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The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship (often shortened to Mellon/ACLS DIF) pays a humanities or interpretive social science PhD student for 9 to 12 months to take a dissertation in a new direction, in method, format, collaboration or form of output. What sets it apart from most dissertation fellowships is timing: it is designed to reach a student early, before the research and writing are advanced, and it requires an application package built around that idea. Everything below is as described on the official ACLS program page, FAQ and award announcement on 2026-10-29. Programs change, so confirm current terms on the ACLS site before you apply.
What it is and who runs it
The fellowship is a competition run by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation, according to the ACLS program page. The Foundation provides the grant; ACLS runs the competition. For a doctoral student the route is the ACLS application portal (ofa.acls.org). For background on the funder, see the guide to Mellon Foundation humanities funding.
The stated purpose is to support dissertation projects that extend doctoral research through new methods, new dissertation formats or new collaborations. A standard dissertation written in a standard way is not what the review criteria reward (see the five criteria below).
Eligibility (summary, with the official source)
As described on the official page on 2026-10-29 (the cycle described covers tenure in the 2027-28 academic year), an applicant must:
- be a PhD student in a humanities or interpretive social science department at a U.S. institution; professional or applied PhDs, non-PhD terminal degrees such as the EdD or MFA, and PhDs in the excluded fields listed in the page footnote (for example business, education, engineering, law, medicine and the sciences) are not eligible;
- have completed at least two years of the PhD and all required coursework by the fellowship start;
- not have advanced to candidacy (ABD) before January 1, 2026;
- not have applied to this fellowship more than once before;
- intend to complete the dissertation after May 31, 2029;
- be able to take a full 9 to 12 months released from coursework, assistantships and teaching.
During the term, fellows must be enrolled full time and may not hold teaching or research assistantships, other major fellowships, internships or similar awards. Transcripts are not required. Applicants unsure of eligibility are told to contact the program directly.
What it funds or requires
The official page for the cycle lists the following award components:
- a base stipend of $42,000 for the fellowship year;
- up to $3,000 for research and travel;
- up to $5,000 for professional development (skills acquisition or additional research on innovative directions);
- a separate $2,000 stipend for an external mentor.
Added together, that is a maximum of $52,000 including the mentor stipend. The tenure is 9 to 12 months, starting between July 1 and September 1. The page for this cycle states that up to 45 fellowships will be awarded, while the ACLS announcement of the previous year’s awards reports 50 fellows from more than 1,000 applications, reviewed in multiple stages by more than 170 scholars. Treat those as two different figures from two different cycles, not a contradiction. Fellows may also spend all or part of the term at selected member organizations of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI), which needs no separate application.
The fellowship cannot be held at the same time as another fellowship or grant, and it expects the institution to cooperate (see the institutional statement below).
Application or compliance steps
Everything is submitted through ACLS’s online fellowship and grant administration portal. The package has nine parts. The page limits below are as stated by ACLS; citations count toward the proposal limit.
| Component | Limit and format (per the ACLS page) | What it must do |
|---|---|---|
| Application form | Online form | Basic information |
| Proposal | Up to 7 pages, double-spaced, 11-point Arial or Helvetica, 1-inch margins | Cover aims, training and research permissions, the external mentor, the innovative approach, why this point in the doctoral timeline, how success will be measured and the full scope of scholarly output |
| Images or non-text materials (optional) | Up to 2 additional pages, no annotation | Support the proposal |
| Timeline | 1 page on the ACLS template | Fellowship-year activities and a provisional path to finishing the dissertation afterward |
| Bibliography | Up to 2 pages, single-spaced, unannotated | Key primary and secondary sources |
| Personal statement | Up to 2 pages, double-spaced | Your scholarly journey and desire to change research forms and formats |
| Work sample | Up to 15 pages including images and notes | With a brief context note on how it relates to the project |
| Letter of recommendation | One letter | From your dissertation advisor or a faculty member eligible to serve as advisor |
| Institutional statement | Preferably from the chair, director of graduate studies or dean | Attest that multi-year funding will pause and resume, enrollment can continue with tuition and fees waived or covered, and the curriculum and progress tracking can accommodate non-traditional scholarship |
How the package maps to the review criteria
ACLS says reviewers assess five things, and each can be matched to a part of the package:
- Advance the field: the project’s potential to make an original, significant contribution to knowledge (proposal, bibliography, work sample).
- Challenge scholarly convention: through format, methodology, subject matter, theoretical framework or interdisciplinary and community partnerships (proposal, personal statement).
