Collaborative Research 2026 NOFO.pdf

Notice of Funding Opportunity

Collaborative Research

Funding Opportunity Number: 20260916-RZ

Funding Opportunity Type: New

Federal Assistance Listing Number: 45.035

Application Deadline: September 16, 2026

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. The program supports groups of two or more scholars increasing humanistic knowledge through the preparation of a manuscript for print publication, the creation of a scholarly digital project, or the planning of an international collaboration. Projects must pursue significant research questions and lead toward an interpretive product. This year’s competition is limited to projects on American history and culture or Western civilization.

This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) provides application information unique to Collaborative Research, including program-specific requirements, allowable activities, review criteria, and formatting instructions. Refer to NEH’s General Application Guide for Awards to Organizations for standard instructions that apply to all NEH funding programs for organizations.

Together, this NOFO and the general guidelines provide all the information you need to complete and submit your application to NEH.

Funding Opportunity Title Collaborative Research Funding Opportunity Number 20260916-RZ Federal Assistance Listing Number 45.035 Application Deadline September 16, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Anticipated Award Announcement July 2027 Anticipated Funding Approximately $2,500,000 Estimated Number and Type of Awards Approximately 15 grants Award Amounts Planning International Collaboration: Up to $50,000

Manuscript Preparation: Up to $250,000

Scholarly Digital Project: Up to $250,000

Cost Sharing/Match Required No, unless you request federal matching funds Period of Performance Planning International Collaboration: six to twelve months

Manuscript Preparation: one to three years

Scholarly Digital Project: one to three years

Projects must start between November 1, 2027, and August 1, 2028.

https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/NEH%20General%20Application%20Guide%2002-24-2026.pdf

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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 There will be a pre-recorded webinar on the NEH program resource page.

Published July 7, 2026 https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/collaborative-research-grants

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Table of Contents A. Program Description

1. Purpose

2. Funding Restrictions

3. Background

B. Federal Award Information

1. Type of Application and Award

2. Summary of Funding

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Other Eligibility Information

D. Application Contents

1. Application Component Table

2. Application Elements

3. Budget Instructions Specific to This Program

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria

2. Review Process

3. Intergovernmental Review

F. Submission Information

1. Application Package

2. Submission Instructions

G. Award Notices

1. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

2. Federal Award Documents

3. Administrative and National Policy Requirements Specific to This Program

H. Annual and Final Reporting

I. Agency Information

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A. Program Description

1. Purpose The Collaborative Research program supports the advancement of humanistic knowledge through collaboration between two or more scholars. NEH encourages projects that incorporate multiple points of view, explore new avenues of inquiry in the humanities, and lead to manuscripts for print publication or to interpretive digital projects. Interdisciplinary projects, including those involving the sciences, are welcome.

This year’s competition will accept only applications on topics in the history and culture of the United States in any period from the Colonial Era to the present, or topics in Western civilization from antiquity to the present.

Scholars may be drawn from one or more institutions. NEH welcomes international collaboration, but scholars at U.S. institutions must contribute significantly to the project. If your project includes international collaborators, see NEH’s Partnership Opportunity Notifications for sources of additional support from external partners.

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

• Planning International Collaboration

• Manuscript Preparation

• Scholarly Digital Project

You must identify only one category for funding, even if your project is part of a complex research agenda. You may submit follow-up applications for subsequent stages of the same project.

A Planning International Collaboration award is not a prerequisite for a Manuscript Preparation or Scholarly Digital Project application.

Planning International Collaboration Planning International Collaboration awards support 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.

Examples of funded activities include research; scholarly exchange through videoconferencing;

joint travel to a relevant site, archive, library, or collection to investigate a project’s feasibility; in-person working meetings of named project team members and key consultants; and writing to complete a plan for future research and publication. The Planning category should advance work toward a collaborative, interpretive research product. You may not use Planning grants to write a subsequent grant application.

Planning International Collaboration awards are up to $50,000 with a period of performance of six to twelve months.

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

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The Manuscript Preparation category supports the completion of collaborative manuscripts in preparation for print publication. Examples of funded activities include research and writing;

travel to a relevant site, archive, library, or collection to conduct research; and work with consultants, technical experts, and community partners. You should submit the manuscript to a publisher at the end of the period of performance. NEH encourages publication that enables broad public access.

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 years and up to $50,000 for the third year. If your period of performance includes partial years, you must prorate your request by month.

Scholarly Digital Project The Scholarly Digital Project category supports the preparation of born-digital scholarly publications or digital projects that address specific humanities research questions. The project must serve an intellectual community beyond the collaborators and must include significant humanities interpretation or advance an argument. Databases or digital tools without interpretive content are not allowed. Proposals typically involve one or more lead scholars collaborating with digital humanities specialists, librarians, or archivists. Examples of funded activities include research and writing; travel to a relevant site, archive, library, or collection to conduct research;

building a digital resource; and work with consultants, technical experts, and community partners. Applications must describe plans for long-term sustainability. NEH encourages digital projects that are open access.

