Program Description
The Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan program is a joint activity of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Awards support research on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan's international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations. The program encourages innovative research that puts these subjects in wider regional and global contexts and is comparative and contemporary in nature. Research should contribute to scholarly knowledge or to the general public’s understanding of issues of concern to Japan and the United States. Appropriate disciplines for the research include anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, political science, psychology, public administration, and sociology. Awards usually result in articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources.
The fellowships are designed for researchers with advanced language skills whose research will require use of data, sources, and documents in their original languages or whose research requires interviews onsite in direct one-on-one contact. Fellows may undertake their projects in Japan, the United States, or both, and may include work in other countries for comparative purposes. Projects may be at any stage of development.
NEH encourages submission of Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan applications from independent scholars and faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan may not be used for
- projects that seek to promote a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view;
- projects that advocate a particular program of social action;
- specific policy studies;
- research for doctoral dissertations or theses by students enrolled in a degree program;
- the preparation or revision of textbooks;
- curriculum development;
- the development of teaching methods or theories;
- educational or technical impact assessments;
- the creation or enhancement of databases, unless part of a larger interpretive project;
- inventories of collections;
- works in the creative and performing arts (for example, painting, writing fiction or poetry, dance performance, etc.);
- the writing of autobiographies, memoirs, or creative nonfiction; or
- the writing of guide books, how-to books, and self-help books.
Providing access to grant products
As a taxpayer-supported federal agency, NEH endeavors to make the products of its awards available to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is for scholars, educators, students, and the American public to have ready and easy access to the wide range of NEH grant products. For the Fellowships program, such products may include digital resources, websites, and the like. For projects that lead to the development of websites, all other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those that provide free access to the public.
Award Information
Awards for the 2016 competition are contingent on the availability of funds from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission.
Fellowships cover periods lasting from six to twelve months at a stipend of $4,200 per month. The maximum stipend is $50,400 for a twelve-month award period. Applicants should request award periods that suit their schedules and the needs of their projects. Requesting an award period shorter than twelve months will not improve an applicant’s chances of receiving a fellowship.
Recipients may begin their awards as early as January 1, 2017, and as late as September 1, 2018.
The award period must be full-time and continuous. Teaching and administrative assignments or other major activities may not be undertaken during the fellowship period.
NEH and JUSFC will not approve part-time fellowships under any circumstance.
Fellows are responsible for the conversion of funds to foreign currencies where necessary.
All awards are made by the National Endowment for the Humanities on behalf of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. As such, all awards are governed by NEH grant policies and conditions.
Eligibility
The Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan program accepts applications from researchers, teachers, and writers, whether they have an institutional affiliation or not.
Citizenship
All U.S. citizens, whether they reside inside or outside the United States, are eligible to apply. Foreign nationals who have been living in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline are also eligible.
Currently enrolled students
While applicants need not have advanced degrees, individuals currently enrolled in a degree- granting program are ineligible to apply. Applicants who have satisfied all the requirements for a degree and are awaiting its conferral in 2016 are eligible for Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan; but such applicants need a letter from the dean of the conferring school or their department chair attesting to the applicant’s status as of April 28, 2016. This signed letter may be faxed to the program at 202-606-8204; alternatively, a PDF version of the signed letter may be included as an attachment to an e-mail message sent to fellowships@neh.gov. In either case, the letter must arrive no later than April 28, 2016.
Dissertation revisions
Applicants may seek funding for projects based on completed dissertations. You must state in your application narrative that the proposal is to revise a dissertation, and you must explain how the new project moves beyond the original dissertation.
Projects previously supported by NEH Fellowships
An applicant may apply for funding for a project that has previously received an NEH (or a JUSFC-NEH) Fellowship. NEH will ask evaluators to review the accomplishments from the prior fellowship and determine if the project warrants additional support.
An NEH grant for one stage of a project does not commit NEH to continued support for the project. Applications for each stage of a project are evaluated independently.
Concurrent grants from other organizations
Recipients of Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan may simultaneously hold fellowships or grants from institutions other than NEH—including sabbaticals and grants from their own institutions—in support of the same project during their award period.
Application and Submission Information
Applications must be submitted before 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on April 28, 2016. All applicants must submit their proposals through an individual account, the central federal government portal for all grant applications.
DEADLINES
Applications for Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan must be received by Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 28, 2016. Grants.gov will date- and time-stamp your application after it is fully uploaded. Applications submitted after that date will not be accepted.
Checking the Status of Your Letters of Reference
You will be notified by e-mail when each of your letters of reference has been received. After you have received your NEH application number, you may also check the status of your letters of reference by logging in to the secure area of NEH’s website. Enter your NEH application number and your Grants.gov tracking number. You will be able to see the names and e-mail addresses of your letter writers and whether their letters of reference have arrived. If necessary, you may send reminders to your letter writers (including the upload link) from this site. As noted earlier, you are responsible for ensuring that your letter writers have submitted their letters.
Other Information
Privacy policy
Information in these guidelines is solicited under the authority of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 956. The principal purpose for which the information will be used is to process the grant application. The information may also be used for statistical research, analysis of trends, and Congressional oversight. Failure to provide the information may result in the delay or rejection of the application.
Application completion time
The Office of Management and Budget requires federal agencies to supply information on the time needed to complete forms and also to invite comments on the paperwork burden. NEH estimates that the average time to complete this application is fifteen hours per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application.
Please send any comments regarding the estimated completion time or any other aspect of this application, including suggestions for reducing the completion time, to the Chief Guidelines Officer, at guidelines@neh.gov; the Office of Publications, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C. 20506; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (3136-0134), Washington, D.C. 20503. According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.
For more information click "Further official information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/fellowships-advanced-social-science-research-japan