- Feasibility: the likelihood of completing the work within the timeframe, during and after the fellowship (timeline, institutional statement, recommendation letter).
- Engagement with historically underrepresented communities: and how that engagement could shape research practice (proposal, personal statement).
- Applicant preparedness: resources and constraints across your scholarly trajectory (personal statement, recommendation letter).
The mapping of components to criteria is this guide’s reading of the two lists, not an ACLS statement. For general proposal structure, see how to write a research proposal.
The external mentor
The proposal must address an external mentor, but you do not need to have one at the time of application. If you have already identified someone, name them and explain the choice; if not, describe the qualities and perspectives you are looking for. The mentor must be outside your current advising relationships in your program or department and not on your dissertation committee. The mentor may be elsewhere in your university, at another institution or outside academia, and per the FAQ need not be a humanities or social science scholar. A mentor must be designated by the start of the term. ACLS recommends up to two mentors, who split the $2,000 stipend.
Typical timeline phases
The phases below follow the official page; exact calendar dates change each year and are published on the ACLS site.
- Late summer and autumn: ACLS holds applicant office-hours webinars.
- Autumn: a single application deadline in late October, submitted through the portal.
- Review: a multi-stage peer review (the previous cycle’s announcement describes more than 170 scholars).
- Spring: notification by email.
- Summer: the fellowship term begins between July 1 and September 1 and lasts 9 to 12 months.
Because the ACLS FAQ tells applicants to list any needed permits (IRB or ethics review, research visas, tribal or institutional permissions) with estimated dates in the timeline, build the permit schedule into the one-page timeline rather than asking ACLS which permits you need.
Common mistakes
Each point below follows a rule on the ACLS program page or FAQ.
- Counting citations as free. Citations count toward the seven-page proposal limit.
- Misreading the ABD cutoff. Advancing to candidacy before January 1, 2026 makes a student ineligible in this cycle; the FAQ confirms that being ABD is acceptable only if reached no earlier than that date.
- Choosing a mentor from the committee or advising circle. The mentor must be outside your current advising relationships.
- Treating the institutional statement as a formality. It must commit your institution to pausing funding, covering tuition and fees, and accommodating non-traditional scholarship.
- Leaving permissions out. The proposal must cover research permissions and how they will be secured.
- Applying a third time. Applicants may apply no more than twice in total.
- Proposing a conventional dissertation. The criteria reward challenge to convention in format, method, subject, theory or partnership.
Related programs
| Program or partner | Relationship to this fellowship | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) | Fellows may spend all or part of the term at selected CHCI member organizations; no separate application | ACLS program page |
| Mellon Foundation | Funds the fellowship through a grant to ACLS | ACLS program page; CASRAI guide to Mellon Foundation funding |
| NEH Fellowships | A separate federal humanities program; the ACLS FAQ allows applying to many programs, though normally only one ACLS or ACLS-joint award can be accepted per competition year | CASRAI guide to NEH Fellowships; ACLS FAQ |
For the general category, see the dictionary entry on research fellowships.
FAQ
Can I reapply if I am not selected?
Yes, once. Unsuccessful applicants may reapply only one time, so a candidate may apply at most twice.
Can I get feedback on my application?
Reviewer feedback is available through an online request form sent with the results, and it must be requested by the cutoff stated for that cycle. Reviewers choose whether to comment, and the feedback is meant to help with ideas and presentation, not to explain the decision.
Do I need an external mentor before I apply?
No. Name and justify one if you have one; otherwise describe the qualities you want. One must be designated by the start of the term.
Which permits should I list?
List the ones your project needs, with estimated dates, in the timeline. ACLS does not tell applicants which permits apply.
Can I use AI tools to prepare the application?
The ACLS guidelines allow it. The named applicant remains responsible for accuracy, sourcing and citation, and for any errors, omissions, fabricated content or plagiarism, and ACLS encourages applicants to note where and how AI was used.
Can I hold other awards at the same time?
Not another major fellowship or grant during the term. You may apply to other programs, but normally only one ACLS or ACLS-joint award can be accepted in a competition year.
Sources
- ACLS, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship program page: https://www.acls.org/competitions/mellon-acls-dissertation-innovation-fellowship/ (checked 2026-10-29)
- ACLS, program FAQ: https://www.acls.org/faqs/faq-mellon-acls-dissertation-innovation-fellowship/ (checked 2026-10-29)
- ACLS, announcement of the 2026 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellows: https://www.acls.org/news/acls-awards-2026-mellon-acls-dissertation-innovation-fellowships/ (checked 2026-10-29)
