Apply For Support

Our Process

The Simpson Center provides financial and administrative support for crossdisciplinary research, teaching, and engagement projects. We support a wide range of activities, including fellowships, cross-departmental research groups, scholarly conferences and symposia, community-engaged collaborations, and other projects.

The Simpson Center administers two funding rounds per year, in Fall and Spring Quarters. Both fall and spring rounds support the same funding term, July through June of the following year. Grant applications are reviewed and selected for support by the Simpson Center Executive Board. Proposed projects should be led by UW faculty and/or graduate students, require $1,000 or more in funding, and be planned for the subsequent academic year.

Applications for some categories are accepted in both the fall and spring; however, some categories are only open during one funding round, as noted below.

The best way to stay updated on deadlines for funding opportunities is to subscribe to our newsletter, where we announce when funding opportunities open and close.

Fellowships

• Society of Scholars Research Fellowships (For Faculty) – an intellectual community in which eight faculty and three doctoral students from across disciplines in the humanities and interpretive social sciences contribute to and learn from one another’s work in bi-weekly meetings throughout the academic year.
• Digital Humanities Summer Fellowship (For Faculty) – support for four faculty pursuing research projects that use digital technologies in innovative and intensive ways and/or explore the historical, social, aesthetic, and cross-cultural implications of digital cultures.
• Themed Summer Fellowships: Religious Cultures / Sacred Practices / Spiritual Teachings (For Faculty) – support for tenure track faculty to develop research projects in a shared area of inquiry.
• Society of Scholars Graduate Fellowship (For Graduate Students) – an intellectual community in which eight faculty and three doctoral candidates from across disciplines in the humanities and interpretive social sciences contribute to and learn from one another’s work in bi-weekly meetings throughout the academic year.
• Digital Humanities Summer Fellowship (For Graduate Students) – supports UW doctoral students whose projects use digital technologies in innovative and intensive ways and/or explore the historical, social, aesthetic, and cross-cultural implications of digital cultures. We have expanded our call for proposals to also include projects focused on digital humanities pedagogy.
• Barclay Simpson Scholars in Public (For Graduate Students) – supports doctoral students in the humanities, broadly speaking, to pursue public-facing projects in their areas of study and practice. Collaborative projects are encouraged. Recipients of this fellowship will each receive a stipend of $6,000. 

Collaborative Projects

• Colloquia and Conferences (For Faculty) – include speaker series, international research, and working conferences, and are selected for support based on their crossdisciplinary and interdisciplinary focus.
• Crossdisciplinary Research Clusters (For Faculty) – seed new collaborations between faculty and graduate students who share research interests.
• Large Scale Collaborations (For Faculty) – fund extended, crossdisciplinary collaborative projects that are often aligned with Simpson Center initiatives.
• Research Methods Exploration Award (For Faculty) – supports research projects of a faculty member that would benefit from cross-disciplinary engagement with a faculty member in another field.
• Faculty Summer Reading Groups (For Faculty) – bring UW faculty together in conversation on an area of shared intellectual interest, and serve to deepen the knowledge of the topic among participants.
• Graduate Research Clusters (For Graduate Students) – include speaker series, international research, and working conferences, and are selected for support based on their crossdisciplinary and interdisciplinary focus.

We are eager for new, unconventional projects that don’t fit neatly into one of our other categories but that align with the Simpson Center’s mission. Please contact Rachel Arteaga to discuss.

Lecture & Award Nominations

• Katz Distinguished Lectures in the Humanities (For Faculty) – The Solomon Katz Endowment in the Humanities supports up to three lectures each academic year: one by a member of the UW faculty and two by visiting scholars. Nominees should have excellent scholarly credentials and speaking abilities, and their work should appeal to a broad audience—faculty, students, and the general public.​​

Co-Sponsored Events (Rolling)

• Co-Sponsored UW Event (For Faculty) – Faculty members may request small discretionary grants (maximum $750) to support opportunities such as visiting speakers and conferences.
• Co-Sponsored Community Events (For Faculty) – Grants in the range of $200-$500 may also be given to support co-sponsored community events that include UW faculty or graduate students speaking at or otherwise collaborating with cultural institutions in Seattle and the surrounding areas.

Research Support for Major External Fellowship Awards (Rolling)

• Research Support for Major External Fellowship Awards (For Faculty) – offers special support for faculty who have been formally awarded ACLS Fellowships, NEH Fellowships, or Guggenheim Fellowships.