Scholarship Description
In addition to the foundation’s program of support for postdoctoral research, ten or more
dissertation fellowships are awarded each year to graduate students who would complete the writing of
a dissertation within the award year. These fellowships, in the amount of $20,000, are intended to
contribute to the support of the doctoral candidate to enable him or her to complete the thesis in a
timely manner and are only appropriate for students approaching the final year of their Ph.D. work.
This fellowship is not for support of doctoral research. Applications are evaluated in comparison with each
other and not in competition with proposals for our research grant. Applicants may be citizens of any
country and studying at colleges or universities in any country.
Questions that interest the foundation concern violence and aggression in relation to social change,
intergroup conflict, war, terrorism, crime, and family relationships, among other subjects. Dissertations
with no relevance to understanding human violence and aggression will not be supported. Priority will
also be given to areas and methodologies not receiving adequate attention and support from other
funding sources.
Eligibility
These grants are made to Ph.D. candidates who are entering the dissertation stage of graduate
school. Usually, this means that fieldwork or other research is complete and writing has begun. If
analysis and writing are not far enough along for an applicant to be confident of completing the
dissertation within the year, he or she should not apply, as the application will probably not be
competitive with those that comply with this timetable. In some disciplines, particularly experimental
fields, research and writing can reasonably be expected to be completed within the same year, and in
those cases it is appropriate to apply.
Timing
Applications for dissertation fellowships must be submitted by February 1. Applications are
reviewed during the spring, with final decisions made by the Board of Directors at its meeting in June.
Applicants will be informed promptly by email as well as letter of the Board's decision. Awards
ordinarily commence on September 1, but other starting dates (after July 1) may be requested if the
nature of the project makes this appropriate.
Taxation
A recipient of a dissertation fellowship may be liable for income taxes on funds awarded, depending
on whether the funds are used to pay tuition and certain other related expenses, the amount of the
recipient's other income, the law of the recipient's domicile, and other factors. The foundation does
not provide advice on tax matters. Applicants should consult their own tax advisors to determine the
tax consequences of receiving a dissertation fellowship.
Final Report
Recipients of the dissertation fellowship must submit a copy of the dissertation, approved and
accepted by their institution, within six months after the end of the award year. Any papers, books,
articles, or other publications based on the research should also be sent to the foundation.
