Doctoral students in the Department of History have access to numerous Rutgers resources to support research, travel, and dissertation writing.
Departmental Awards
Edward Spaulding Perzel Award
Through a recent generous gift in honor of the late Edward Spaulding Perzel, a Rutgers PhD and Professor at UNC-Charlotte, the History Department awards multiple grants in varying amounts to support dissertation research in U.S. history. These awards are intended to cover costs of research travel, including travel to/from archives and lodging while working at an archive. In keeping with the terms of the gift, preference is given to students working in colonial US history. Students working in any field and era of US history are welcome and eligible to apply. Students must be post-qualifying to be eligible.
Neal Ira Rosenthal Departmental Travel Grant
Thanks to the generous gift of Neal Ira Rosenthal, the Department of History awards a number of competitive grants up to $1,000 twice annually to graduate students seeking to cover research expenses. Students at any stage in the graduate program (pre-qualifying and post-qualifying) can apply.
Irving Stoddard Kull Memorial Award
Thanks to a sizeable bequest from Dr. Louis Hallgring in honor of Irving Stoddard Kull, Professor of History at Rutgers from 1918 to 1954, the History Department awards a number of competitive grants to support graduate research in pre-modern historical studies. The Kull Awards can be used to cover costs of research travel, including travel to/from archives and lodging while working at an archive, as well as costs of field-specific technical training (language instruction, paleography, critical bibliography, digital humanities-related work, etc.). Awards can be up to $5000. In keeping with the terms of the gift, students working on a pre-modern (pre-1750) historical topic in any geographic area are welcome and eligible to apply. Students at any stage in the graduate program (pre-ABD and post-ABD) can apply.
History Department Award for Research and Conference Travel
The History Department Awards for Research and Conference Travel support graduate students in their research and conference travel and other expenses related to professional development and advancement through the PhD program. The funds assist students in a variety of ways, including out-of-state transportation expenses connected with preliminary research, dissertation research expenses (e.g. photocopying, digitization, transportation to regional libraries and archives, etc.); and conference expenses (for those delivering papers at significant professional meetings). In a typical academic year, the Department holds two rounds of applications for these awards, one in the fall and one in the spring.
John Whiteclay Chambers II Oral History Graduate Student Fellowship
The John Whiteclay Chambers II Oral History Graduate Student Fellowship is given annually to two Rutgers-New Brunswick History Department graduate student who utilize oral history in their work in some manner and/work closely with the staff of the Rutgers Oral History Archives. This Fellowship ($2,000 each) is funded by the generosity of The Cobb Foundation and The Ware Foundation. It is designed to further the use of oral history and scholarship, support the Rutgers Oral History Archives, and honor Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History John Whiteclay Chambers II, who retired from the Rutgers University faculty in 2017. Awardees will be expected to give a lecture on their research and their use of oral history for the benefit of the community that supports and utilizes the Rutgers Oral History Archives.
The Warren and Beatrice Susman Dissertation Completion Fellowships
As the result of the generosity of the late Warren and Beatrice Susman, the Department of History awards the fellowship to support history graduate students during their final year in the PhD program. The fellowship enables recipients to devote themselves full time to writing and revision while applying for academic positions. The department makes the awards on the basis of applicants’ academic achievements and the likelihood of their completing the dissertation during the term of the award. The fellowship includes health insurance and tuition remission.
Deborah Gray White Endowed Dissertation Completion Fund (forthcoming)
The Deborah Gray White Endowed Dissertation Completion Fund is a dissertation completion fellowship for students in African American history at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Deborah Gray White, the now retired Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History, started the endowment to help students overcome the obstacles that she faced while writing her dissertation. Dr. White went on to publish the pioneering monograph Ar'n't I a Woman?: Female Slaves in the Plantation South and become a renowned scholar in African American, Women’s and Gender History. Among many accomplishments in teaching and research, mentoring graduate students became foundational in the career of Dr. White.
University Awards
University and Louis Bevier Dissertation Completion Fellowship
The University & Louis Bevier Fellowship is available for dissertation research to advanced students who are nominated by the department. Visit the University and Louis Bevier Fellowships page to learn more about these fellowships.
School of Graduate Studies Fellowships, Funding and Training Grants
The School of Graduate Studies offers multiple fellowships to incoming students in all disciplines. For more information, visit Fellowships, Funding and Training Grants.
School of Graduate Studies Conference Travel Awards
The School of Graduate Studies supports students who plan to present their research at national and international conferences. Please see the Conference Travel Awards page for more details.
School of Arts and Sciences Mellon Completion Fellowships
SAS Mellon Dissertation Fellowships are awarded on the basis of academic excellence and the probability of completion.
Rutgers Center for Cultural Analysis Fellowship
Visit the Center for Cultural Analysis Fellowship page to learn more about these fellowships.
Rutgers GradFund
For thousands of listings of grant and fellowship programs, as well as for assistance in applying to the grants and fellowships above, and beyond Rutgers, see Rutgers GradFund.
