Mellon Research Travel Fellowship

The CLACS Mellon Research Travel Fellowship supports outstanding doctoral students in the Social Sciences Division who need to conduct research or fieldwork in Latin America and Caribbean at any stage of their doctoral program.

SSD students who apply for Tinker Field Research Grants to support pre-dissertation research will automatically be considered for the CLACS Mellon Research Travel Fellowship if overall demand for funding exceeds our capacity to fund Tinker applications.

This program is funded with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Eligibility

• University of Chicago doctoral students in the Social Sciences Division (Anthropology, Comparative Human Development, Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, Economics, History, Political Science, Psychology, Social Thought, Sociology) are eligible to apply.
• Students may apply at any stage of their doctoral program, but can receive funding no more than once before defending their proposal and no more than once after defending the proposal.
• Any dissertation topic that has Latin America or the Caribbean as its central focus will be considered.

Duration of the Fellowship

• Students may propose research for periods of 2 weeks to 4 months.
• Funds are disbursed in the summer following the application deadline for research to be conducted over the summer or in the following academic year.

Fellowship Benefits

• Fellowship funds are intended to support transportation, living costs, and research expenses for the duration of a fellow's proposed trip abroad

Application Process

Please complete your application via InfoReady, by 11:59 pm on Friday, March 13, 2026. Please have your faculty advisor send their letter of support through the same platform.

• Curriculum Vitae
• Current transcript (please download from https://my.uchicago.edu)
• A 2–4-page narrative description of the proposed research project (purpose of the trip, likely sources of data and their locations, qualifications to undertake the project, and its relevance to research and academic goals)
• Itinerary for the trip and itemized budget (use template here; see sample itinerary and budget)
• Short letter of support from faculty advisor (no more than 500 words recommended). Recommenders have until 11:59 pm on Monday, March 23, 2026 to submit their letters.
• Supplemental Materials: Where appropriate, applicants can demonstrate that host institution arrangements have been established by providing letters confirming access to facilities or archives or permission to conduct interviews or other human-subject research. Please note that all proposals involving Human Subjects must meet IRB approval by the intended date of receipt of the grant. For IRB standards, see http://sbsirb.uchicago.edu. 

Requirements

Within 30 days of returning from their travel, students are required to submit a brief narrative and financial report, as well as receipts for major expenses and several photos of their research. Students must also acknowledge the support of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Mellon Foundation in any publication, film, or other product resulting from supported research.

Within 9 months of the end of the award period, awardees are required to present their work in a public forum, either at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, at another University venue (e.g., a workshop or departmental brown bag), in the community, or in another academic venue such as a conference or a symposium.

Failure to comply with any of the requirements will make the student unable to receive future funding from CLACS.

As you prepare your application, please review the Proposal Tips.

Questions? Please contact CLACS.