Awards for Faculty at HBCUs 2026 program announcement 040126.pdf

Awards for Faculty at HBCUs Program Announcement

Deadline: April 22, 2026

NEH Awards for Faculty are grants to individual faculty members at HBCUs pursuing projects that embody exceptional humanistic research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.

These awards provide recipients with time to write, to travel, and to conduct research and other project-related activities. Projects are eligible at any stage. This program offers applicants flexibility in project outcomes and award periods.

The 2026 Awards for Faculty competition will accept only projects for research in American history and culture and Western civilization.

To apply, follow the instructions in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for Awards to Individuals (Individual Programs NOFO). This announcement includes additional guidance and requirements specific to the Awards for Faculty at HBCUs program. You are responsible for reviewing and following all requirements in the NOFO and in these guidelines. You must apply via Grants.gov.

Funding Opportunity Title Awards for Faculty at HBCUs Funding Opportunity Number 20260422-HB Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.160 Application Deadline April 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement January 2027 Anticipated FY 2027 Funding Approximately $300,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 5 grants Award Amounts $30,000 to $60,000 ($5,000 per month for full-time work; prorated for part-time) Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance The period of performance is 2-12 months, full-time equivalent. Projects must start between April 1, 2027, and September 1, 2028.

Eligible Applicants Individual faculty members at HBCUs who are U.S. citizens residing domestically or abroad, or foreign nationals who have lived in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/Individual%20NOFO%20combined_0.pdf

See eligibility information in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Program Resource Page https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-historically-black-colleges-and-universities

Webinar A pre-recorded webinar will be available on the program resource page.

Published Updated (amend reference letter deadline)

March 2, 2026 April 1, 2026

Purpose Eligible projects include:

• research in primary and secondary materials leading to the development of books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, digital projects and resources, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, critical editions, or other scholarly resources

• research related to institutional or community goals or interests, such as projects that draw on archival collections, collection and interpretation of oral histories, or the development of materials in support of culture or language preservation and revitalization

• research leading to the improvement of a single existing undergraduate course, including the development of humanities resources (for example, oral histories, identification and preparation of archival sources, or newly compiled historical or literary collections)

• research leading to digital or web-based products intended to supplement a course revision or publication project

The 2026 Awards for Faculty competition will accept only projects for research in American history and culture and Western civilization. Competitive applications must focus on topics in the history, culture, and government of the United States in any period from the Colonial Era to the present, or topics in Western civilization from antiquity to the present.

Review Criteria Peer reviewers will use the following criteria to review applications for this program:

1. The intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both, and its potential for promoting a deeper understanding of American history and culture and Western civilization.

2. The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project and the applicant’s clarity of expression.

3. The feasibility and appropriateness of the proposed work plan.

4. The quality or promise of quality of the applicant as a humanities researcher and (for course revision projects) as a teacher.

5. The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project (not necessarily during the period of performance), including, when relevant, the soundness of the dissemination and access plans.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-historically-black-colleges-and-universities https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-historically-black-colleges-and-universities https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/awards-faculty-historically-black-colleges-and-universities

Funding Restrictions See section A.2 in the Individual Programs NOFO for the full list of funding restrictions for awards to individuals.

You may not use awards made in this program for projects that do not involve research in American history and culture or Western civilization.

Period of Performance Awards for Faculty can be from 2 to 12 months, full-time equivalent. You may work on your project part-time or full-time, or combine periods of part-time and full-time work, but the period of performance must be continuous. You may request a period of performance start date between April 1, 2027, and September 1, 2028.

You must:

• work at least half-time on your project throughout your period of performance

• forego other major activities, including teaching, while holding a full-time award

• carry a reduced teaching load when working part time on your project, if you teach while holding an award

• not have course overloads or work overtime during your period of performance

Eligibility See sections C.1 and C.2 in the Individual Programs NOFO for full eligibility information, including resubmission, collaborative projects, and projects supported by previous NEH grants.

