Collaborative Research 2025 NOFO 10-8-25.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Collaborative Research

Funding Opportunity Number: 20251119-RZ

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.161

Application Deadline: November 19, 2025

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

OMB control number 3136-0134, expiration date October 31, 2027 mailto:collaborative@neh.gov

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Executive Summary The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Research is accepting applications for the Collaborative Research program. This program supports groups of two or more scholars seeking to increase humanistic knowledge through manuscript preparation for collaborative print publications, or the planning of an international collaboration. Projects must pursue significant research questions and lead toward a tangible interpretive product. The work can be rooted in a single field or cross disciplines.

Funding Opportunity Title Collaborative Research Funding Opportunity Number 20251119-RZ Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.161 Application Deadline November 19, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement August 2026 Anticipated FY 2025 Funding Approximately $2,500,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 15 grants Award Amounts Planning International Collaboration: up to $25,000

Manuscript Preparation: up to $250,000.

Cost Sharing/Match Required No, unless you request matching funds.

Period of Performance Planning International Collaboration: six to twelve months

Manuscript Preparation: one to three years

Projects must have a start date between October 1, 2026, and September 1, 2027.

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

Published Modified

September 22, 2025 October 8, 2025: updated Executive Summary https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants

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Table of Contents

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 overseen by the Division of Research.

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

You may propose a research project in a single field of study or interdisciplinary work.

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, independent research institutions, or tribal organizations.

NEH welcomes international collaboration, but scholars at U.S. institutions must contribute significantly to the project. (See C3. Other Eligibility Information.) If your project includes international collaborators, see NEH’s Partnership Opportunity Notifications for sources of additional support from external partners.

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; themed issues of peer-reviewed journals; or a series of peer-reviewed articles in academic journals or articles in general audience publications or both. 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.

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.

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

• Planning International Collaboration

• Manuscript Preparation https://www.neh.gov/initiatives/international-opportunities

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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.

A Planning International Collaboration award is not a prerequisite for a Manuscript Preparation application.

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 U.S.-based scholars 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 an interpretive research product. See D6. Funding Restrictions.

Planning International Collaboration awards are up to $25,000 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.

Program Outputs and Outcomes The outputs of a 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

The outputs of a Manuscript Preparation award may include:

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• co-authored monograph

• edited volume

• a series of peer-reviewed articles

• themed issue of a peer-reviewed journal

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

You will describe your project outputs, and how they would support the overall purpose of the Collaborative Research program, in Attachment 2: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance by comparing the outputs you identify in the proposal with the completed work you describe in your performance report. 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.

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.

B. Federal Award Information

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

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) https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?hl=false&edition=prelim&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title20-section956 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=236bb02f01d2e050f7a5b60c88a67066&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-grants-after-oct-2024 https://www.neh.gov/general-terms-and-conditions-grants-after-oct-2024 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-1998-title20/pdf/USCODE-1998-title20-chap26-subchapI-sec952.pdf https://securegrants.neh.gov/publicquery/main.aspx https://www.neh.gov/about

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Award amounts If you are applying for partial years, you must prorate your request by month in the Manuscript Preparation category. 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.

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 2026 and will issue awards subject to the availability of appropriated funds. NEH is publishing this notice as a contingency to ensure the ability to process applications and issue awards in a timely manner, should sufficient funds become available.

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

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

Projects must start between October 1, 2026, and September 1, 2027.

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.

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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2. Cost Sharing NEH does not require cost sharing in this program unless you request federal matching funds.

Cost sharing refers to project costs that are covered with non-NEH funds. NEH distinguishes between two types of cost sharing: voluntary cost sharing and federal matching funds.

Voluntary cost sharing 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

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 include only funds you are requesting from NEH.

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

Federal matching funds You may request a portion of your award in federal matching funds to leverage third party funding. Funds to satisfy a matching requirement must be from sources outside of the applicant institution (a third party) consistent with the NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines. If you request federal matching funds, you must raise third-party, non-federal gifts dollar-for-dollar.

Include third-party, non-federal gifts on your Research and Related Budget and identify what project activities they will support in the budget justification.

Successful applicants will receive an offer of federal matching funds, subject to specific regulatory and other conditions. NEH will certify the allowability of these gifts and will issue the award only when you have met the conditions of the offer. The full amount of federal matching funds may not be available for release in the first year of a multi-year period of performance.

Typically, NEH distributes federal matching funds on an annual basis over the period of performance.

If NEH selects your project for funding, you must raise and certify all eligible gifts and pledges by six months before the end of the period of performance. NEH advises applicants who are requesting matching funds to consider a period of performance that allows adequate time to raise and certify funds. If you fail to certify required gifts by the deadline and do not request an extension by the end of the offer period, the matching funds offer may be withdrawn. See NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines.

