Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship
ACLS competition deadlines for fellowships and grants, including past deadlines and information on future opportunities.
Overview
- $42,000 base stipend
- $30,000 grant for publishers
- $20,000 cash award for authors
- $2,000 for external mentorship
- $3,000 for research and travel
- up to $8,000 for research/training
- $5,000 for professional development
- Free of digital rights management
- Peer-reviewed, open access monographs
- Distributed on at least two platforms
- Completed coursework by fellowship start
- Monographs are long-form scholarly arguments
- Publishers and authors can be based anywhere
- Brief work sample
- Proposal (max 7 pages)
- Short personal statement
- Completed application form
- One letter of recommendation
- Statement from applicant's institution
- Publishers submit entries
- Publisher submits the completed entry form
- Author(s) complete their section of the entry form
- Provide succinct, specific answers to all questions
- Ensure all links are working during the evaluation period
- Submit online through ACLS online fellowship administration system (ofa.acls.org)
- Notifications sent: late April 2027
- Application Deadline: October 28, 2026
- Fellowship tenure begins: July 1 - September 1, 2027
- Awardees announced: April 2026 (for 2025-26 competition)
- Award presentations: October 2026 during International Open Access Week
- Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships deadline: November 5, 2025, 9:00 PM EST
- 2026 OA Book Prizes_Sample Entry Form
- DIF 2026-27 Project Timeline Template
- 2026 OA Book Prizes_Author Response Form
- Writing Proposals for ACLS Fellowship Competitions
- fellowships@acls.org
- OAbookprizes@acls.org
- Telephone: 212-697-1505
- 633 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6706 Telephone: 212-697-1505
- ACLS
- references@acls.org