Awards & Grants
Awards and Grants
Departmental
Throughout the year, calls for applications will be sent out to eligible students in the Department of Anthropology. Additional scholarships, awards, and funding opportunities for graduate students can be found on the Graduate School website, linked below.
Simon Beckett Student Paper Prize
The Simon Beckett Student Paper Prize awards $1,000 for the best paper (podium or poster) at an Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. The presentation must be submitted to the Forensic Anthropology Center (FAC) one month before the meeting. The FAC faculty will judge the papers and the award will be announced shortly after the annual meeting. Open to all graduate students in the Department of Anthropology.
Kneberg/Lewis Scholarship
The Kneberg/Lewis Scholarships consist of two $1,500 scholarships to anthropology doctoral candidates to defray expenses during the dissertation write-up period, including costs incurred by research and travel. Open to all PhD Candidates in the Department of Anthropology.
Applications are due on February 15 each year.
William M. Bass Endowment Fund
The William M. Bass Endowment Fund disburses funds to forensic anthropology graduate students. Funds may be used to defray research expenses, especially thesis or dissertation research, for travel to professional meetings, and occasionally for research equipment purchases. These requests are considered on a case-by-case basis by the forensic anthropology faculty. Open to all graduate students in the Department of Anthropology who are conducting forensics research.
Charles H. Faulkner Travel Award
Each Fall and Spring semester, up to two $500 awards are distributed to anthropology graduate students presenting papers or posters, preferably at national and/or international meetings. Open to all graduate students in the Department of Anthropology, with the limitation that the same student can only receive this award every other year.
The Fall deadline is September 15 each year, and the Spring deadline is February 15 each year.
Patricia Black Archaeological Research Award
The Patricia Black Archaeological Research Award is available to support outstanding archaeology students’ research projects. Funds are disbursed on a case-by-case basis decided by the archaeology faculty. Open to all graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Anthropology who are conducting archaeological research.
Applications are due on October 15 each year.
University of Tennessee
Graduate Student Senate (GSS) Travel Awards
Graduate students who will be presenting research on behalf of UT at in-person or virtual professional conferences may receive support to help with travel costs. Only students who are presenting as first authors will be funded through this mechanism.
The Department of Anthropology will match up to $200 for travel awards provided by the Graduate
School.
Center for Global Engagement (CGE) W.K. McClure Scholarship
The W.K. McClure Scholarship Program offers UT students financial awards up to $5,000 to support research and creative projects abroad aimed at enhancing and promoting education for world responsibility.
The scholarship can be applied to any project which offers the potential for the development of knowledge relative to significant issues or problems associated with world affairs and the reduction of international conflict, principally through legal, cultural, political, economic, social, and scientific studies.
The McClure Scholarship application typically opens ate fall semester with a deadline at the end of February or beginning of March. Decision letters are sent out the first week in April.
Graduate School, Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA)
Grants up to $5,000 are awarded to the selected students to help support their research, scholarship, and creative activity; give students experience writing grants; and foster the mentoring relationship between faculty and graduate students.
GSRAs are announced and awarded in the fall and spring semesters each academic year.
UT Libraries Data Archiving & Sharing Fund
This fund assists UT Knoxville researchers in openly archiving and preserving data sets in the data repository Dryad, an international open-access repository of research data.
The Data Archiving & Sharing Fund is open to anyone at UT Knoxville with originally-created research data. The funding maximum per project is $250, which will cover up to 70 gigabytes of data in Dryad.
Graduate students may seek funding for thesis and dissection data, and should apply in conjunction with a professor; the fund does not support archiving of data related to class assignments or projects.
Applicants are asked to defer application until their data is ready to be archived.
External to UT
US Citizens or Permanent Residents Only
American Academy of University Women (AAUW)
American Dissertation Fellowship
For women pursuing full-time study to complete dissertations; applicants must be in their final year.
Candidates are evaluated based on scholarly excellence; quality and originality of project design; and active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research.
Deadline: November 15
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH programs help prepare individuals for careers in biomedical, behavioral, social, and clinical research.
R36 Dissertation Award
Supports dissertation costs of students in accredited research doctoral programs in the US and its territories.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
The GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers, early in their careers. Applicants must be pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education at accredited US institutions.