NEH will not release federal matching funds until you raise and certify eligible gifts. In-kind gifts and funds derived from the recipient organization are not eligible sources of certified gifts in this program.

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.

https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure#_Standard_Form-LLL,_ https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=3aeab4e3a836f5b6807999701e518c94&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1306 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=3aeab4e3a836f5b6807999701e518c94&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1306 https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding

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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), NEH does not permit overlapping costs on two or more awards for federal funding and/or approved federal award budgets. If you are submitting 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 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, but you may not use them as gifts to release federal matching funds.

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.

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

• The project director and co-directors must be scholars, not administrators. They must 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.

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

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-E/subject-group-ECFRea20080eff2ea53/section-200.403 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_11 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b76712a585433486e57dafcd521c952e&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1331 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=35fcd29238edd42c8b1f8b1628e39d47&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1459 https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b76712a585433486e57dafcd521c952e&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1331 https://www.neh.gov/grants/policy-on-late-submissions

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• 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.

• Individuals enrolled in a degree-granting program of any kind at the time of application 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—for example, an NEH Fellowship.

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 20251119-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

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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.

• 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 https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure#_Standard_Form-LLL,_ https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure_1#_Standard_Form-LLL,_ https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure_1#_Standard_Form-LLL,_ https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure_1#_Standard_Form-LLL,_

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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 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 an executive summary, cover page, or table of contents. You may include images, charts, diagrams, footnotes, or endnotes if they fit within the page limit. Number the pages. Name the file narrative.pdf.

Organize your narrative using the following headings. Each section aligns with one or more 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

• Manuscript Preparation

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

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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 output(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.

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.

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 meet, its goals according to its original or amended work plan.

If you are requesting support for a component of a larger project, briefly describe the overall design, clearly delineating the specific part intended for NEH funding through this application.

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If work on the project will continue after the proposed period of performance, describe the remaining work and probable sources of financial support. For long-term projects, provide a provisional plan for overall completion, including milestones with dates.

Collaboration (about two pages; aligns with review criterion 3. Collaboration) Summarize the specific qualifications and responsibilities of the project team members named in Attachment 1: Project team. Describe their contributions to the project and estimate how much time they will spend on it—for example, part-time during the academic year and full-time during the summer (see Budget Justification). Explain the benefits of bringing together these particular collaborators. Describe aspects of project design that will maximize collaborative potential. If applicable, describe your plans for consultation or collaboration with tribal or other communities. For project team members providing technical support, scientific or conservation work, or laboratory analysis, explain how their activities are important for achieving the project’s goals.

Work plan (about one page; aligns with review criterion 4. Work plan and completion) Summarize, rather than duplicate, the detailed work plan you will provide in Attachment 3.

Provide an overview of what you will accomplish during the grant period, identifying major phases and milestones. Discuss how you will use NEH funds to advance these goals. Describe a set of activities for each phase and specify the project team members involved. For multi-institutional collaborative projects, discuss the distribution of responsibilities across institutions.

Final product and dissemination (about one page; aligns with review criterion 5.

Outcomes and access) Address the requirements of the appropriate project category:

Planning International Collaboration applications: Describe how you will disseminate the results of the initial collaboration, workshops, or other working group meetings beyond the project team members (for example, public presentations, white papers, blog posts, etc.).

Provide a plan to assess the project’s feasibility. Describe the next steps to be taken, possible sources of future funding, and the anticipated output(s) of the project.

Manuscript Preparation applications: Describe how you will disseminate the results of the project. Discuss plans for publication, peer-review, and publicity, as well as estimated prices.

You may include pertinent correspondence with publishers in Attachment 6: Additional materials.

The narrative must not exceed ten single-spaced pages. Name the file narrative.pdf.

Attachment 3: Work plan (required) Your work plan should be consistent with the work described in the Collaboration, Methods and execution, and Work plan sections of the narrative and with the costs requested in the budget.

Provide a detailed description, preferably in table form, of what will be accomplished during the period of performance, indicating major tasks and milestones. For Planning International Collaboration proposals , describe each three-month period, and for Manuscript Preparation proposals , describe each six-month period. For each period, identify the relevant collaborators involved and state their specific tasks, including approximate time commitments in percentages or days. For Manuscript Preparation projects, your work plan should end with submission of the manuscript to a publisher; the work plan should not extend into a period when you will be awaiting readers’ reports, and the work plan should not depend on receiving such reports.

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Your work plan should reflect the major activities you describe in your narrative, the project dates on your SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance - Short Organizational, and your Research and Related Budget.

