and appropriateness of the proposed plan of work.
a. Is it clear how the project will work?
b. Is there a detailed work plan to describe what the applicant will do each month?
c. Does the proposed work appear feasible to accomplish during the grant period?
d. Is the plan very specific?
4.Who?
The quality or promise of quality of the applicant as an interpreter of the humanities.
a. Is it made clear why the applicant is the right person to do the project?
b. Are the applicant’s unique strengths for performing the project communicated?
c. Does the applicant demonstrate promise as an interpreter of the humanities?
5.Likelihood of Success?
The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project (not necessarily during the period of performance), including, when relevant, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans.
a. Does the applicant appear likely to complete the project (not necessarily during the period of performance)?
b. Does the project/work appear likely to reach the intended audience(s)?
c. Where relevant, how sounds are the dissemination and/or access plans?
d. Does the applicant’s publication record instill confidence in their ability to produce
The Humanities
According to the 1965 National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”
NEH Areas of Interest
NEH is especially interested in supporting projects that advance humanities-related work in the following areas. However, applicants will not get a boost for referring to them, or a demerit for failing to refer to these area(s).
“A More Perfect Union”: NEH Special Initiative Advancing Civic Education and Commemorating the Nation’s 250th Anniversary
“As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, NEH encourages projects that promote a deeper understanding of American history and culture and that advance civic education and knowledge of our core principles of government. The agency-wide “A More Perfect Union” initiative will help Americans better understand the world’s oldest constitutional democracy and how our founding ideals are met in a modern, pluralistic society.
NEH welcomes consideration of diverse topics in American history, from Native American culture to rural life to the rise of the industrial city, from the Civil War to the Cold War to the Civil Rights movement, etc. We also seek projects that examine foundational documents in U.S. history, as well as projects that examine historical objects, places, traditions, events, and individuals who collectively shaped our states and nation. Applications about the contributions of under-represented communities are highly encouraged.
Individual Applications (not managed by UM or ORSP)
The following types of individuals may apply without an institutional nomination.
· independent scholars not affiliated with an institution of higher education
· non-tenure-track faculty at institutions of higher education
· staff (non-faculty) not teaching during the academic year preceding the award
· emeritus faculty
Program Statistics
Over a recent five year period, the Summer Stipends program received an average of 827 applications, and made an average of 81 awards, per year, for an average funding rate of around 10 percent.
Links and Other Information
UM DUNS number: 067713560
UM Congressional District: 1st Congressional District of Mississippi
NEH Summer Stipends Program: https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends
Webinar Slides and Recording: https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends
Samples of Prior Successful Apps: https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/Summer%20Stipends%20NOFO%202020%20and%202021%2020200923-FT.pdf
UM InfoReady Review Portal: http://research.olemiss.edu/InfoReady
UM Nominating Official:
Josh Gladden, Vice Chancellor for Research and Sponsored Programs, jgladden@olemiss.edu
This Announcement Online: http://research.olemiss.edu/NEHSummerStipends2021and2022
To ask questions about, or suggest corrections to, this announcement, or the UM application, nomination, or selection process, please e-mail orspresdev@olemiss.edu, or contact Jason Hale at jghale@olemiss.edu, or 662-259-0544. Corrections and updates will be made to the online version.