Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships

Call for 2010-12 Fellowships

Receipt deadline: November 30, 2009

(Materials must be received - not postmarked - by this date.)

• Download the call for applications as a PDF.
• Download the coversheet and checklist.
  
• Download the referee guide.

The Humanities Research Center at Rice University will award up to three Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships for two-year appointments beginning July 1, 2010. The second year’s appointment is contingent on successful review of first year’s performance. Fellows will receive a stipend of $40,000 per year, plus benefits eligibility, as well as an allowance for research and relocation. Fellows will teach two courses per academic year affiliated with a humanities department and will be expected to make significant progress in their research.

The fellowship recipients play an active role in the intellectual life of the center by sharing research activities through a brown bag series with other HRC fellows. Applicants should describe how their research project would contribute to the intellectual community at Rice, including faculty research activity in the School of Humanities,  one or more of the HRC faculty workshops, or interdisciplinary humanities initiatives such as the Americas Colloquium or Medical Humanities communities.

Criteria for selection

• The promise of the research project, including prospects for publication or significant advances in tangible research outcomes.
• The research project’s potential interest to scholars in different fields of the humanities.
• The potential appeal of the proposed course to a broad audience.
• The applicant’s potential to contribute to the intellectual community at Rice and the HRC.

Selection Process

Each proposal is evaluated by members of an interdisciplinary committee comprising the HRC Faculty Advisory Panel. Applicants will be notified of fellowship decisions in February 2010.

Application Process

Applicants are welcome to email materials to hrc@rice.edu (subject: Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship) or to send hard copies by mail or delivery (including FedEx). Please include your last name in the filenames of any electronic documents you send. While it isn't required, we appreciate your converting and combining your documents into a single PDF with the materials in the order indicated below.

• Coversheet 
• Cover letter
  
• Curriculum vitae
• 1000-word research project proposal and one-page bibliography, in language appropriate for a multi-disciplinary panel of non-specialist readers. Please double-space and use 12-point type.
• 250-word statement of the project's potential contribution to Rice faculty research activity in the School of Humanities, to one or more of the HRC's faculty workshops, or to interdisciplinary humanities initiatives.
• A brief course proposal for a one-semester undergraduate course

Recommendations

Three letters of reference, should be solicited by the applicant and sent by hard copy, or by a dossier service such as Interfolio,  directly to the HRC. The most effective letters show a detailed knowledge of the candidate's past work and address directly both the importance of the proposed project and the candidate's qualifications to pursue it. General praise is less helpful to the committee. Referees may be directed to our Fellowships Referee Guide.

Reference letters must be received by the HRC by the application deadline. Consideration of letters received after that date cannot be guaranteed. Referees may send electronic letters by email to meet the deadline, but signed paper letters should follow and are preferred.

Eligibility

• Fellowships are awarded to support research projects in the humanities. This includes, but is not limited to history, philosophy, languages, literature, linguistics, religious studies, art history and the arts. Proposals employing humanistic approaches are welcome from anthropology and other social sciences, natural sciences, music, architecture, and engineering.
• Applicants should have received a PhD in 2007 or later, and before July 1, 2010. Fellowship recipients cannot have accepted or currently hold a tenure-track position.
• Rice University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. Scholars who are members of traditionally under-represented groups are encouraged to apply.
• There is no citizenship requirement or restriction for this fellowship. Non-U.S. nationals are welcome to apply.
• Employment eligibility verifications requested upon hire.