Collaborative Research 2024 NOFO.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Collaborative Research

Funding Opportunity Number: 20241127-RZ

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.161

Application Deadline: November 20, 2024

Applicants to NEH for awards with expected issuance dates on or after October 1, 2024, should be aware of revisions to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit

Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR Part 200) effective from that date. All NEH awards issued on or after October 1, 2024, will be subject to the revised regulations. You may incorporate these changes into your applications now. Additional information is available at https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200.

Ensure your SAM.gov and Grants.gov registrations and passwords are current.

It may take several weeks to register with SAM.gov and Grants.gov.

NEH will not grant deadline extensions for lack of registration.

Division of Research Programs Email: collaborative@neh.gov Telephone: 202-606-8200 Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2024 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/2024-Revisions-to-2-CFR-200 mailto:collaborative@neh.gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Research Programs is accepting applications for the Collaborative Research program. This program supports groups of two or more scholars seeking to increase humanistic knowledge through convenings, manuscript preparation for collaborative publications, the creation of scholarly digital projects, or the planning of an international collaboration. Projects must pursue significant research questions and lead to a tangible interpretive product. The work can be rooted in a single field or cross disciplines. NEH encourages collaboration with scholars working in the natural or social sciences, but projects must focus on humanistic content and employ humanistic methods.

Funding Opportunity Title Collaborative Research Funding Opportunity Number 20241127-RZ Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.161 Deadline for Optional Draft September 18, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Application Deadline November 20, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement August 2025 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $2,500,00 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 15 grants Award Amounts Planning International Collaboration: up to $25,000

Convening: up to $50,000

Manuscript Preparation and Scholarly Digital Projects: up to $250,000, or $300,000 for collaborations that include a community college or certain minority-serving institutions (see C3. Other Eligibility Information for designations)

Cost Sharing/Match Required No Period of Performance Planning International Collaboration and Convening: six to twelve months

Manuscript Preparation and Scholarly Digital Projects: one to three years

Projects must have a start date between October 1, 2025, and September 1, 2026.

Eligible Applicants • nonprofit organizations recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

• accredited institutions of higher education (public or nonprofit)

• state and local governments and their agencies

• federally recognized Native American Tribal governments

See C. Eligibility Information for additional information.

Program Resource Page https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants

Pre-Application Webinar A pre-recorded webinar will be posted to the program resource page by August 23, 2024, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

There will be a live Q&A on Thursday, Sept. 5, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern. Click here to participate.

Published Modified

August 7, 2024 September 5, 2024 (corrected attachment numbering) https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/b6e7ee59-5bf2-419f-afaa-902ecb578935@93b06459-c77d-44b6-af7f-e813cddcdcc3

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................ i Table of Contents ................................................................................................... ii A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing

3. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Assessment of Risk and Other Pre-Award Activities

4. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting

G. Agency Contacts H. Other Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose This notice solicits applications for the Collaborative Research program from the Division of Research Programs.

The Collaborative Research program aims to advance humanistic knowledge through collaboration between two or more scholars. The program encourages projects that propose diverse approaches to topics, incorporate multiple points of view, explore new avenues of inquiry in the humanities, and lead to manuscripts for print publication or to scholarly digital products.

You may propose a research project in a single field of study or interdisciplinary work. NEH encourages collaboration with scholars working in the natural or social sciences, but projects must focus on humanistic content and employ humanistic methods.

Scholars may be drawn from one or more institutions. Collaborations among different types of institutions are welcome. For example, research universities might partner with teaching colleges, libraries, museums, or independent research institutions. NEH encourages applications from and collaborations with minority-serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institutions, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions. NEH encourages collaboration with tribal or other community members in the co-creation of knowledge.

NEH welcomes international collaboration, but scholars at U.S. institutions must contribute significantly to the project. (See C3. Other Eligibility Information.)

