International Dissertation Research Fellowship

Organization: Social Science Research Council
Deadline: Nov. 3, 2011

The International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) Program supports the next generation of scholars in the humanities and social sciences pursuing research that advances knowledge about non-U.S. cultures and societies. IDRF is organized by the Social Science Research Council and accepts applications for research that is situated in a specific discipline and geographical region and is informed by interdisciplinary and cross-regional perspectives, as well as research on multiple countries and/or multiple world regions. While research proposals may cover all periods in history, they must demonstrate relevance to contemporary issues and debates.

The program is open to graduate students in the humanities and social sciences -- regardless of citizenship -- enrolled in doctoral programs in the United States. Applicants to the 2012 IDRF competition must complete all Ph.D. requirements except on-site research by the time the fellowship begins or by December 2012, whichever comes first.

The program invites proposals for empirical and site-specific dissertation research outside the United States. It will consider applications for dissertation research grounded in a single site, informed by broader cross-regional and interdisciplinary perspectives, as well as applications for multi-sited, comparative, and transregional research.  Proposals that identify the U.S. as a case for comparative inquiry are welcome; however, proposals which focus predominantly or exclusively on the United States are not eligible. Proposals may cover all periods in history, but must address topics that resonate with contemporary issues and debates.

Students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in public policy, public health, and education, may be eligible to apply if their research projects engage directly with broader theoretical and analytical issues in the humanities and social sciences. The program does not accept applications from Ph.D. programs in law, business, medicine, nursing or journalism. Applicants who will have completed nine or more months of funded dissertation research in one country by the start of their proposed IDRF research are not eligible to apply to the IDRF to extend the research time in the same country. The IDRF program expects fellows to remain at their research site(s) for the full nine- to twelve-month funding period. The IDRF program will not support study at home institutions, foreign universities, conference participation, short research trips abroad, or projects relying primarily on labwork.  For more information on the 2012 IDRF competition, please refer to our

The IDRF program is committed to empirical and site-specific research that advances knowledge about non-U.S. cultures and societies (involving many kinds of fieldwork and surveys, research in archival or manuscript collections, or quantitative data collection). The program promotes research that is situated in a specific discipline and geographical region and is engaged with interdisciplinary and cross-regional perspectives. Research topics may address all periods in history, but applicants should be alert to the broader implications of their research as it relates to contemporary issues and debates.

The IDRF competition promotes a range of approaches and research designs beyond single site or single country research, including comparative work at the national and regional levels and explicit comparison of cases across time frames. The program is open to proposals informed by a range of methodologies in the humanities and social sciences, both quantitative and qualitative, that seek to answer research questions through sustained empirical, site-specific, and source-driven investigations.

Applicants are expected to write in clear, intelligible prose for a selection committee that is multi-disciplinary and cross-regional. Proposals should display a thorough knowledge of the major concepts, theories, and methods in the applicant's discipline and in other related fields, as well as a bibliography relevant to the research. Applicants should specify why an extended period of on-site research is critical for successful completion of the proposed doctoral dissertation. The research design of proposals should be realistic in scope, clearly formulated, and responsive to theoretical and methodological concerns. Applicants should provide evidence of having attained an appropriate level of training to undertake the proposed research, including evidence of a degree of language fluency sufficient to complete the project.

Daniella Sarnoff
Social Science Research Council
address: One Pierrepont Plaza, 15th Floor
300 Cadman Plaza West
Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
tel.: 001.212.377.2700
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e-mail: info@ssrc.org