NEH Fellowships 2012

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About the NEH fellowships

Fellowships support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities.

Fellowships cover periods lasting from six to twelve months at a stipend of $4,200 per month.

The maximum stipend is $50,400 for a twelve-month tenure award period.

The award period must be continuous, and award recipients must work full time on their projects.

Recipients may begin their awards as early as January 1, 2013, and as late as September 1, 2014.

Fellowships support projects at any stage of development. Recipients usually produce articles, monographs, books,

digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, and other scholarly tools.

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Eligibility

Advanced degree not required, but individuals currently enrolled in a degree-granting program are ineligible.

U.S. citizens, whether residing inside or outside the country, and foreign nationals who have been living in the U.S. or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline, are eligible to apply.

Concurrent grants from other organizations for the same project are allowed.

You may apply for funding for a project that has previously received NEH Fellowship support.

You may apply concurrently for NEH fellowship and summer stipend.

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Five steps for NEH Fellowships

1. Register with Grants.gov

2. Download the application package

3. Develop your proposal narrative, bibliography and resume; contact two referees

4. Assemble the application

5. Submit the application on Grants.gov

Guidelines can be found at www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/fellowships.html

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What is Grants.gov?

An “electronic storefront” used to:

Find out about federal government funding opportunities

Locate grant application packages, including instructions and forms

Submit proposals to federal agencies

Note: Participation of federal agencies in Grants.gov is mandatory, not NEH’s choice.

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Step 1: Registering with Grants.gov

If you have never registered as an individual applicant, go to www.grants.gov and click “Get Registered” (left menu)

Click “Individual Registration” Click “Register with Grants.gov” Enter the funding opportunity number: 20120501-FA Click “Register” Complete the profile form and click “Submit” Review your info, edit if necessary, and click “Confirm” Create a username and password (passwords must contain

at least one uppercase letter, one special character such as # or %, and one number) and click “Submit”

You will receive an e-mail confirmation of your registration.

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Tips for Registration

You should register several weeks before the application deadline – now, if possible!

The Individual Registration User Guide is available at www.grants.gov/assets/IndvUserGuide.pdf .

You do not need to enter MHC’s DUNS # (066985714) to register as an individual (but will need this number later in the process).

If you have trouble with registration, contact the Grants.gov help desk at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

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Step 2: Get the application forms

Click “Apply for Grants” on the left menu at Grants.gov First, make sure you have a compatible version of Adobe

Reader from www.adobe.com. Check compatibility here: http://www.grants.gov/help/download_software.jsp#adobe811

You may use Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional 8.1.1 or higher instead of Adobe Reader.

Next, click on “Find Grant Opportunities,” then on “Advanced Search.” Enter funding opportunity number 20120501-FA and click on “Fellowships.” Then click “Application” and “Download.” Download and save the application package to your hard drive.

Enter your e-mail address to receive notification of any changes to the forms or process

Print the guidelines from http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/fellowships.html

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Step 3: Developing your proposal

Using Word, create your proposal documents: narrative, bibliography and resume. NEH allows appendices in limited circumstances (see guidelines)

Convert your Word documents to PDF format using one of these options: If you’re using Word 2007, click on “Acrobat” on the top

ribbon. Then, click “Create pdf” (far left) and save. If you don’t have this option, send your documents to

M. J. prior to the due date. She will convert your documents to pdf and send them back to you.

If you use a Mac with OS X, open the document, go to the File menu, choose Print, then PDF, then Save as PDF.

Convert online (PC or Mac) at http://createpdf.adobe.com/

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Proposal contents

Required page length and file names for your documents:

1. Narrative - 3 single-spaced pages (“narrative.pdf”)

2. Bibliography - 1 single-spaced page (“bibliography.pdf”)

3. Resume - 2 single-spaced pages (“resume.pdf”)

4. Appendix (only for editions, translations, or database projects, or for proposals that include visual materials, "appendix.pdf")

Use 11 point or larger font and 1-inch margins.

Do not use any special characters in filenames.

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Step 4: Assembling the application

You will be working offline on the application until it is ready to upload and submit.

Use a compatible version of Adobe Reader every time you work on your application package.

You can work on your application on a PC or a Mac.

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Application components

The application package contains three forms:

1. Application for Federal Assistance SF424-Individual—this form asks for basic information about the project and the applicant.

2. NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals form

3. NEH Attachment Form – this form allows you to attach your narrative, bibliography, resume, and appendix.

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The SF424-Individual Form

Open the application package with Adobe Reader Look at the top toolbar to make sure you are using the "Hand

Tool" (hand-like mouse pointer), not the “Select Tool” Fill in the “Application Filing Name” (this is an abbreviated version

of your project title, limited to 38 characters without punctuation) Click on the Application for Federal Domestic Assistance

SF424 Individual Form in the left box, click “Move form to complete,” click on the form in the right box, and click “Open Form”

Some fields will be pre-populated You will need to complete all the yellow fields Congressional district (p. 2): Enter MA-001 if Olver is your US

representative or MA-002 if Neal is your rep. If you live elsewhere, locate your district by entering your zip code on the left side of the page at www.house.gov .

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SF424 (continued)

Enter the project title (Box 6 – it isn’t yellow, but you should complete it). The field limit is 200 characters. Do not use punctuation marks or special characters in this field.

Enter your project description. The field limit is 1,000 characters. This should be written for a non-specialist audience, describing your topic succinctly, in terms that illustrate the importance of the proposed work to larger issues in the humanities. Type directly into this box – don’t cut and paste from another document.

Check the box "By signing this Application. . . ".

Scroll back to the top of page 1 and click “Save” before closing the application.

TIP: You can get info about any field by hovering your cursor over the field box.

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NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals Form

Click on NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals in the left box, click “Move form to complete,” click on the form in the right box, and click “Open Form”

Provide the following: Field of project (choose from drop down) Project director field of study (choose from drop down) Indicate if the mailing address on the SF424-Individual Form is your home or

work address (it’s up to you which you use). Institution: Mount Holyoke College DUNS Number: 066985714 TIN/EIN: 042103578 Reference Letters: Provide the names, e-mail addresses, and affiliations for

your two recommenders. NEH will contact these individuals, requesting that they submit their letters of recommendation online (due June 5, 2011).

Nominating Official: Leave this section blank for fellowships. Scroll back to the top of page 1 and click “Save”

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Using the NEH Attachment Form

Click on Attachments in the left box, click “Move form to complete,” click on the form in the right box, and click “Open Form”

Attachments must be in the following order:1. Narrative (“narrative.pdf”)2. Bibliography (“bibliography.pdf”)3. Resume (“resume.pdf”)4. Appendix (only for editions, translations, or database

projects, or for proposals that include visual materials, "appendix.pdf")

Do not attach anything else!Scroll to the top of page 1 and click “Save”

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Compatibility for submission

You can use a PC running Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2, Windows XP Professional or Home Edition, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition or Vista.

Compatible non-Windows operating systems include Mac OS X v.10.5 or earlier, including Tiger and Leopard.

The compatible browser is Internet Explorer. You will experience errors with Firefox or other browsers.

You must have cookies enabled on your computer.

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5. Submitting the application

IMPORTANT: To avoid technical problems, or resolve any that occur, plan to submit your application at least a week before the deadline. NEH anticipates a multi-day backlog on Grants.gov. Traffic on weekends or evenings is lighter than during the work day.

First, open Internet Explorer (IE). Note: Firefox may be the default browser on your computer, but all PCs should have IE also. If you don’t have IE on your computer, you should use a computer located in the faculty development area of LITS/The MEWS on the main floor of Dwight Hall and submit from there.

Minimize the browser window Open your application package Click “Check Package for Errors” and make any necessary

corrections Click “Save” – this activates the “Save and Submit” button

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Next steps

Now click “Save and Submit.” You will be connected automatically to the internet via Internet Explorer.

Enter your Grants.gov username and password. Click “Login.”

A security warning pop-up box will appear. Click “Allow.”

The submission verification and signature page will appear. Click “Sign and Submit Application”

Another security warning pop-up box will appear. Click “Allow.” Your application will now be uploaded to Grants.gov.

Wait until you receive e-mail confirmation of submission (generally within 2 minutes) before exiting the program.

If something goes wrong

If you receive an error message, you must correct any errors before the application deadline of 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2012.

Contact the Grants.gov help desk for support if you encounter a technical problem of any kind during submission. The help desk is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (except on federal holidays) at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

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Confirmation messages

You will receive 4 e-mail messages. The first three are from Grants.gov and normally arrive within 24 hours of submission. All contain your Grants.gov tracking number.1. Grants.gov Submission Receipt

2. Grants.gov Submission Validation (or Rejection with Errors)

3. Grants.gov Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt

The fourth is from NEH and will arrive within 10 business days. It will contain your NEH tracking number.

Save and print all these messages. You will need both your Grants.gov and your NEH tracking

numbers in order to send reminders to your referees, should that be necessary.

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MHC Resources

Tara Fitzpatrick Director of Foundations and CorporationsOffice of Developmentx2005tfitzpat@mtholyoke.edu

M. J. MaccardiniAssociate Director of Corporate & Foundation RelationsOffice of Developmentx2764mjmaccar@mtholyoke.edu