Eligibility:
- Must be enrolled in an eligible program at an accredited United States graduate institution.
- Must have completed less than one academic year of full-time graduate study.
U.S. Department of Education
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (FLAS)
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships program provides allocations of academic year and summer fellowships to institutions of higher education or consortia of institutions of higher education to assist meritorious graduate students undergoing training in modern foreign languages and related area or international studies. Eligible students apply for fellowships directly to an institution that has received an allocation of fellowships from the U.S. Department of Education.
U.S. Department of State
Fulbright US student Program
Funds US citizens to study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. The Program is in partnership with over 140 countries worldwide.
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or nationals; permanent residents are not eligible.
Deadline: October of each year.
International (non-US) Only
American Academy of University Women (AAUW)
International Fellowship
For women pursuing full-time graduate or postdoctoral study in the U.S., who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and who intend to return to their home country to pursue a professional career. Both graduate and postgraduate studies at accredited U.S. institutions are supported.
Applicants must have earned the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree by the application deadline and must have applied to their proposed institutions of study by the time of application.
Eligibility: Women, including people who identify as women, with citizenship in a country other than the U.S.
Deadline: November 15
Leakey Foundation
Franklin Mosher Baldwin Fellowship
The Franklin Mosher Baldwin Memorial Fellowship program was established in 1978 to expand access to advanced degrees for students from countries with limited educational opportunities. This prestigious program builds the future of science by investing in outstanding scholars helping them become leaders in their home countries. Successful applicants enter the program with strong academic records and a remarkable dedication to their chosen fields.
This fellowship program covers educational expenses related to students obtaining a degree and/or training in their field of study.
Eligibility: Open to applicants from countries with limited educational opportunities related to human origins. Applicants must be accepted into or currently enrolled in a graduate-level program.
Amount: up to $15,000 annually for up to two years.
Deadlines: February 15 for first-year applicants; March 1 for returning applicants.
Open Citizenship/Residence Status
American Philosophical Society
Lewis & Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research
The Lewis & Clark Fund encourages exploratory field studies for the collection of specimens and data and to provide the imaginative stimulus that accompanies direct observation. Applications are invited from disciplines with a large dependence on field studies, such as archaeology, anthropology, biology, ecology, geography, geology, linguistics, paleontology, and population genetics, but grants will not be restricted to these fields.
Eligibility: Applicants must be Doctoral Candidates (ABD) by the time the proposed research.
Deadlines: November 15, 2024, for applications; letters of support due November 12, 2024.
John Hope Franklin Dissertation Fellowship
Support an outstanding doctoral student at a US university or an exceptional US doctoral student abroad who is completing the dissertation.
Questions concerning this fellowship program and its requirements should be directed to Linda Musumeci, Director of Grants and Fellowships, at lmusumeci@amphilsoc.org or 215-440-3429.
Association for Women in Science (AWIS)
AWIS Distinguished Doctoral Research Scholarship
Awarded to three AWIS members whose dissertation research project is judged likely to make important and original contributions to their field. This $10,000 award is intended for a pre-doctoral student in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Mathematics, or Engineering who is a woman expecting to graduate within two years of the application deadline.
AWIS Student Membership is $35.
Deadline: February 28
Editing Press
Laura Bassi Scholarship
Provides editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed, within their disciplines. The scholarships are open to every discipline and are awarded three times per year: December, April, and August. All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, as are academics, in the first five years of full-time employment. There are no institutional, departmental, or national restrictions.
Deadlines: March 31, July 31, November 30
Field Inclusive, Inc.
Field Inclusive Research Grants
Supports natural science field work. The award amount is $500. Grants can be used towards equipment purchases, field housing, transportation, or technician salaries.
Eligibility:
- Must be current members of Field Inclusive.
- Must attend an institution in the US. International students who attend an institution in the
- US and/or have a U.S. bank account are eligible.
- Must be willing to to provide photographs and an approximately 500-2000-word write-up about what the award was used towards for the webpage upon completion of the work. Applicants may also be asked to present during a future #FieldInclusiveWeek.
