International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF)

International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF)

The International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) offers nine to twelve months of support to graduate students in the humanities and social sciences who are enrolled in doctoral programs in the United States and conducting dissertation research outside of the United States. IDRF promotes research that is situated in a specific discipline and geographical region but is also informed by interdisciplinary and cross-regional perspectives. Research topics may address all periods in history, but applicants should be alert to the broader implications of their research as it relates to contemporary issues and debates. Seventy-five fellowships are awarded annually. Fellowship amounts vary depending on the research plan, with a per-fellowship average of $18,750. The fellowship includes participation in an interdisciplinary workshop upon the completion of IDRF-funded research.

Eligibility

The program is open to graduate students in the humanities and social sciences -- regardless of citizenship -- enrolled in doctoral programs in the United States. Applicants to the 2011 IDRF competition must complete all Ph.D. requirements except on-site research by the time the fellowship begins or by December 2011, whichever comes first.

The program invites proposals for empirical and site-specific dissertation research outside the United States. It will consider applications for dissertation research grounded in a single site, informed by broader cross-regional and interdisciplinary perspectives, as well as applications for multi-sited, comparative, and transregional research. Proposals that identify the U.S. as a case for comparative inquiry are welcome; however, proposals which focus predominantly or exclusively on the United States are not eligible. Proposals may cover all periods in history, but must address topics that have relevance to contemporary issues and debates.

Students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in public policy, public health, and education, may be eligible to apply if their research projects engage directly with broader theoretical and analytical issues in the humanities and social sciences. The program does not accept applications from Ph.D. programs in law, business, medicine, nursing or journalism. Students who will have undertaken nine or more months of funded dissertation research in one country by July 2011 are not eligible to apply to the IDRF to extend the research time in the same country. The IDRF program will not support study at home institutions, foreign universities, conference participation, short research trips abroad, or projects relying primarily on labwork. For more information on the 2011 IDRF competition, please visit this website:

http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/idrf-fellowship/