The Awards for Faculty program accepts applications from individuals who are full-time, part-time, adjunct, and retired faculty or staff members affiliated with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as designated by the U.S. Department of Education at the time of application.

Confirm your institution’s status with the U.S. Department of Education (click on “Accredited HBCU listing”).

You may not accept or hold any other NEH individual award, including a Chairman’s Award to Individuals, in the same federal fiscal year.

Application deadline Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by April 22, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Applications must be complete, follow length and formatting requirements, and be validated by Grants.gov under the correct funding opportunity prior to the deadline to be considered under this notice.

Application components See the Application Component Table below to learn what a complete application entails, and the sections following it for information about the content of those components.

https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/one-hundred-and-five-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/

See the Individual Programs NOFO for instructions for the Grants.gov forms in your application package (SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance-Individual, NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals Form, Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form, Attachments form).

Your attachments must be PDFs and conform to the following formatting requirements:

• pages no larger than standard letter size (8 ½" x 11”)

• margins of at least one inch on all sides

• single-spacing

• a readable font such as Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, or Times New Roman, no smaller than

11 points

• any standard citation style is acceptable; citations are included in page counts

Attachments in non-PDF format (Word, etc.) will result in an application being automatically rejected.

Application Component File Name Designation Page limits Attachments 1: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 3

(mandatory) 2: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 1

(mandatory) 3: Bibliography bibliography.pdf Required 1

(mandatory) 4: Résumé resume.pdf Required 2

(mandatory) 5: Confirmation of institutional support confirmation.pdf Recommended at the time of application.

Required in order to receive funding.

6: Editions and translation sample translation.pdf Conditionally required 2 (mandatory)

7: Visual materials visual.pdf Recommended 1 (mandatory)

8: Data sample datasample.pdf Conditionally required 1 (mandatory)

9: Data management plan datamanagement.pdf Conditionally required 2 (mandatory)

10: Degree conferral degreeconferral.pdf Conditionally required 11: Explanation of delinquent federal debt delinquentdebt.pdf Conditionally required

Application Component Designation Grants.gov forms SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Individual

Required

NEH Supplemental Information for Individuals Form

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Attachments Form Required

Attachment 1: Narrative (required) Organize your narrative using the following headings. Each section aligns with one or more review criteria NEH will use to evaluate your proposal. Your narrative should be succinct, well organized, and free of technical terms and jargon so that peer reviewers can understand the proposed project. Per the Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence for NEH Grant Proposals, you must acknowledge (by use of footnotes or other marginal notations) when you have inserted AI-generated text into your proposal.

a. Significance and contribution (aligns primarily with review criterion 1) Describe the intellectual significance of the proposed project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. Provide an overview of the project, explaining the basic ideas, problems, or questions examined by the study. Describe your research and state the project’s thesis or claim(s). Explain how the project will complement, challenge, or expand relevant studies in the field. Discuss how your scholarship will be presented to benefit the intended audiences. If appropriate, describe the contribution that the research will make to your students, institution, or broader community. Explain how your project meets the call of this announcement and promotes a deeper understanding of American history and culture or Western civilization.

For humanities research projects in support of a community or institutional goal or interest, explain the project’s expected outcome, and how you will present it to reach the identified audience(s). If applicable, explain how the project may have broader impact beyond the community or institution.

For humanities research projects leading to the revision of an undergraduate course, explain how the research relates to revising the course, the course readings, and the course methodologies. Discuss the importance of the course within your teaching portfolio and within the institution’s overall curriculum. Include relevant information such as the number of times it has been offered, whether the course is currently taught, and the number of students enrolled when the course was most recently offered. Explain how the project may have broader impact beyond the individual course.