Deadline: February 1 2026 at 11:59 ET
Heritage (journal)
Heritage Best PhD Thesis Award
Recognizes young scholars for producing outstanding PhD theses in the field of cultural and natural heritage science, and encourages the continuation of their outstanding work and further contribution to their field.
Eligibility:
- The candidate must be a PhD student or recently qualified PhD who has produced an outstanding PhD thesis.
- The PhD thesis must be defended in the year of the award.
Deadline: April 30 each year
Leakey Foundation
Research Grant
This program exclusively funds research related to human origins, including dissertation research and exploratory studies. The disciplines supported include archaeology, biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, primate behavioral ecology, genetics, geology, anatomy, morphology, paleobotany, and paleoclimatology. Current funding focus areas include:
- Paleoanthropology of the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene
- Primates: Evolution, behavior, morphology, ecology, endocrinology, genetics, isotope studies
- Modern hunter-gatherer groups
This fellowship program covers educational expenses related to students obtaining a degree and/or training in their field of study.
Eligibility: Advanced doctoral students (ABD) or post-PhD researchers with institutional affiliation (university or museum). Research must be relevant to human origins and evolution.
Amount: Up to $20,000 for PhD candidates; up to $30,000 for post-PhD researchers.
Deadlines: January 10 and July 15.
National Institutes of Justice (NIJ)
NIJ fosters and disseminates knowledge and tools derived from objective and rigorous scientific research to inform efforts to promote safety and advance justice.
Eligibility: must be enrolled in a research-based program at an accredited U.S. university.
Graduate Research Fellows (GRF) Program
The NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program supports doctoral students engaged in research that advances NIJ’s mission. The goal of the GRF program is to increase the pool of scholars engaged in research that addresses the challenges of crime and justice in the United States, particularly at the state and local levels.
The official applicant is the academic institution, not the student. Therefore, the student’s citizenship does not affect eligibility. GRF awards are made only to degree-granting academic institutions in the U.S. and its territories.
Research Assistantship Program (RAP)
The NIJ Research Assistantship Program (RAP) offers highly qualified doctoral students the opportunity to bring their expertise to NIJ to work across offices and program areas to obtain a practical and applied research experience. The RA program is a research-focused professional development opportunity for doctoral students. We welcome students from all academic disciplines who wish to connect their research to the criminal justice field. This unique assistantship is an opportunity to learn and contribute to the breadth and depth of science research in which NIJ engages. NIJ provides funds to participating universities to pay salaries and other costs associated with research assistants who work on NIJ research activities.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIG)
Grant to doctoral students, allowing them to undertake significant data-gathering projects and conduct field research in settings away from their campus. The award amounts of these grants vary across programs but typically range from $15,000 to $40,000 (excluding indirect costs).
Doctoral students enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education are eligible to apply. Applicants do not need to be U.S. citizens.
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
Grants in Aid of Research (GIAR)
Provides graduate students with valuable educational experiences. By encouraging close working relationships between students and mentors, the program promotes scientific excellence and achievement through hands-on learning.
Deadlines: March 15 and October 1
Tennessee Council for Professional Archaeology (TCPA)
TCPA Small Grant
This small grant program is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researchers conducting archaeological investigations within the State of Tennessee, who are TCPA members in good standing. Awards are not expected to exceed $1000 and are intended to supplement a current or proposed research project.
Deadline: June 15 each year.
The Geological Society of America
Graduate Student Research Grants
Supports graduate student research in the geosciences and ultimately enhance the geoscience workforce. The research focus can be any subject matter within the geological sciences, such as paleontology, organic geochemistry, paleoecology, paleogeography, and more.
Eligibility: Restricted to GSA members who are currently enrolled in a North American or Central
American university or college in an earth science graduate degree program.
Deadline: February 1
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
This grant program funds doctoral or thesis research that advances anthropological knowledge. The goal is to support vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of what it means to be human. There is no preference for any methodology, research location, topic, or subfield. The foundation particularly welcomes proposals that integrate two or more subfields and pioneer new approaches and ideas.
Deadlines: May 1 (for project start dates between January 1 and June 30 of the following year) and November 1 (for project start dates between July 1 and December 31 of the following year).