You must propose tangible and sustainable outcomes as the end goal of the project, even if completion lies beyond the award’s period of performance. Outputs may include, but are not limited to, co-authored or multi-authored books; born-digital publications; themed issues of peer-reviewed journals; a series of peer-reviewed articles in academic journals or articles in general audience publications or both; and open-access scholarly digital projects. All project outputs must address at least one stated humanities research question and convey interpretive humanities work. You must present a plan to disseminate the project’s results.

Funding is available for sustained activities conducted by the collaborators during the period of performance. Allowable costs include, but are not limited to, salary replacement; compensation of collaborators, consultants, and research assistants; fringe benefits; and travel, lodging, and per diem costs for convening participants.

See D6. Funding Restrictions for unallowable activities. Applications unrelated to the purpose of this program or that include unallowable costs or activities may be judged nonresponsive and returned without review.

See E1. Review Criteria for the standards NEH will use to evaluate applications under this notice.

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Funding categories The Collaborative Research program has four funding categories that support different types of collaborative projects and collaborative projects at different stages of development:

• Planning International Collaboration

• Convening

• Manuscript Preparation

• Scholarly Digital Projects

You must identify only one category for funding, even if your project is part of a complex research agenda that includes multiple project types. You may submit follow-up applications for subsequent stages of the same project. See C3. Eligibility Information.

NEH encourages recipients of Planning International Collaboration awards or Convening awards to apply for Manuscript Preparation or Scholarly Digital Projects funding in future competitions. However, the preparation of a subsequent NEH application is not an allowable activity during Planning International Collaboration or Convening awards.

A Planning International Collaboration award or a Convening award is not a prerequisite for a Manuscript Preparation or Scholarly Digital Projects application. If you are ready to implement your print or digital project, you may apply directly for one of these categories.

Planning International Collaboration Planning International Collaboration supports initial meetings to brainstorm, plan, and establish new scholarly collaborations. This category is for early-stage projects involving at least one collaborator based in the U.S. and at least one collaborator based in a foreign country. The scholar or scholars at U.S. institutions must contribute significantly to the project. Examples of funded activities include, but are not limited to, research time to correspond and exchange ideas through videoconferencing; joint travel to a relevant site, archive, library, or collection to investigate a project’s feasibility; exploratory workshops or working group meetings for collaborators; and writing time to complete a plan for future research and publication. The Planning category should advance work towards a product allowable for support within the Collaborative Research program. See D6. Funding Restrictions.

Planning International Collaboration awards are up to $25,000 with a period of performance of between six and twelve months.

Convening The Convening category supports a single scholarly conference, symposium, or seminar that is open to members of an intellectual community broader than the invited attendees, or up to two working group meetings that advance a single project and may be restricted to primary collaborators. If you propose working group meetings of primary collaborators alone, you must explain why this is necessary. Convening projects should gather participants, virtually or in-person, to sharpen an already established collaborative research topic and work towards subsequent print publications or scholarly digital projects that would be allowable for support within the Collaborative Research program. See D6. Funding Restrictions.

NEH expects you to advertise convenings appropriately and to include scholars bringing a range of perspectives. Typical funding requests include, but are not limited to, compensation for the organizing scholar(s); travel, per diem, accommodation, and honoraria for presenters; and costs

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related to the rental of a venue or audio-visual services. Attendance at the convening must be free.

Convening awards are up to $50,000 with a period of performance of between six and twelve months.

Manuscript Preparation The Manuscript Preparation category supports the completion of collaborative manuscripts in preparation for print publication. Examples include, but are not limited to, co-authored monographs and edited volumes; a series of peer-reviewed articles; and themed issues of peer-reviewed journals. Typical funding requests include, but are not limited to, compensation for research and writing time; travel to a relevant site, archive, library, or collection to conduct research; and compensation for consultants and tribal or other community partners. The Manuscript Preparation category does not support costs associated with holding or attending a conference, symposium, seminar, or workshop. You should submit the manuscript to a publisher at the end of the period of performance. NEH encourages publication that enables broad public access, insofar as the condition of the materials and intellectual property rights allow.

