Society of Fellows

Candidates are nominated for Junior Fellowships, generally by those under whom they have studied. Applications are not accepted from the candidates themselves. A letter of nomination should include an assessment of the candidate’s work and promise, i.e. a full letter of recommendation. Nominators must also provide complete contact information for the candidate, including current residential address and email address, and the names, institutional affiliations, and email addresses of three additional people who agree to write letters of recommendation. People of any nationality and interested in any field of study are eligible for these fellowships. Nominees should be of the highest caliber of intellectual achievement, i.e., manifesting extraordinary creativity and the capacity to shape the future direction of their chosen fields.

The Society will process nominations on a rolling basis beginning in early July. (Please note that the date of nomination bears no influence on the file.) Upon receipt of the nomination, the Society will contact the candidate and referees by email to request letters of recommendation from the referees and ask the candidate to submit samples of independent work (e.g. dissertation chapters, articles, papers, musical compositions, art work) along with a one or two-page proposal describing the studies they would like to pursue while a Junior Fellow. Both the candidate and the referees will be asked to submit their materials or letters within four weeks of the date of our email. If a candidate suspects that they have been nominated but they have not been contacted by the Society by August 11, they should call or email our office.

Please note: if still pursuing the Ph.D., candidates should be well into the dissertation stage and be prepared to finish their degrees within a year of becoming fellows. If already a recipient of the degree, they should ideally not be much more than a year past the Ph.D. at the time the fellowship commences. Most Junior Fellows receive the Ph.D. just prior to the start of the fellowship.

The deadline for receiving nominations for Junior Fellowships that begin July 1, 2027 is 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.

Please review the following guidelines before submitting a nomination:

• Nominators should confer with the candidate and referees to ensure that they are able to submit their materials and letters within four weeks of being contacted by our office. Nominations are processed on a rolling basis starting in early July.
• Nominators cannot also serve as a referee. The three letters of reference must be written by individuals other than the nominator.
• Candidates cannot be nominated by more than one nominator in a given year, either by co-nominators or by receiving two separate nominations; one of the potential nominators must serve as a referee instead.
• Please verify that all information, especially email addresses, is correct. Being able to contact the candidates and referees by email is essential to processing nominations.
• What is typed into the nomination form is exactly what will flow directly into our database and will be seen by our reviewers. Please fill out the form carefully, paying attention to spelling, case (do not use all caps), punctuation, etc.