Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowships in China Studies – Long-Term Grant

Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowships in China Studies – Long-Term Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: American Council of Learned Societies
Amount: US $20,000 - US $45,000
Last Updated: September 20, 2025

Summary

The Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowships in China Studies – Long-Term program supports emerging scholars in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. Funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, this fellowship enables recent PhDs to conduct research and writing in China studies for four to nine months. Eligible applicants must have a PhD conferred no earlier than January 1, 2016, and demonstrate a working knowledge of Chinese. Priority is given to projects engaging with China, Hong Kong, and surrounding regions.

Overview

With the encouragement and guidance of the Henry Luce Foundation, ACLS has conducted a series of strategic planning activities to reassess and reconfigure the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies. After surveying and convening scholars at all ranks, higher education leaders, journalists, librarians, curators, and other readers of research and writing on China, we have re-imagined our program to meet the needs of China studies in the 21st century. ACLS is offering two types of fellowship for early career scholars to support research, writing, and publicly engaged scholarship, Flexible and Long-Term. Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowships in China Studies – Long-Term In 2024-25, ACLS is offering two types of fellowship for early career scholars to support research, writing, and publicly engaged scholarship. Workshops and events for fellows will be held in 2025 and 2026. Long-term fellowships are financially supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed on this webpage, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Long-term research fellowships will enable recent PhDs (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) to take leave from university responsibilities for four to nine months to carry out research and writing towards a significant scholarly product. Possible project outcomes include, but are not limited to, contributions to the development of one or more of the following: monographs, scholarly articles, conference papers, book chapters, or book on a topic in the humanities or interpretive social sciences. ACLS also encourages projects that have the potential to contribute to: Pedagogical tools that make meaningful connections between a scholar’s research and post-secondary teaching. Works that bridge scholarly and creative practice. Community-engaged projects grounded in scholarly research but geared toward a public audience. Potential or actual community and/or student engagement with the research project is encouraged, as is the dissemination of the research to audiences across higher education. Early Career fellowships support scholarly research in all disciplines of the humanities and the interpretive social sciences. Research may be conducted on any topic related to cultures, histories, and societies in China, and their influence and impact on communities, countries, and cultures around the world, as required by the research plan. Research on Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang is eligible. Fellowship Details Stipend: Minimum $20,000, maximum $45,000 calculated as $5,000 per month for four to nine months’ work accomplished full time.Tenure: The fellowship period must begin between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026.During the fellowship tenure, which must consist of consecutive months, fellows must be on leave from teaching and service. No employment is allowed so that fellows may devote their full time to the project.Projects must be in the humanities or interpretive social sciences, but there are no restrictions regarding theme, methodological approach, or time period.Stipends may be used for research costs (e.g., travel, access to online archives, conference participation, hiring of research assistance outside the US or Canada) and living expenses (e.g., childcare, other familial responsibilities). The application essay should state how these costs will support the project’s objectives, but no budget is required.Other support may be accepted during the fellowship tenure.A final report is required on completion of the fellowship period.ACLS-NYU Shanghai Partnership: Fellows who plan to travel to China may indicate their interest in spending part of their fellowship tenure at NYU Shanghai. In partnership with ACLS, NYU Shanghai may provide office space and help make local introductions. A fellow placed at NYU Shanghai may have the opportunity to organize a research workshop on their project in collaboration with the Center for Global Asia at NYU Shanghai.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. An applicant must hold a PhD from an institution in the United States or Canada, OR be a US or Canadian citizen/permanent resident with a PhD from any institution. An applicant must hold a PhD degree conferred no earlier than January 1, 2016.If the PhD is not conferred (officially awarded) by the application deadline, the applicant must submit:(At the time of application) an institutional statement signed by a university official (dissertation advisor or departmental chair) confirming that the applicant is on schedule to complete the PhD by April 15. The person submitting the institutional statement cannot be one of the reference letter writers.(By April 1, 2025) , a letter from the applicant’s graduate school confirming that the dissertation has been submitted and approved by the graduate school for conferral according to the university calendar. The applicant is responsible for submitting the dissertation on time in order to meet this requirement.An applicant who is not a US or Canadian citizen/permanent resident must have an affiliation, or a long-term regular research or teaching appointment, with a university or college in the United States or Canada.A working knowledge of Chinese is required or knowledge of another language used in China studies (e.g., Tibetan, Uyghur). The project must aim to produce a scholarly text. Other support may be accepted during the fellowship tenure. Some long-term fellowships will be supported by the NEH. No separate application is required but to be eligible for an NEH award, applicants must meet the following additional requirements:Both US citizens and foreign nationals must have lived in the US for the three years immediately preceding November 14, 2024.No other NEH support may be accepted during the fellowship tenure.Fellows must have never been debarred or suspended by any federal department or agency.Projects cannot include material obscene, libelous, offensive, or defamatory (e.g., hate speech, personal attacks, material constituting harassment) in any user-generated content, comments, blog posts, links, and other social media.Fellows must not be delinquent on repayment of federal debts (e.g., student loans, federal taxes, child support payments, payroll taxes for household or other employees).Any ACLS board members, advisory committee members, selection committee members, officers, and staff are not eligible for one year after the completion of service.The application must propose full time research (no less than four consecutive months).Fellows receiving NEH funds must submit a final report to both ACLS and NEH.

Ineligibility

Applicants who have obtained tenure, or who have submitted tenure materials for review by the application deadline, are not eligible.