Scholarly Completion Fund

The Scholarly Completion Fund has a rolling deadline between the start and the end of the academic year.

If you are interested in applying, submit an email to dreshercenter@umbc.edu. Include the subject line, “Scholarly Completion Fund.”

This fund is intended to support full-time faculty and Ph.D. students in the humanities in completing the final stages of a research project. Funds can be used to support research travel, a publication subvention, indexing, purchase of a computer or software, or other such research-related expenses. The maximum award to an individual is $5,000 (there is no minimum) and all funding requests will be reviewed by the Dresher Center Advisory Board.

The following list offers examples of potentially fundable expenses. All expenditures must be connected to humanities-related activities:

  • Research travel necessary to complete a manuscript or other major research project or to revise in response to comments from peer-reviewers
  • A subsidy to purchase the right to publish text, photographs, or other images
  • A subvention in aid of publication required by the press
  • Indexing or other editorial assistance necessary to bring a publication to completion

Scholarly Completion funds are intended only for scholars who have already exhausted available DRIF, departmental, and CAHSS support.

A complete application will include:

  • A letter of need explaining the purpose for the funds, the precise amount of the request, and why this support would make a difference in the scholarly goals of the applicant. Reference should also be made to why no other DRIF, departmental or CAHSS support is available or sufficient to this need.
  • A brief memo (1-2 paragraphs) of support from a Chair or Graduate Program Director noting that all available departmental and CAHSS funds have been tapped first.

Please note that these funds are intended only for scholars who have already exhausted available DRIF, departmental, and CAHSS and CAHSS Center support.

Applicants should not simultaneously apply to more than one CAHSS research center small grant programs for faculty and PhD students (e.g., the CS3’s Small Research Grants or CIRCA’s Contingency Fund). Applicants should first apply to the center that best suits the nature of their project and receive a determination on that application, before requesting funding from another center. In such cases, please indicate whether funding has already been applied for and/or received from one of the other centers.