If you are applying to translate a work into English, and other English translations already exist, provide a rationale for a new translation. If your project results in a work that will be written in a language other than English, provide a rationale for publishing in that language.

https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/NEH.AI_.Policy-10.23.24.pdf https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/NEH.AI_.Policy-10.23.24.pdf

b. Organization, concepts, and methods (aligns primarily with review criteria 2 and 3) Explain how your proposed research will help you resolve the problems or questions you are examining. Describe the theoretical framework of your argument and explain how your proposed research will advance it. As necessary, explain unfamiliar concepts or terminology for the non-specialist reader.

Outputs of an award typically include books, articles, digital materials, or translations, improvement of a single course, or research in support of an institutional or community goal. For book proposals, explain how you will organize the final product. If possible, provide a chapter outline. Explanations of each chapter’s contents are particularly important when a chapter title does not clearly indicate its contents.

If your project is an expansion or revision of a completed dissertation, state this. Explain the expansion or revision you are proposing, and how the resulting product will be strengthened by the work for which you seek support.

For a course revision project, explain the specific ways in which the proposed research will enhance the course. Explain how your course revision research contributes to your institution’s curriculum and goals and to your students.

For digital projects, describe the technologies you will use or develop, and explain how you will present the scholarship to benefit audiences in the humanities.

For editions and translations, describe your plans for any included scholarly apparatus such as an introduction and/or annotations.

c. Competencies, skills, and access (aligns primarily with review criterion 4) Explain your competence or background in the area of your project. If the area of inquiry is new to you, explain your reasons for working in it and your qualifications to do so. Specify the level of competence in any languages, technologies, or methods needed for the study. Describe where you will conduct the study and what research materials you will use. If relevant, specify the arrangements for access to archives, collections, or institutions that contain the necessary resources.

d. Final product and dissemination (aligns primarily with review criterion 5) Describe the intended results of the project. Identify your intended audience. Explain how you will disseminate the results and why these means are appropriate to the subject matter and audience. For book projects, indicate possible publishers. For article projects, indicate potential journals for publication. If the project has a website, provide the URL. For course revision projects, indicate your plans (if any) to expand the number of sections offered, replicate the course on other campuses, or otherwise disseminate the results more broadly. If the final product will appear in a language other than English, explain how access and dissemination will be affected. If the project involves materials under copyright, indicate your plans for securing the necessary permission to publish.

Your narrative must not exceed three single-spaced pages. Do not include an executive summary, cover page, headers, or a table of contents. You may include images, charts, and diagrams if they fit within the page limit. Name the file narrative.pdf.

Attachment 2: Work plan (required) Clearly indicate how many months of support you are requesting and whether you propose full-or part-time work, or a combination of the two. You must work at least half-time on the NEH project, and the period of performance must be continuous. If you are proposing part-time work, specify the fraction of time you will devote to the project (e.g., half-time or three-quarters time).

Indicate if you will receive course releases.

Present a schedule for the period of performance (in increments of three months or fewer). This schedule can be in narrative form or by using a table. Indicate the current state of the project and identify what, if any, parts of the project you have already completed. Explain the tasks you expect to accomplish during the period of performance. If you will not complete the project during the period of performance, state when you expect to complete it. You should not include a chapter outline. Chapter outlines and descriptions, if applicable, should be part of your narrative.

Your work plan should not depend heavily on factors beyond your control, such as the receipt of outside reviewers’ reports from a publisher. If you plan to submit a manuscript for publication before the end of the period of performance, explain what additional work will be required and why it merits support.

Your timeline should include where you will work and, if you will be in more than one location, how long you will spend in each.

If you received NEH support for an earlier stage of the same project, indicate the program, what was accomplished during that award period and how the proposed work plan builds on your previous support.

If you and another researcher are seeking funds for the same project, identify them and state if they have received or submitted a proposal for NEH support. Clearly explain how the work will be divided and the extent to which each collaborator’s contribution depends on that of the other.

Your work plan must not exceed one page. Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 3: Bibliography (required) Your bibliography should consist of primary and secondary sources that relate directly to the project. Include works that pertain to both the project’s substance and its theoretical or methodological approaches to give a well-rounded representation of your project. Peer reviewers will use the bibliography to assess your knowledge of the subject area.

