GIAS Fellowships & Grants

GIAS provides several fellowships to support graduate students conducting research in international and area studies. This page lists grants administered by GIAS itself. For fellowships administered by individual GIAS units, please click here

Please apply to all fellowships below through this Google Form. You must be logged in to your Berkeley email account to submit your application. Applications submitted by e-mail will not be considered.

Faculty letters of recommendations should be emailed by the author directly to gias-admin@berkeley.edu. For questions on the GIAS grants, please contact Tomás Lane, Fellowships Coordinator, at the same address.

The Reinhard Bendix and Allan Sharlin Fellowships

Supported Activities: UC Berkeley graduate students in all fields who have obtained ABD status or will formally advance to candidacy by the fall of the fellowship term and plan to do research in the fields of historical sociology, historical demography, social history, political and social theory, or historical studies of society and politics. Fellowships are intended to support research on campus, within the United States, or abroad.

Application details: Eligible candidates must submit an application that includes: 1) a description of the research project of up to four pages (single spaced); 2) a CV of up to two pages; 3) a budget plan; 4) a list of other sources of financial support; 5) an unofficial UC Berkeley transcript; 6) a letter of recommendation from a UC Berkeley faculty member, emailed directly to gias-admin@berkeley.edu, with indication “The Reinhard Bendix & Allan Sharlin Fellowships.”

Eligibility: This fellowship is intended for all UC Berkeley graduate students in good standing, who have obtained ABD status or will formally advance to candidacy (will have satisfied all requirements of the Ph.D. except the dissertation) by the fall of the fellowship term. Students must be registered with the Graduate Division for their award term. Student applications need to be compliant with human subject research requirements, if applicable. Requests for tuition and fee costs as separate items will not be considered.

Award amount: up to $7,500. Grant amounts are at the discretion of the jury.

Application deadline: April 15, 2024

The John L. Simpson Pre-dissertation Research Fellowship in International & Area Studies

Supported Activities: UC Berkeley graduate students in all fields who have not yet advanced to candidacy and plan to do research in international & area studies, in the broadest sense, both from a contemporary and a historical perspective. Fellowships are intended to support travel, lodging, and/or research-related expenditures.

Application details: Eligible candidates must submit an application that includes: 1) a description of the proposed research of up to two pages (single spaced); 2) a CV of up to two pages; 3) a budget plan; 4)  a list of other sources of financial support; 5) an unofficial UC Berkeley transcript; 6) a letter of recommendation from a UC Berkeley faculty member, emailed directly to gias-admin@berkeley.edu, with indication “John L. Simpson Pre-dissertation Research Fellowships in International & Area Studies.”

Eligibility: This fellowship is intended for UC Berkeley graduate students who will not formally advance to candidacy by the fall of the fellowship term. Students from all departments are eligible, including students in terminal degree MA programs.

Award amount: up to $5,000. Grant amounts are at the discretion of the jury.

Application deadline: April 15, 2024

The John L. Simpson ABD Graduate Students Research Fellowship in International & Area Studies

Supported Activities: UC Berkeley graduate students in all fields who have obtained ABD status or will formally advance to candidacy by the fall of the fellowship term and plan to do research in international & area studies, in the broadest sense, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective. Fellowships are intended to support research on campus, within the United States, or abroad.

Application details: Eligible candidates must submit an application that includes: 1) a description of the  research project of up to four pages (single spaced); 2) a CV of up to two pages; 3) a budget plan; 4) a list of other sources of financial support; 5) an unofficial UC Berkeley transcript; 6) a letter of recommendation from a UC Berkeley faculty member, emailed directly to gias-admin@berkeley.edu, with indication “ABD Graduate Students Research Fellowships in International & Area Studies.”

Eligibility: This fellowship is intended for all UC Berkeley graduate students in good standing, who have obtained ABD status or will formally advance to candidacy (will have satisfied all requirements of the Ph.D. except the dissertation) by the fall of the fellowship term. Students must be registered with the Graduate Division for their award term. Student applications need to be compliant with human subject research requirements, if applicable. Requests for tuition and fee costs as separate items will not be considered.

Award amount: up to $11,000. Grant amounts are at the discretion of the jury.

Application deadline: April 15, 2024