Manuscript Preparation awards are up to $250,000 with a period of performance of one to three years. You may request up to $100,000 per year for the first and second year and up to $50,000 for the third year. If your period of performance includes partial years, you must prorate your request by month. See B2 Award amounts.

Manuscript Preparation applications from community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institutions, and Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, or applications that include such an institution as a subrecipient and full partner in the conceptualization and execution of the project, may request an additional $50,000 of support. The $50,000 may be allocated to any year of the performance period or divided among years. To be eligible for the additional funds, the application must demonstrate meaningful collaboration among the partners, and the qualifying institution (or institutions) must receive funds that total or exceed the extra funding requested. See C3. Eligibility Information.

Scholarly Digital Projects The Scholarly Digital Projects category supports the preparation of born-digital scholarly publications, resources, or tools designed to address explicitly stated humanities research questions. The digital project must include significant, integral humanities interpretation or advance an argument. The project must serve an intellectual community beyond the collaborators. Proposals may involve one or more lead scholars collaborating with digital humanities specialists, librarians, or archivists to prepare a digital publication or project using preexisting platforms, programs, or other technological infrastructure. Scholarly resources and tools may include, but are not limited to, open-access databases with significant interpretive content, GIS mapping projects that draw conclusions or advance arguments, and content-rich websites.

Typical funding requests include, but are not limited to, compensation for time to conduct research, write content, and design and build the digital project; travel to a relevant site, archive, library, or collection to conduct research; and compensation for consultants and tribal or other community partners. This category does not support costs associated with holding or attending a conference, symposium, seminar, or workshop. Applications in this category must present a

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long-term sustainability plan and discuss options for peer review. NEH encourages you to pursue broad public access to the project, insofar as intellectual property rights allow.

Several other NEH programs support digital projects. See Related funding opportunities to be sure you are proposing your project to the program for which it is most appropriate.

Scholarly Digital Projects awards are up to $250,000 with a period of performance of one to three years. You may request up to $100,000 per year for the first and second year and up to $50,000 for the third year. If your period of performance includes partial years, you must prorate your request by month. See B2 Award amounts.

Scholarly Digital Projects applications from community colleges or Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institutions, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, or applications that include such an institution as a subrecipient and full partner in the conceptualization and execution of the project, may request an additional $50,000 of support. The $50,000 may be allocated to any year of the period of performance or divided among years. To be eligible for the additional funds, the application must demonstrate meaningful collaboration among the partners, and the qualifying institution (or institutions) must receive funds that total or exceed the extra funding requested. See C3. Eligibility Information.

Program Outcomes and Outputs The outcome of a Collaborative Research award will be the advancement of humanistic knowledge through collaboration between two or more scholars.

The outputs of a successful Planning International Collaboration award may include:

• a written plan for collaborative research activities and future print publications or digital scholarly projects

• livestreamed or recorded video of workshops

• web-posted papers

• podcasts, blogs, and discussion boards

The outputs of a Convening award may include:

• livestreamed or recorded video of the event

• web-posted papers

• conference papers intended for subsequent edited volumes or peer-reviewed articles

• podcasts, blogs, and discussion boards

The outputs of a Manuscript Preparation award may include:

• co-authored monograph

• edited volume

• a series of peer-reviewed articles

• themed issue of a peer-reviewed journal

The outputs of a Scholarly Digital Projects award may include:

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• born-digital scholarly publication

• scholarly website

• digital resource or tool that includes interpretive content

You will describe your project outputs in Attachment 2: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance based on the outputs you identify in the proposal. See F3.

Reporting.

2. Background NEH offers this funding opportunity under the authority of 20 U.S.C. § 956. Awards are subject to 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and the General Terms and Conditions for Awards to Organizations (for grants and cooperative agreements issued January 1, 2022 or later).

Under Section 3(a) of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, as amended, “The term ‘humanities’ includes, but is not limited to, the study of the following:

language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy;

archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods;

and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.”

Use the Funded Projects Query Form to find examples of NEH-supported projects.

Learn more about NEH.