Your bibliography must not exceed one page. Any standard bibliographic format is acceptable.

Items referenced in the narrative need not appear in the bibliography if the citation in the narrative enables readers to identify the work.

Name the file bibliography.pdf.

Attachment 4: Résumé (required) Include a résumé with the following information:

• current and past positions

• education: list degrees, dates awarded, and titles of theses or dissertations

• awards and honors: include dates. If you have received prior support from NEH, indicate the dates of these awards and the products that resulted from them.

• publications: include full citations for publications and presentations

• other relevant professional activities and accomplishments

• level of competence in digital tools or methodologies, and if applicable, in any relevant foreign languages

Your résumé must not exceed two pages. Name the file resume.pdf.

Attachment 5: Confirmation of institutional support (recommended) Include a document on letterhead, signed by an institutional representative, such a vice president, dean, or department head confirming institutional support. It should state that the institution will allow you to accept an Award for Faculty if you are offered one, even though it might reduce your teaching load.

NEH encourages you to submit this document at the time of application, but you must submit it if you are recommended for funding. NEH will not issue your award without a letter of confirmation.

Name the file confirmation.pdf.

Attachment 6: Editions and translations sample (conditionally required) If you are creating an edition or translation, you must provide a sample of the original text (one page) and the edited or translated version (one page). If you plan to include annotations, your sample of the edited or translated version should include examples.

Do not exceed two pages total (original and translation).

Name the attachment translation.pdf.

Attachment 7: Visual materials (recommended) If your project involves visual materials, NEH recommends that you provide a sample. Your sample must be saved as a PDF (do not use .jpg or other common graphic formats).

Do not exceed one page of visual materials.

Do not exceed one page. Name the attachment visual.pdf.

Attachment 8: Data sample (conditionally required) If you are developing a dataset, NEH recommends that you provide a representative sample of your data.

Do not exceed one page. Name the attachment datasample.pdf.

Attachment 9: Data management plan (conditionally required) NEH expects that any materials produced in digital form as a result of its awards (applied or scientific research datasets, born-digital scholarship, or integral digital components of hybrid projects) will be maintained and preserved to ensure their long-term availability. To that end:

• Describe your plan for hosting, maintaining, and preserving your digital products. While you do not need to have a publication contract or formal hosting plan in place at the time of application, mention if you plan to seek institutional hosting (including with a press).

• Explain who will be responsible for maintaining the project during the period of active maintenance.

Include any standards for data and metadata format and content your project will use. Name the attachment datamanagement.pdf.

Attachment 10: Degree conferral (conditionally required) If you have satisfied all the requirements for a degree and are awaiting its conferral, you must include a letter from the dean of the conferring school or the department chair attesting that you have satisfied all the requirements for the degree by the application deadline.

Name the file degreeconferral.pdf.

Attachment 11: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required) If you receive an offer of an award and are delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, you will be asked to provide explanatory information including evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent student loans, taxes, child support payments, and payroll taxes for household or other employees. See OMB Circular A-

129. NEH encourages you to submit this information with your application, but you will be required to submit it if you receive an award.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

Letters of reference To ensure full consideration, letters of reference must be submitted online no later than June 4, 2026. For additional information on letters of reference, see Section 4: Letters of Reference in the Individual Programs NOFO.

Award announcements Applicants will receive notification about their application in January 2027.

Agency Contacts If you have questions about the program, contact:

Division of Research https://whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf

National Endowment for the Humanities 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8200 facultyawards@neh.gov

If you have questions about administrative requirements or allowable costs, contact:

Office of Grant Management National Endowment for the Humanities 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8494 grantmanagement@neh.gov

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can contact NEH using telecommunications relay at 7-1-1.

mailto:facultyawards@neh.gov mailto:grantmanagement@neh.gov