Each year the Franke Institute for the Humanities awards a limited number of Residential Dissertation Completion Fellowships to doctoral students in the Arts & Humanities Division of the University of Chicago. Fellowships are awarded for the academic year and provide aid for tuition, the required student services fee, University student health insurance individual premium, plus a stipend and additional financial bonus if degree work is completed by the end of the fellowship year. The Fellowship also includes basic logistical support such as use of a photocopier and scanner, network hookup, and shared office space conveniently located in the Regenstein Library. Usually four Franke Residential Dissertation Completion Fellowships are awarded annually.

A Fellow’s principal obligation, above and beyond the dissertation, is to attend regular lunchtime workshops along with the Faculty Residential Fellows. On each occasion one Fellow presents their project and the group discusses a pre-circulated paper or manuscript. These meetings occur roughly every two weeks for ninety minutes and are at the heart of the intellectual community of the Institute. Under ordinary circumstances these workshops are in-person.

Eligibility

Franke Dissertation Completion Fellows are selected in coordination with the Arts & Humanities Division Dissertation Completion Fellowships Selection Committee. There is no separate application for a Franke Residential DCF: if you are interested in this fellowship, you need only indicate as much on the regular online application for a divisional DCF. Awards are announced in early May.

Only Ph.D. candidates in the humanities are eligible. Please note that this competition requires nomination by the student’s department. Departments set earlier internal application deadlines for students, so they can review and nominate to the fellowship review committee. Please check with your department for more information.

Nomination Deadline

April 1, 2026

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