NEH Areas of Interest NEH is especially interested in supporting projects that advance humanities-related work in the following areas. NEH will give all applications equal consideration in accordance with the program’s review criteria.

NEH encourages projects that include Native American organizations and communities as applicants and project partners.

American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future is a wide-ranging special initiative at NEH that leverages the humanities to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time: strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate. The initiative encourages humanities projects that elevate the role of civics in schools and public programs, advance knowledge of the country’s history and political institutions, and examine threats to its democratic principles. The initiative also encourages projects that explore the untold stories of historically underrepresented groups and build capacity at cultural and educational institutions to benefit underserved communities. Finally, the initiative welcomes projects that promote research into the historical roots and cultural effects of climate change and support the cultural and educational sectors in building climate resilience. By supporting humanities projects that align with these three themes – strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate – the American Tapestry initiative seeks to tell our country’s history in all its complexity and diversity.

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United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture Hate must have no safe harbor in America – especially when that hate fuels the kind of violence we’ve seen from Oak Creek to Pittsburgh, from El Paso to Poway, and from Atlanta to Buffalo.

When ordinary Americans cannot participate in the basic activities of everyday life – such as shopping at the grocery store or praying at their house of worship – without the fear of being targeted and killed for who they are, our security as well as democracy are at risk. In coordination with the White House “United We Stand” Summit in September 2022, NEH launched a new initiative titled United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture that uses the humanities to combat hate-motivated violence and promote civic engagement, social cohesion, and cross-cultural understanding. As a part of this initiative, NEH encourages humanities projects that further our understanding of the nation’s racial, ethnic, gender, and religious diversity; examine the sources of hate and intolerance in the United States; and explore progress towards greater inclusiveness. NEH especially welcomes projects that explore the Muslim American and/or the Jewish American experience, including the history of Islamophobia and/or antisemitism.

NEH’s Support for the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative As a part of NEH’s partnership with the Department of the Interior on the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, NEH encourages projects that further public understanding and knowledge of the Federal Indian boarding school system. From 1819 through the 1970s the government of the United States operated a system of schools for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children premised on a policy of coerced cultural assimilation. Native children were forcibly separated from their families and sent to attend federal Indian boarding schools, where they were frequently subject to harsh treatment and abuse. A number of these students died, and others never returned to their families and communities. Many were also deprived of their cultural inheritance. NEH encourages projects that document and explore the history of the federal Indian boarding schools as well as projects that contribute to Native and Indigenous cultural and language revitalization.

Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most powerful technologies of our time and will have profound consequences for civil rights and civil liberties, safety and security, and democratic values. Questions about the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI are fundamentally rooted in the humanities, which include ethics, law, history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, media studies, and cultural studies. Indeed, NEH’s founding legislation tasks the agency with making the American people “masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.” In October 2023, NEH launched a new agency-wide initiative, Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence, to support research projects that seek to understand and address the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI. NEH is particularly interested in projects that explore the impacts of AI-related technologies on truth, trust, and democracy;

safety and security; and privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. This grant program is one of eight NEH programs that are part of NEH’s Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence initiative. To learn more about the initiative, and to ensure you are applying for the most appropriate program, please see our page about the AI initiative.

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award NEH seeks new applications in response to this notice.

https://www.neh.gov/unitedwestand https://www.neh.gov/bsi https://www.neh.gov/bsi https://www.neh.gov/AI https://www.neh.gov/AI

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NEH will provide funding in the form of grants.

2. Summary of Funding Funding category Period of

Performance Award Amounts

Planning International Collaboration

Six to twelve months Up to $25,000

Convening Six to twelve months Up to $50,000 Manuscript Preparation One to three years Up to $250,000 (up to $100,000 per year for years one and two and up to $50,000 for year three)

Up to $300,00 for projects proposed by, or including a subaward to, a community college or certain minority-serving institutions

Scholarly Digital Projects One to three years Up to $250,000 (up to $100,000 per year for years one and two and up to $50,000 for year three)

Up to $300,000 for projects proposed by, or including a subaward to, a community college or certain minority-serving institutions

Award amounts If you are applying for partial years, you must prorate your request by month in the Manuscript Preparation and Scholarly Digital Projects categories. For example, if you propose a period of performance of 18 months, you can request up to $150,000. If you propose a period of performance of 30 months, you can request up to $225,000.

