The Ransom Center will award 50 research fellowships for its 2025–26 program. Please view the individual residency types within the application instructions to determine the qualifications for each. We offer funding to graduate students including doctoral candidates, current and former academic faculty at any level of career, and independent researchers such as journalists and artists, who require archival research at the Center for their projects.
Research conducted by humanities scholars contributes to a dynamic body of knowledge that has the potential to reshape our understanding of archival collections—what is preserved and valued in our communities. The Ransom Center fosters a supportive environment so that researchers may explore, examine, critique, and better understand the cultural works in its collections. Fellowships of varying lengths (from one week to two months) are offered for research projects that require substantial on-site use of collections that span a variety of disciplines.
The Ransom Center's internationally renowned collections encourage and support research in all areas of the humanities including literature, photography, film, art, performing arts, music, cultural history, and interdisciplinary studies.
Research projects might include:
- Scholarly articles or monographs
- Dissertations
- Creative work
- Digital humanities
- Performance-based research
- Exhibition proposals
- Research-based syllabi to grow student research
- Collaborative research
Deadline: Nov 4, 2024
Types of Available Fellowships
One– to Three–Month Fellowships — $3,500 PER MONTH*
One– to three–month fellowships are available for postdoctoral or independent scholars whose projects require in-person engagement with the Center's holdings.
Travel Stipends — $2,000*
Travel stipends are available for postdoctoral or independent scholars whose projects require less than one month's use of the Center's collections. Travel stipends may not be combined with other Ransom Center fellowships.
Dissertation Fellowships — $2,000*
Dissertation fellowships are available for graduate students whose doctoral dissertations require use of the Center's collections.
* For all fellowship categories, an additional, one-time $500 stipend will be provided to individuals who are a citizen or resident of a country other than the U.S. to contribute to the costs associated with the J-1 visa and/or international travel to Austin.
One– to two–month fellowships and travel stipends are open to a wide array of scholars including graduate students, current and former academic faculty at any level of career, and independent researchers such as journalists and artists, whose projects make substantive on-site use of the Ransom Center’s collections.
Dissertation fellowships are open to doctoral candidates whose dissertations are in progress by the time of application and have not been completed by the start of the fellowship period.
Previous recipients of Ransom Center fellowships are eligible to reapply with new projects after two full fellowship cycles have passed.