Social Science Research Council

PRESS RELEASE:
April 28, 2007
Contact:
Mary-Lea Cox
212.377.2700
E-mail: cox@ssrc.org

Sixty Graduate Students Win SSRC Fellowships to Develop Dissertation Proposals on Topics from Climate Change to Animal Studies

The Social Science Research Council has selected 60 graduate students as the second cohort of its Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (DPDF) program. Go to DPDF Fellows List. Chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants currently enrolled in U.S. doctoral programs, the 2008 fellows represent 39 institutions nationwide and a wide variety of disciplines, from anthropology and history to religious studies and environmental studies. The program is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by the SSRC.

"This is an astonishingly talented and diverse group of graduate students working with eminent scholars  to consolidate critical intellectual fields," said Peter Sahlins, director of the SSRC's academic programs. "The program's early success serves as a model for much needed predissertation training in the social sciences and the humanities."

Each fellow will receive up to $5,000 as a summer stipend for predissertation research. In addition, fellows will have the opportunity to work under the guidance of leading U.S. academics to hone their dissertation proposals. These research directors run two workshops, in May and September, to help fellows develop their ideas into fundable dissertations amenable to timely completion.

Fellows participate in one of five annually identified research fields.  In 2008, these are:

• Animal Studies
• Critical Studies of Science & Technology Policy
• Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
• Muslim Modernities
• Urban Visual Studies
  

The application process for 2009 graduate student fellows will begin in December of this year. The faculty application for 2009 research directorships is now open. For more information, visit the DPDF Web site or contact program staff at dpdf@ssrc.org.

Quick Links:

• 2008 DPDF Fellows List
• Information on 2008 DPDF Workshops