If you are requesting the supplemental $50,000 permitted to collaborations that are applying to the Manuscript Preparation or Scholarly Digital Projects category and include a community college or certain minority-serving institutions, you need not pro-rate that additional $50,000.

The total amount you request must include the sum of direct and indirect costs.

NEH anticipates awarding approximately $2,500,000 among an estimated 15 recipients.

NEH will not determine the exact amount available for funding until Congress makes official appropriations for FY 2025. NEH will issue awards subject to the availability of appropriated funds. NEH is publishing this notice as a contingency to ensure that NEH can process applications and issue awards in a timely manner, should sufficient funds become available.

NEH will award successful applicants outright funds, which are not contingent on additional funding from other sources.

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Period of performance You may request a period of performance of between six and twelve months for Planning International Collaboration and Convening.

You may request a period of performance of between one and three years for Manuscript Preparation and Scholarly Digital Projects.

Projects must start between October 1, 2025, and September 1, 2026.

The period of performance is the time during which you may incur expenses to carry out the work under the award. It must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month.

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants To be eligible to apply, your organization must be established in the United States or its jurisdictions as one of the following:

• a nonprofit organization recognized as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

• an accredited institution of higher education (public or nonprofit)

• a state or local government or one of their agencies

• a federally recognized Native American Tribal government

Individuals and other organizations, including foreign and for-profit entities, are ineligible.

If your organization is eligible, you may apply on behalf of a consortium of collaborating organizations. If NEH selects your proposal for funding, you will be programmatically, legally, and fiscally responsible for the award.

The recipient may not function solely as a fiscal agent but should make substantive contributions to the success of the project.

2. Cost Sharing NEH does not require cost sharing in this program.

Cost sharing refers to project costs that are covered with non-NEH funds. You may contribute voluntary cost share if the total project costs exceed the amount awarded by NEH. Voluntary cost share includes:

• cash contributions made to the project by you or a third party

• your unrecovered indirect costs

• in-kind contributions (non-cash contributions, such as property or services, that benefit the project and are contributed without charge) by you or a third party https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/01/28/2022-01789/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of

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While you may describe voluntary cost share in your budget justification, you should not include it on your Research and Related Budget. The Research and Related Budget should only include funds you are requesting from NEH.

Peer reviewers will not consider any voluntary cost share in their evaluation of applications.

You must maintain auditable records of the source and use of cost share. See 2 CFR § 200.306.

Learn about types of funds NEH offers.

3. Other Eligibility Information An institution may submit multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this notice. However, an individual may not be the project director or co-director on more than one application to the program per competition. See Designating project directors and co-directors for further restrictions.

You may revise and resubmit previously rejected applications. Submissions are subject to the application requirements and review criteria of the current competition.

If NEH has previously made an award in support of your project, you may apply for a new or subsequent stage of the project, which NEH will assess using the review criteria of the current competition.

Per 2 CFR § 200.403(f), you must not include the same project costs in more than one application for federal funding or approved federal award budget. If one application to NEH is pending, a second application for the same project costs, even if to a different program, may be ruled ineligible. However, you may submit multiple proposals for complementary aspects of the same overall project. If you are submitting complementary proposals to other NEH programs or government agencies, specify when and to whom in the Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs. NEH may disallow costs or reject applications that include overlapping project costs. An individual’s level of effort cannot exceed 100% across multiple active federally funded awards.

NEH does not issue awards to other federal entities. If your project is so closely intertwined with a federal entity that the project takes on characteristics of the federal entity’s own authorized activities, it is ineligible. You may use funds from, or sites and materials controlled by, other federal entities in your project.

