Cullman Center Fellowship Grant

The Cullman Center Fellowship at The New York Public Library supports scholars and writers by providing access to extensive research collections. This prestigious program offers a nine-month term for 15 selected Fellows, who receive a stipend of $85,000 and workspace at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The Fellowship encourages high-quality writing and robust dialogue in public forums, promoting diverse perspectives across various disciplines. Ideal candidates include academics, creative writers, and visual artists committed to advancing their projects and engaging with the community.

The New York Public Library
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers is an international fellowship program open to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building—including academics, independent scholars, and creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets). Visual artists at work on a book project are also welcome to apply. The Center appoints 15 Fellows a year for a nine-month term at the Library, from September through May. In addition to working on their own projects, the Fellows engage in an ongoing exchange of ideas within the Center and in public forums throughout the Library.
Scope
The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers offers Fellowships to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the research collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Renowned for the extraordinary comprehensiveness of its collections, the Library is one of the world’s preeminent resources for study in anthropology, art, geography, history, languages and literature, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, religion, sociology, sports, and urban studies.
Terms
The Cullman Center looks for top-quality writing. It aims to promote dynamic communication about literature and scholarship at the very highest level—within the Center, in public forums throughout the Library, and in the Fellows’ published work.
A Cullman Center Fellow receives a stipend of $85,000, the use of an office with a computer, and full access to the Library’s physical and electronic resources. Fellows work at the Center for the duration of the Fellowship term, which runs from September through May. Each Fellow gives a talk over lunch on his or her current work-in-progress to the other Fellows and to a wide range of invited guests, and may be asked to take part in other programs at The New York Public Library.

Eligibility

The Cullman Center’s Selection Committee awards fifteen Fellowships a year to outstanding scholars and writers—academics, independent scholars, journalists, creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets), translators, and visual artists.Foreign nationals conversant in English are welcome to apply.Applications from those working in languages other than English are welcome; however, the applicant must be conversant in English, and application materials must be in English.Candidates for the Fellowship will need to work primarily at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building rather than at other divisions of the Library.The Center seeks diversity in race, ethnicity, age, gender, field, and type of project. The Center aims to promote dynamic conversation about the humanities, social sciences, and scholarship at the highest level—within the Center, in public forums throughout the Library, and in the Fellows' published work.

Ineligibility

People seeking funding for research leading directly to a degree are not eligible. Fellowships will not be granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows or to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research.In order to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest, the Cullman Center does not accept applications from New York Public Library staff members or their partners, or from people active on the Library’s Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees, or Library Council. Fellows may not accept other major professional obligations during the term. Fellows may have a few prior commitments but must limit research trips, attendance at scholarly meetings, and speaking engagements to short periods of time.Anyone who needs to be away for more than two days must notify the Center's Director or Deputy Director.