The work plan must not exceed three pages. Name the file workplan.pdf.

Attachment 4: Résumés for key personnel (required) Include two-page résumés for each project team member named in Attachment 1: Project team, excluding any advisory committee members. Résumés should include mailing and email addresses, the highest degree earned, the name of the institution awarding the degree, professional positions held, institutional affiliations, and major publications. It is not necessary to include résumés for undergraduate and graduate research assistants, but you must include a minimum of two résumés (since the project director must have at least one collaborator).

Résumés should not exceed two pages per person. Name the file resumes.pdf.

Attachment 5: Bibliography (required) Your bibliography should consist of primary and secondary sources that relate directly to the project. Include works that pertain to the project’s substance and works relevant to the project’s theoretical or methodological approaches. You may wish to divide the bibliography into appropriate sections.

The bibliography must not exceed three pages; any standard format is acceptable.

Name the file bibliography.pdf.

Attachment 6: Additional materials (recommended) Provide essential supplementary materials as stipulated. Do not include letters of recommendation, assessments of previous applications, readers’ reports, published articles or other writing samples, a proposal for a publisher, or other materials not described below. Do not use this attachment to extend sections of the Narrative.

For all application categories, include, as relevant, illustrations, maps, and other explanatory graphics; letters of support from archives or other research venues essential to the project;

letters of support from tribal or other community partners; and permissions to publish materials under copyright.

For applications responding to NEH’s Partnership Opportunity Notifications, include a budget and budget justification for the non-U.S. costs to be funded by the partner organization.

In addition, the following are recommended, according to the application category:

Planning International Collaboration

• Statements of commitment in principle from participants (for example, emails to the project director).

• The draft program of any exploratory workshops or working group meetings https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure#_Standard_Form-LLL,_ https://www.neh.gov/initiatives/international-opportunities

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Manuscript Preparation

• A draft table of contents. For edited volumes, indicate which contributors have confirmed their participation (with an asterisk or in bold, for example); you may provide a one-paragraph abstract of each chapter.

• If available, a letter of interest or contract confirmation from a publisher.

The Additional Materials attachment must not exceed ten pages. All charts, letters, graphics, maps, etc. count toward the page limit. Name the file additionalmaterials.pdf.

Attachment 7: Statement of funding received and requested (conditionally required) If the project has received prior support from any federal or nonfederal sources, including NEH;

is currently receiving such support; or is applying for or planning to apply for such support, provide a list of the sources, dates, federal award identification numbers, and amounts of these funds. List NEH awards already received, year by year. Include fellowships and individual awards received by project participants, if relevant to the current project. If there is a long history of non-NEH support, you may group and summarize the sources and contributions.

This attachment should not exceed two pages. Name the file fundingreceived.pdf.

Attachment 8: Degree conferral (conditionally required) If a project director, co-director, or sole collaborator is enrolled in a degree-granting program, you must include a letter attesting that the candidate has fulfilled all the requirements for the degree and is awaiting its conferral. Such a letter must come from a dean of the conferring school and indicate that all degree requirements were fulfilled at the time of application.

Name the attachment conferral.pdf.

Attachment 9: Subrecipient budget(s) (conditionally required) If your project includes subawards, you must provide a separate Research and Related Budget and budget justification for each subrecipient.

Download a fillable PDF of the Research and Related Budget form from the NEH website for each subrecipient. You must open and complete this form in Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher rather than in your web browser.

Prepare a budget and budget justification for each subrecipient using the same instructions in this notice, with a few exceptions:

• Enter the subrecipient’s Unique Entity Identifier, organization name, and period of performance start and end date (these fields will not prepopulate).

• For “budget type,” check “Subaward/Consortium.”

If your subrecipients have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, you must honor it. If they do not have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate, they may negotiate a rate with you consistent with 2 CFR § 200.414 or use the de minimis rate.

https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/RR_Budget10_3_0-V3.0.pdf https://nehemail-my.sharepoint.com/personal/swalker_neh_gov/Documents/Attachments/Disclosure#_Standard_Form-LLL,_ https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d22b09774a679ad264cf0098635dabb8&mc=true&node=pt2.1.200&rgn=div5#se2.1.200_1414

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Rather than attaching the budget justification to the form itself, you will separately convert each document into a PDF and combine all subrecipients’ budget forms and related documents into a single document. Do not attach portfolios containing multiple PDFs.

NEH cannot accept security-enhanced PDFs (e.g., XFA files, PDFs that include password-protection, encryption, digital signatures). Remove these features (or “flatten” these files) before merging them into a single PDF and uploading it to the Attachments Form.

Name the file subrecipient.pdf.