NEH does not provide financial assistance to foreign institutions or organizations. If you are an eligible domestic entity, you may apply for collaborative projects involving foreign organizations provided you do not use NEH funds for the purpose of issuing subawards to any foreign organization, as defined in 2 CFR §§ 200.1 and .331(a). You may obtain the services of foreign individuals and consultants to carry out programmatic activities on a fee-for-service basis, as specified in 2 CFR § 200.459. You may obtain goods and services from foreign vendors, such as in-country transportation services, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.331(b). If you plan to submit an application involving international collaboration and have questions about these stipulations, contact program staff at collaborative@neh.gov.

Except for the rare cases covered by its late submission policy, NEH will not consider applications submitted after the deadline.

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NEH will not consider incomplete, nonresponsive, or ineligible applications for funding.

NEH will not consider applications that exceed mandatory page limits or deviate from formatting instructions. See the Application Components Table.

Designating project directors and co-directors

• Project directors must be scholars, not administrators. They must hold a terminal degree and demonstrate (through the publications, presentations, and other experience detailed in their résumé) their ability to carry out the proposed project.

• The project director must be affiliated with the applicant institution.

• Project directors must devote significant, sustained time and effort to the project during the period of performance.

• Any collaborating scholar who is not a degree candidate may be listed as a co-director.

You may have more than one co-director.

• Members of the project team (including the project director) need not be U.S. citizens or

U.S. residents, so long as the applicant institution is eligible.

• Degree candidates must not be project directors, co-directors, or the sole collaborator.

They may, however, serve in other roles on the project team. If an individual on the project team is the project director, co-director, or sole collaborator, and has satisfied all the requirements for a degree but is awaiting its conferral, the application must include a letter from the dean of the conferring school attesting that the individual has completed all degree requirements by the application deadline. Include the letter in Attachment 8.

Degree conferral.

• An individual may serve as the project director or co-director of only one Collaborative Research award at a time.

• Current recipients may submit another Collaborative Research application with the same project director while they have an open award, but the open award and pending application may not include overlapping work activities or periods of performance.

• Project directors, co-directors, and collaborators of funded Collaborative Research applications must not hold concurrent full-time awards from the NEH Division of Research Programs—for example, an NEH Fellowship.

Eligibility for Additional $50,000 for Manuscript Preparation or Scholarly Digital Projects To be eligible for this additional funding, the applicant institution or subrecipient partner institution must be a community college or an institution designated by the U.S. Department of Education at the time of application as one of the five following categories of federally-recognized minority-serving institutions: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Tribal Colleges or Universities (TCU), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH), Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTI), or Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI).

Institutions must apply annually to the U.S. Department of Education for federally recognized minority-serving eligibility designations. Institutional designations can change from year to year. You may verify the status of your institution by visiting https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html. Scroll down and click on the most recent version of the Eligibility Matrix, a read-only Excel worksheet that lists data for postsecondary institutions.

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html

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You may also establish your institution’s status with a letter or other document from the U.S.

Department of Education. Include the letter in Attachment 6. Additional materials.

To be eligible for the additional $50,000, you must demonstrate in your application narrative that the collaborating community college or minority-serving institution is a full partner in the conceptualization and execution of the project. In addition, the qualifying institution (or institutions) must receive funds that total or exceed the extra funding requested.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Application Package You must apply using Grants.gov Workspace or a Grants.gov system-to-system solution. You can find this funding opportunity in Grants.gov under number 20241127-RZ. There is also a link on the program resource page.

Once you have located the funding opportunity in Grants.gov, you will find the application package under the “Package” tab. It includes a series of required and conditionally required forms. You will upload additional application components using the Attachments Form.

You must complete a multistep registration process prior to submitting your application. See D3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

Contact collaborative@neh.gov to request a paper copy of this notice.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission Your application will include a narrative, budget, and other forms and attachments. You will complete the forms within Grants.gov Workspace and upload other components into the Attachments Form. See the Application Component Table.

