Fellowships & Awards

Click here for Fellowships by Field


Campus Fellowships

Fellowships Administered by Graduate Division

Global International and Area Studies

Each constituent unit in GIAS oversees its own fellowship and grant opportunities.  Includes Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Institute of European Studies, Institute of International Studies, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Institute for South Asia Studies, Canadian Studies Program, and Institute for East Asian Studies.

Graduate Fellowships in International Studies

Currently includes Pre-dissertation research grant in international studies as well as the Simpson research grant in international studies for ABDs
More details regarding eligibility and how to apply can be found on the IIS website.  The application deadline for both grants is in March.

Bancroft Library Fellowships & Awards (includes the Gunther Barth Fellowship, which supports undergraduate or graduate students researching the 19th-century history of the North American West, among others.)

Phi Beta Kappa Graduate Fellowships

The Phi Beta Kappa Alpha of California Chapter is now accepting graduate fellowship applications for the 2021-22 academic year. Members of Phi Beta Kappa who are currently enrolled in Ph.D. programs at UC Berkeley are eligible to apply.  Preference will be given to students who have nearly completed their dissertations and who have exhausted other forms of financial support, although all members of Phi Beta Kappa are eligible for these fellowships.

Institute of European Studies Graduate Funding Opportunities

The Institute of EuropeanStudies is pleased to announce funding opportunities for research in and on Europe. Grants and fellowships are available for UC Berkeley graduate students, undergraduates, faculty and lecturers in all fields of study.

The Reinhard Bendix and Allan Sharlin Fellowships

UC Berkeley graduate students in all fields who have obtained ABD status or will formally advance to candidacy by the fall of the fellowship term and plan to do research in the fields of historical sociology, historical demography, social history, political and social theory, or historical studies of society and politics. Fellowships are intended to support research on campus or abroad.


External Fellowships

Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowships

Awarded to candidates who have outstanding undergraduate records, have demonstrated a need for financial assistance, are citizens of the United States of America, are enrolled in accredited colleges and universities in the United States and have received baccalaureate degrees. Applicants must be enrolled UC Berkeley graduate students. Eligible students include those in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, as well as those in professional programs like law, medicine, engineering, and architecture.  Students with the potential to utilize three years of funding will be given priority over students who would only use one year of funding. This fellowship provides fees and tuition as well as an $18,000 annual living stipend and is renewable for up to three years of total support.

Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund

The Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund provides awards directly to advanced doctoral candidates in the humanistic disciplines pursuing a PhD degree from one of the following institutions: UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis, UC-Santa Cruz or Stanford University. These dissertation grants are awarded to bring about the completion of a scholarly dissertation project at the end of the grant period.

A principal purpose of the award is to permit the grantee to devote full-time to the completion of the dissertation. Grantees may not hold any other award or fellowship simultaneously with the Mabelle McLeod Lewis grant except in the form of direct grants from their university for tuition or other benefits which do not require the performance of services.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation

Are you ready to embark on a leadership development journey rooted in Brave Spaces? To apply to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholarship, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1) You must be already accepted into or in year one, two, or three of a full-time doctoral program in the humanities or social sciences (broadly defined; please see the FAQ for more details on this)

2) Your doctoral work must relate to at least one of the Foundation’s Four Themes: Human Rights and Dignity, Responsible Citizenship, Canada and the World, People and their Natural Environment

3) Be a Canadian citizen studying at a Canadian or foreign institution, or a non-Canadian (permanent resident or foreign national) enrolled in a doctoral program at a Canadian institution

Cohen-Tucker Dissertation Fellowships

The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies invites applications for the Stephen F. Cohen- Robert C. Tucker Dissertation Fellowship Program in Russian Historical Studies, funded by the KAT Charitable Foundation.  For more detailed information and to apply, see: www.aseees.org/programs/ctdrf  The application deadline is in January.  

Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation Dissertation Fellowship

Each year IGCC provides funding for graduate students from all ten UC campuses, including one specially designated Herb York IGCC Fellowship. IGCC seeks to support dissertations around research topics that closely track current global security priorities. The proposed dissertation research must have one of the following themes as an integral part of the project: Food Security, Human Security, Global Health, Nontraditional and Emerging Threats; Terrorism and Political Violence; Cybersecurity; Regional and Major Power Relations; Energy and Environmental Security; Global Environmental and Health Cooperation; Nuclear Nonproliferation; Defense and Military Issues; Geo-economics and the Political Economy of Security.

