Support for Finding and Applying for Funding
The RAPD team of faculty advisers bring their expertise, generous insights, and enthusiasm to conversations about your research and creative activities.
If you are preparing a book proposal or applying for funding support (fellowships, grants, residencies), we are available to provide feedback on drafts of proposal narratives and supporting documents. Many faculty work with us on both types of proposals and for multiple applications.
We encourage faculty to meet with us several times, if possible, because these extended conversations around the proposal help to conceptualize and clarify the project. After an initial meeting, we also can provide constructive feedback on drafts via email. Many faculty send several rounds of draft narratives. If you are applying for funding, applications in the humanities and arts usually require brief narratives (3 single-spaced pages for the NEH Fellowship, for example), so we can return drafts quickly as deadlines approach. With each iteration, not just the proposal, but the entire project, comes more into focus.
Whatever level of support is most productive, we are glad to work with you accordingly. Please always feel welcome to contact us. We are always here as interlocutors to support your work, whenever the timing is right for you.
We also provide guidance on both the funding agency and the program, as well as the application guidelines and requirements. And we are attentive to these criteria when providing feedback on application documents.
Our services include, but are certainly not limited to, advising and support regarding:
- American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowships
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowships and Grants
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowships and Programs
- Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
- National Science Foundation – Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Programs
- Residential and other off-campus fellowships (e.g., research libraries, institutes of advanced study)
- Arts residencies
If you are applying for funding from federal agencies and/or funding that is awarded to the institution (and not to individuals as a stipend), you must work with Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) for proposal preparation, review, and submission.
Please contact RAPD for more information, especially regarding ACLS Fellowships, Guggenheim Fellowships, and NEH Fellowships, at rapd-ovcri@illinois.edu