Application formatting Your application attachments must be PDFs and conform to the following formatting requirements, unless otherwise indicated:

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

• at least one-inch margins on all sides for all pages

• a font no smaller than 11 points

In addition, NEH encourages you to format your attachments consistent with the following:

• single-spacing

• a readable font such as Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, or Times New Roman

• any standard citation style (include citations in page counts)

Application Component Table NEH has assigned each application component one of the following designations:

• Required: You must submit this component.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants

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• Conditionally required: You must submit this component if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

• Recommended: NEH encourages, but does not require, you to submit this component.

• Conditionally required for recipients: You are encouraged but not required to submit this component when you apply. You must submit it if you receive an award if your proposal meets the specified conditions.

NEH will not review applications missing any required documents or relevant conditionally required documents.

Do not include attachments other than those listed in the table in this notice. If you do, NEH will reject your application.

In addition, NEH has established page limits for some application components:

• Mandatory: You must not exceed the page limit.

• Suggested: NEH encourages, but does not require, you to abide by the page limit.

Note page limits and formatting instructions in this notice. NEH will not review applications that exceed mandatory page limits or deviate from formatting instructions.

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Application Component File Name Designation Page limit Attachments 1: Project team team.pdf Required 2 (mandatory) 2: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 10

(mandatory) 3: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 3 (mandatory) 4: Résumés for key personnel resumes.pdf Required 2 pages per résumé (suggested)

5: Bibliography bibliography.pdf Required 3 (mandatory) 6: Additional materials additionalmaterials.pdf Recommended 10

(mandatory) 7: Statement of funding received and requested fundingreceived.pdf Conditionally required

2 (suggested)

8: Degree conferral conferral.pdf Conditionally required

9: Subrecipient budget(s) subrecipient.pdf Conditionally

10: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement agreement.pdf Conditionally

11: Explanation of delinquent federal debt delinquentdebt.pdf Conditionally required for recipients

Grants.gov forms SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational

Required

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs

Required

Project/Performance Site(s) Location Form

Required

Research and Related Budget and Budget Justification

Required

Attachments Form Required Certification Regarding Lobbying

Conditionally

Standard Form-LLL “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally

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Application Components: Attachments Each attachment must be a single PDF file. See the Attachments Form instructions for further guidance about file requirements. Read those instructions carefully, as Grants.gov will not accept files that do not meet the requirements.

Attachment 1: Project Team (required) List the members of the project team, surname first. Designate the project director and any co-directors, then group other team members by institutional affiliation. See C3. Other Eligibility for guidance on designating project directors and co-directors.

If you are requesting the additional $50,000 available for Manuscript Preparation or Scholarly Digital Projects collaborations that include a community college or certain minority-serving institutions as either applicant or a subrecipient, indicate which institution is the qualifying institution (with an asterisk or in bold, for example) and indicate its status (community college, Historically Black College or University, Tribal College or University, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institution, Native American-Serving Non-Tribal Institution, or Predominantly Black Institution).

If applicable, list tribal or other community partners. For team members not affiliated with a nonprofit or educational institution, provide occupation and employer; if none, list city and state of residence.

The names on this list must match the names mentioned in the Collaboration section of the narrative, as well as any listed in the budget. If applicable, list advisors after you list the project team.

If a project director, co-director, or sole collaborator is a degree candidate who has fulfilled all the requirements for the degree and is awaiting its conferral, you must include Attachment 8.

Degree conferral.

The project team list must not exceed two pages. Name the file team.pdf.

Attachment 2: Narrative (required) Compose a comprehensive description of your proposed project. Your narrative should be succinct, well organized, and free of technical terms and jargon so that peer reviewers can understand the proposed project.

You must limit the narrative to ten single-spaced pages. Do not include a cover page, an executive summary, or a table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, and endnotes if they fit within the page limit. NEH encourages you to number the pages.

Organize your narrative using the following section headings. Each section aligns with one or more of the review criteria NEH will use to evaluate your proposal.

Project overview (about one paragraph) In the first sentence, state the application’s funding category:

• Planning International Collaboration

• Convening

• Manuscript Preparation

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• Scholarly Digital Projects

Provide a concise statement about your project written for a non-specialist audience. Describe the expected final outcome(s) of the project. Include a prospective completion date (this may be beyond the end date of the period of performance).

