Humanities Research Awards
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The Humanities Research Awards (HRA) are designed for UT faculty and graduate students who have advanced to doctoral candidacy and are working on humanities-focused projects. Our goal is to provide funding and support to enhance the likelihood of successful project outcomes, such as publications, dissemination, and engagement.
Eligibility
- Tenured & tenure-track faculty whose most recent HRA award must have been received prior to 2022-23. Faculty must also be full-time and actively employed at UT to be eligible, and must have qualified for promotion if up for tenure prior to being awarded an HRA.
- Graduate students who have advanced to doctoral candidacy with humanities-focused projects and who have not previously won an HRA.
- All applicants must be in a home department within the College of Liberal Arts.
- All projects must be in any area of the humanities or humanistic social sciences.
- Faculty awards: $5,000
- Student awards: $2,000
- Duration: Faculty: 2 years; Students: 1 year.
Please attach a Word or PDF document with the following sections:
- Descriptive Narrative: a) Summary/Abstract, b) Background, c) Methodology/Activities, d) Expected Outcomes (2 pages)
- Budget table & outcomes timeline. Examples of research expenses may include student stipends, travel, materials & supplies, outside experts, conferences, and publication fees. (1 page)
- Short CV (2 pages)
- Previous awards received during time at UT Austin (e.g., HRAs, SRA/FRAs, external grants) and any other available research funding sources.
- For grad students, please provide a letter from your advisor stating that you have advanced to doctoral candidacy.
Selection Criteria
- Relevance of project to current humanistic inquiry in the project's field(s)
- Quality of project regarding research questions, methods, etc.
- Likelihood of project producing desired outcomes, especially regarding publication, dissemination and engagement
- Overall contribution of the project to the UT humanities landscape
Eligibility:
- Tenured & tenure-track faculty whose most recent HRA award must have been received prior to 2022-23. Faculty must also be full-time and actively employed at UT to be eligible, and must have qualified for promotion if up for tenure prior to being awarded an HRA.
- Graduate students who have advanced to doctoral candidacy with humanities-focused projects and who have not previously won an HRA.
- All applicants must be in a home department within the College of Liberal Arts.
- All projects must be in any area of the humanities or humanistic social sciences.
- Status: Currently accepting applications. Applications for summer 2026 to spring 2028 are open for faculty proposals only. Preference will be given to early career scholars or faculty with limited funding support. Please contact Jeff Meserve (meserve@austin.utexas.edu) with any questions.
- Application Deadline: April 3, 2026.
- Decisions Communicated: May 2026.
- Program timeline: All awards must be spent within a 2-year timeframe (June 2026 -- May 2028).
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- Faculty awards: $5,000
- Student awards: $2,000
- Duration: Faculty: 2 years; Students: 1 year.
Please attach a Word or PDF document with the following sections:
- Descriptive Narrative: a) Summary/Abstract, b) Background, c) Methodology/Activities, d) Expected Outcomes (2 pages)
- Budget table & outcomes timeline. Examples of research expenses may include student stipends, travel, materials & supplies, outside experts, conferences, and publication fees. (1 page)
- Short CV (2 pages)
- Previous awards received during time at UT Austin (e.g., HRAs, SRA/FRAs, external grants) and any other available research funding sources.
- For grad students, please provide a letter from your advisor stating that you have advanced to doctoral candidacy.
Selection Criteria
- Relevance of project to current humanistic inquiry in the project's field(s)
- Quality of project regarding research questions, methods, etc.
- Likelihood of project producing desired outcomes, especially regarding publication, dissemination and engagement
- Overall contribution of the project to the UT humanities landscape
Eligibility:
- Tenured & tenure-track faculty whose most recent HRA award must have have been received 3 years prior. Faculty must also be full-time and actively employed at UT to be eligible, and must have qualified for promotion if up for tenure prior to being awarded an HRA.
- Graduate students who have advanced to doctoral candidacy with humanities-focused projects and who have not previously won an HRA.
- All applicants must be in a home department within the College of Liberal Arts.
- All projects must be in any area of the humanities or humanistic social sciences.
- Status: Not currently accepting applications.
- Program timeline: All awards must be spent within a 2-year timeframe.
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A sample faculty HRA budget table and outcomes timeline.
Sample Faculty Budget
A sample student HRA budget and outcomes timeline.
Sample Student Budget
What is the Humanities?
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