Attachment 10: Federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (conditionally required) If your organization is claiming indirect costs and has a current federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement, provide a copy of the agreement. If applicable, provide the indirect cost rate agreements for subrecipients claiming indirect costs. If you and your subrecipients are requesting the de minimis rate, you do not need to submit this attachment.

Name the file agreement.pdf.

Attachment 11: Explanation of delinquent federal debt (conditionally required for recipients) If your organization is delinquent in the repayment of any federal debt, explain why. Provide evidence that you have entered into a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, if applicable, and that you are current on all payments due. Examples of relevant debt include delinquent payroll or other taxes, audit disallowances, and benefit overpayments. See OMB Circular A-129.

Name the file delinquentdebt.pdf.

Application Components: Grants.gov Forms

SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance – Short Organizational (Grants.gov form) This form requests basic information about your institution, the proposed project, and key contacts. Items 1, 2, and 4 will be automatically filled in; leave item 3 blank.

5. Applicant Information a-d. Provide your organization’s legal name, address, and web address. Select the applicant type that best describes your organization from the drop-down menu.

e-f. Provide your organization’s employer/taxpayer identification number (EIN/TIN), and Unique Entity Identifier assigned by the System for Award Management. If you do not know your identifier, contact your grant administrator or chief financial officer. See D3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management.

g. Provide your congressional district with your two-character state abbreviation followed by your three-character district number. For example, if your institution is located in the 5th congressional district of Alabama, enter “AL-005.” If your institution is in a state or U.S.

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a129_rev2013 https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

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jurisdiction that does not have districts, enter “000” in place of the district number. If your institution is outside the U.S., enter “00-000.”

6. Project Information

a. Provide your project’s title. It should be brief (no more than 125 characters, including spaces), descriptive of the project, and easily understood by the general public. If NEH funds your project, the agency may retitle your project for clarity in internal and external communications, including the public announcement of awards. Regardless, you may use your preferred title when carrying out the project.

b. Provide a brief description of your project (no more than 1,000 characters, including spaces), stating the project category in the first sentence. You should write the description for a nonspecialist audience, clearly stating the importance of the proposed work and its relation to larger issues in the humanities. This description will appear on the cover sheet of your application and will serve as a project abstract during the review process. If funded, this description will also appear in NEH’s database of funded projects.

c. State your project’s period of performance start and end dates. Your project must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of the month. See B2. Summary of Funding for allowable periods of performance.

7. Project Director Provide the project director’s name, title, and contact information. The project director is responsible for the programmatic aspects and day-to-day management of the proposed project.

If the project director is not employed by the applicant organization, you must have a formal written agreement with the project director that specifies an official relationship between the parties even if the relationship does not involve a salary or other form of remuneration.

8. Primary Contact/Grant Administrator Provide the name, title, and contact information for the official responsible for the administration of the award (e.g., negotiating the budget and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of the award).

As a matter of NEH policy, the project director and primary contact/grant administrator must not be the same person.

The grant administrator (also called the “institutional grant administrator”) functions as the representative of the recipient organization. This individual should have authority to act on the organization’s behalf in matters related to the administration of the award. The institutional grant administrator must sign or countersign financial reports and prior approval requests such as budget revisions, extensions to the period of performance, and changes in key personnel.

NEH will address official correspondence (for example, the offer letter or Notice of Action) to the institutional grant administrator and copy the project director.

9. Authorized Representative Provide the name, title, and contact information for the authorized organization representative (AOR) who is submitting the application on behalf of the institution. This person, often called an “authorizing official,” is typically someone from the Office of Sponsored Projects, or the

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institution’s president, vice president, executive director, or board chair. The institution’s Grants.gov E-Business Point of Contact must designate the AOR. The AOR’s signature must match the contact’s name. See the Grants.gov Online User Guide.

Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Grant Programs (Grants.gov form)

1. Project Director Select the project director’s major field of study from the drop-down menu.

2. Institutional Information Select your institution type from the drop-down menu.

3. Project Funding

• Under “Outright Funds,” enter the amount of outright funds you are requesting.

• Under “Federal Match,” enter the amount of federal matching funds you are requesting.

• Under “Cost Sharing,” enter the required cost share you will provide to release the federal matching funds (dollar-for-dollar). Do not include voluntary cost share.

Learn more about the types of funding NEH offers.

4. Application Information Indicate whether you or others will submit complementary proposals to other NEH programs, government agencies, or private entities. If so, specify when and to whom. NEH will not consider this information when evaluating the merits of your proposal. See C3. Other Eligibility Information for restrictions regarding overlapping costs.

For type of application, check “new.”

Select the project’s primary…