Significance and impact (about one page; aligns with review criterion 1.

Significance) Summarize your project’s significance for the humanities, broadly understood. Connect it to larger topics in the humanities beyond your specific field’s concerns. Situate your project in the context of existing humanities discourse to highlight its contribution. Describe the anticipated impact of your project’s proposed output(s) on the intended audience and on future scholarship.

Substance and context (about two pages; aligns with review criterion 1.

Significance) Describe your project and its value to specific fields. Articulate your major research questions and the particular contributions the project will make to enhance knowledge and understanding in one or more areas of the humanities. Describe the scope of the research and the source materials. Discuss the relationship of the new research to ongoing work in the field by identifying related projects and relevant scholarship.

Methods and execution (about two pages; aligns with review criteria 2. Methods and execution and 3. Collaboration) Describe your project’s theoretical framework and research design and explain why a collaborative approach is the best way to fulfill its goals. Discuss your rationale for choosing particular methods and how those methods address your research questions.

In addition, each project category has specific requirements:

Planning International Collaboration applications: Describe how you will develop the collaborative project and its final outcome(s). Relate the methods to the proposed activities.

Explain the choice of U.S. and international collaborators. If you propose in-person meetings, such as exploratory workshops or other working groups, justify why in-person, as opposed to virtual, meetings are necessary. Describe how you will conduct these meetings and what they will achieve. Explain the goals of any proposed travel.

Convening applications: Describe the convening event and explain why that format (conference, symposium, seminar, or working group; in-person, virtual, or hybrid) best serves the project’s goals. Explain how the event will lead to a tangible outcome such as a future print publication or digital project. Describe the venue and the expected participants.

Discuss how you selected presenters and other participants, indicating how many have confirmed their participation. If you propose working groups of collaborators alone, explain why this is necessary. Describe the design of the convening and summarize the themes of sessions or the topics of groups of papers.

Where appropriate, describe additional sponsorship, participant logistics, and advertising.

Include the URL for the convening’s website, if available.

Provide a list of any invited speakers and participants, their paper titles or roles, and their confirmation status with the draft agenda of the convening in Attachment 6. Additional materials.

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Manuscript Preparation applications: Describe how collaboration will take place and the division of labor to produce the manuscript. Discuss remaining research you will undertake and associated travel. Explain why print publication is the best way to communicate the project’s results. Describe negotiations with prospective publishers and whether you have a formal agreement. Provide a detailed chapter outline to convey the content of the planned manuscript and its arguments or other findings in relation to the research questions. If the project involves materials under copyright, indicate your plans to secure the necessary permission to publish.

Scholarly Digital Projects applications: Describe how collaboration will take place and the division of labor that will produce the digital publication or project. Discuss remaining research you will undertake and associated travel. Justify why digital methods and a digital format are the best way to communicate the project’s results. Describe the organization and contents of the digital publication or project, including detail about the project’s interpretive components. Discuss the technology you will employ, keeping in mind that NEH views the use of open-source software as a key component in the broad distribution of exemplary digital scholarship in the humanities. If you will not employ generally accessible open-source software, explain why. Where appropriate, provide information on pertinent technical standards and the use of best practices, such as Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)-conformant markup, data management, and digital preservation infrastructure and policies. Where applicable, identify institutional partners who will act as digital publishers or participate in building the digital project. If the project involves materials under copyright, indicate your plans to secure the necessary permissions. Provide a URL if available. Include a site map, wireframe, or annotated screenshots in Attachment 6. Additional materials.

History of the project and its productivity (about one page; aligns with review criteria 1. Significance and 2. Methods and execution) Explain how the project began and its progress to date. Describe planning or research you have already completed. For new projects, explain the motivations for seeking collaboration.

Indicate major products to date—in print or digital form.

If you have previously received NEH funding for any phase of the proposed research project, discuss how the previously funded project met, or did not…