American Fellowships: Dissertation Fellowships

One year

$20,000 for educational expenses, living expenses, dependent child care, and travel to professional meetings, conferences, or seminars that does not exceed 10 percent of the fellowship total.

• American Fellowships are not open to previous recipients of any AAUW national fellowship or grant (not including branch or local awards or Community Action Grants).
• Members of the AAUW Board of Directors, committees, panels, task forces and staff, including current interns, are not eligible to apply for AAUW’s fellowships and grants. A person holding a current award is eligible for election or appointment to boards, committees, panels and task forces.
• American Fellowship candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• American Fellowships are open to scholars who identify as women in all fields of study at an accredited institution of higher education.
• The American Dissertation Fellowship must be used for the final year of writing the dissertation. Applicants must have completed all coursework, passed all preliminary exams, and had the dissertation research proposal or plan approved by November 1, 2021. The doctoral degree/dissertation must be completed between April 1 and June 30, 2023. Degree conferral must be between April 1 and September 15, 2023.
• Dissertation Fellows are not required to study in the U.S.
• Students already holding a fellowship or grant for the purpose of supporting their final year of writing or completing the dissertation the year before the fellowship year are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants may apply up to two times for a fellowship for the same dissertation project.
• The fellowship is intended for applicants who are completing their first doctoral degree.
• Distance learning/online programs: Fellowships support traditional classroom-based courses of study at colleges or universities. This fellowship program does not provide funding for distance learning or online programs or for degrees heavily dependent on distance learning components. Final decisions about what constitutes distance learning under these fellowships will be made by AAUW. AAUW will accept applications from applicants who are temporarily studying remotely due to COVID-19 precautions at their institution.