Applications are being accepted for the 2025 ACLS Project Grants for HBCU Faculty by the American Council of Learnt Societies. Up to $10,000 in grants are available to help smaller-scale project development projects that can be finished in the 12- to 15-month award period, as well as early-stage project design.

These awards can be used to finish preliminary research, move an ongoing or completed project to the next phase of development, or act as a stepping stone for potential future funding opportunities. Grant recipients will receive a stipend in addition to networking and mentorship opportunities tailored to their academic objectives and institutional context.

The ACLS HBCU professors Fellowship and Grant Program, which provides HBCU professors with project grants and longer-term fellowships, includes this fellowship option. To find out more about the two award categories and to decide which opportunity is best for your project, please visit our program website.

Award Results
During the duration of the award, the applicant's objective should be to pilot and/or significantly develop a project with a research foundation. A scholar's research and teaching can be connected meaningfully through pedagogical tools; works that connect scholarly and creative practice; community-engaged projects grounded in scholarly research but aimed at a public audience; monographs, scholarly articles, conference papers, book chapters, or books on a topic in the humanities or social sciences and/or teaching and learning in those disciplines are just a few examples of possible project outcomes.

These are by no means all of the examples. The mission of ACLS is to promote novel formats and methods of publication in addition to a variety of research types. Digital, collaborative, and publicly and community-engaged scholarly methodologies are all welcome in the program. Proposals from HBCU academics who collaborate with academics from other schools, fields, or extracurricular organisations are also encouraged.

Projects that have curriculum or pedagogical objectives need to have a postsecondary setting in mind. For this program, projects that centre on teaching and learning in a K–12 environment are inappropriate. Engaging the community and/or students in the research effort is encouraged, as is distributing the findings to audiences in higher education.

Utilisation of Grant Money
The most compelling submissions will demonstrate careful planning for involving the communities, academics, and sources—both on and off campus—that are required to forward the tasks at hand.

Grant funding may be used by fellows for:

Money for research expenses (e.g., hiring research assistants, compensating study subjects, learning new techniques, visiting archives and libraries, and purchasing replicas).
Initiatives like action research initiatives and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the Classroom help to connect research and pedagogy/teaching and learning.
Expenses for research and conference travel and registration; expenses for planning a project-related workshop or event.
Course announcements.

Writing and editing support to get work ready for publication, as well as additional costs associated with getting research published or shared.
partnerships between academic institutions, including HBCUs and other universities.
interdisciplinary partnerships with peers in related fields who share comparable research interests.
support for community-based social justice initiatives and/or civic engagement.
Since every project is different and requires a different kind of support, this list is by no means all-inclusive. Applicants are urged to consider the particular requirements of their project in addition to the obstacles that stand in the way of project outcomes. Any expense that is required to move the project forward may be covered by award monies.

Grant Specifics

Stipend: Up to $10,000 in funds may be used for any activities that further the proposed project, such as publishing a course, attending conferences or collections, providing research and editorial help, or providing child or elder care so that project participation is possible.
Tenure: June 1, 2025–August 31, 2026, with a maximum of 15 months remaining.

An extra $2,500 is awarded to the recipient's home university for infrastructure or humanities programming with each project funding.

Candidates that make it to the final stage of evaluation will be eligible for project and proposal development workshops in 2025, as well as a $500 stipend to help with their research.
Applications must be completed and submitted by November 6, 2024, at 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, via the ACLS online fellowship administration system (ofa.acls.org).
Email notifications will be sent out by the end of March 2025.