Fellowships consists of a nine-month stipend of $25,000 to defray living expenses. It is not intended for UC student fees, tuition or health insurance.
Doctoral students enrolled in the University of California, including JD/Ph.D., MD/Ph.D., and MD with thesis, are eligible to apply.
Applicants must advance to candidacy by June 30, 2021.
U.S. citizenship is not required.
Application deadline: Februrary

The Edward M. Hildebrand Research Fellowship in Canadian Studies

This fellowship competition is open to graduate students of any citizenship enrolled at Berkeley whose research focuses primarily or comparatively on Canada. Both summer and academic year applications are accepted. The applicant should demonstrate the potential for excellent scholarship and describe a project which will contribute to knowledge about Canada and/or the Canadian-U.S. relationship. Funds are intended for direct travel and research costs. Maintenance and/or tuition costs may be considered under rare circumstances, and only in the final stage of the student’s dissertation writing.

Summer Fellowships

Human Rights Center Fellowships

The Human Rights Center Fellowship provides $6,000 awards and professional support to UC Berkeley undergraduate, graduate, or graduating students to conduct social justice-related projects with an international or domestic partner organization over the summer and participate in the year-long fellowship. Additional aid may be available for students with exceptional need. Since 1994, we’ve enabled more than 364 fellows to work with human rights defenders in 80 countries. Socially- distanced or remote fieldwork may be required for 2021 fellows. Applications are due February.

Tinker Field Research Grants

Tinker Field Research Grants are available to graduate students for travel and field-related expenses for brief periods of pre-dissertation field research in Latin America, defined here as the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of the region. In 2021, remote research is allowed. Awards are open to students across all academic disciplines and graduate degree programs.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Postdoctoral Fellowships in the Social Sciences

This page provides information on some fellowships for postdoctoral researchers in the social sciences.  Deadlines refer to sponsor receipt deadlines. In most cases a portion of the application must be completed by the faculty sponsor, and the entire application must then be processed first by the administering unit and then by SPO. Please allow time for these activities.  Agencies may change their programs, requirements, deadlines, location, and other information at any time. Please verify information from agency websites.

Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Berkeley Chancellorʹs Postdoctoral Fellowship Program offers postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at the University of California. The contributions to diversity may include public service towards increasing equitable access in fields where women and minorities are under‐represented. In some fields, the contributions may include research focusing on underserved populations or understanding inequalities related to race, gender, disability or LGBT issues. The program is seeking applicants with the potential to bring to their academic and research careers the perspective that comes from their non‐traditional educational background or understanding of the experiences of members of groups historically underrepresented in higher education.

Govern for America Fellowship

The GFA Fellowship is a two-year paid opportunity for recent graduates to serve in high-impact roles in governments across the country as a part of a diverse community of engaged leaders.

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Technology and International Security

The University of California announces a new collaborative initiative between the systemwide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and the UC-managed National Laboratories: the Center for Global Security Research at the Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the National Security and International Studies Office at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

As a part of the joint-initiative, the institutions invite applications for up to six (6) one-year postdoctoral fellowship positions in Technology and International Security.

The fellowship program will be based in Washington D.C. for a 12-month term in line with the 2021-2022 academic year. All Fellows are expected to be in residence for the duration of the fellowship. Eligible applicants should expect to receive a Ph.D. degree by August 1, 2021. Fellows are compensated with a salary of $55,000 plus benefits and a modest research/travel budget.

The deadline for applications is February 1, 2021.

Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellowships in Israel

Fulbright Israel plans to award up to eight fellowships to U.S. postdoctoral scholars who seek to pursue research in one of Israel’s academic institutions. Grants are open to researchers in all academic disciplines and support programs of research in Israel for up to 20 months (two academic years).

The program grants a $95,000 scholarship ($47,500 per academic year). The Fellowship Program is open to candidates in all academic disciplines.

The application deadline is September 15, 2021