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

Program outputs and outcomes Program outputs are the tangible products that result from the award.

The outputs of a Planning International Collaboration award may include, but are not limited to:

• a written plan for collaborative research activities and future print or digital publication

• web-posted papers

• a white paper

The outputs of a Manuscript Preparation award may include, but are not limited to:

• a coauthored monograph

• an edited volume

• a themed issue of a peer-reviewed journal

• a series of peer-reviewed articles

The outputs of a Scholarly Digital Project award may include, but are not limited to:

• an e-book

• a content-rich website

• an open-access digital resource with significant interpretive content

• a digital mapping project that draws conclusions or advances new arguments

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

You must describe your outputs and how they would support the project outcome in the application Attachment 2: Narrative. If you receive an award, NEH will assess your performance by comparing the outputs proposed in the application against those reported in your performance reports. See H. Annual and Final Reporting.

2. Funding Restrictions You may not use funds made under this notice for the following purposes:

Restricted activities:

• promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view

• promotion of gender ideology

• promotion of discriminatory equity ideology

• support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives or activities

• environmental justice initiatives or activities

• advocacy of a particular program of social or political action

• support of specific public policies or legislation

• lobbying

• preparing a subsequent grant application

Programmatic exclusions:

• planning or creation of scholarly editions or translations in print or digital form

• creation of textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, or bibliographies

• preparation of source books or anthologies of previously published materials

• projects that mainly seek to create new collections or archives, digitize existing collections, or create inventories, finding aids, or catalogs of collections

• projects that mainly seek to develop or test an innovative method or infrastructure in the digital humanities

• creation of databases or digital tools or resources without significant interpretive content

• the development of curricula, educational resources, teaching methods, or teaching theories

• educational or technical impact assessments

• planning or holding a conference, symposium, workshop, or seminar training

• professional development

• planning or production of exhibitions or exhibition catalogs

• planning or production of documentary films or video documentaries

• planning or production of apps, games, or podcasts

• projects that fall outside of the humanities

• the creation or performance of art

• creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, or creative nonfiction

• policy studies

• social science research that does not address humanistic questions and/or utilize humanistic methods

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Unallowable costs:

• costs associated with attending or holding regularly occurring professional meetings

(including travel to conferences for dissemination of project results)

• print publishing costs and press subventions

• purchase of equipment

• purchase of computers and peripherals

• costs for activities performed by federal entities or personnel

• fiscal agent and fiscal sponsor fees

• fiscal agent activities alone without substantive involvement in the project (e.g., proposal submissions, reporting, financial oversight, maintaining IRS status)

See 2 CFR 200 Subpart E - Cost Principles for other unallowable costs.

If your application includes unallowable costs or activities, NEH may deem it to be nonresponsive and reject it.

3. 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 Award Amounts You may request up to the maximum award amount for your funding category inclusive of both direct and indirect costs. Refer to NEH’s General Application Guide for Awards to Organizations for information about indirect costs.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200#subpart-E 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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NEH anticipates awarding approximately $2,500,000 in total funding to an estimated 15 recipients.

Funding Category Period of Performance Award Amount Planning International Collaboration 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)

Scholarly Digital Project 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)

NEH will not determine the funding available each fiscal year until Congress enacts the agency’s final budget. Accordingly, NEH issues this NOFO subject to the availability of appropriated funds, and it does not obligate NEH to make any awards.

Period of Performance 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.

• 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.

• You may request a period of performance of between one and three years for a Scholarly Digital Project.

Projects must start between November 1, 2027, and August 1, 2028.

Cost Sharing NEH supports projects with outright funds, federal matching funds, or a combination of the two.

Learn about the types of funds NEH offers. Cost sharing refers to project costs that are covered with non-NEH funds. Additional information on cost sharing is available in NEH’s General Application Guide for Awards to Organizations.

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

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 non-federal sources, 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.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/types-funding https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines

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NEH will offer successful applicants federal matching funds, subject to specific regulatory and other conditions. NEH will not release federal matching funds until you meet the conditions of the offer and certify eligible gifts. You must raise and certify all eligible gifts and pledges by six months before the end of the period of performance.

If you are requesting matching funds, 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, NEH may withdraw the matching funds offer. Additional details are available in the NEH Federal Matching Funds Guidelines.

For multi-year projects, the full amount of federal matching funds may not be available for release in the first year. Typically, NEH distributes federal matching funds on an annual basis over the period of performance.

You must maintain auditable records documenting the source and use of cost share, consistent with 2 CFR § 200.306.

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.

NEH does not provide financial assistance to foreign institutions or organizations.

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.

The recipient may not function solely as a fiscal agent but should make substantive contributions to the success of the project. Fiscal sponsors applying on behalf of an ineligible organization are not eligible to apply.

2. Other Eligibility Information An institution may submit multiple applications for separate and distinct projects under this notice. An individual may not serve as project director or codirector on more than one application to the program per competition.

You may revise and resubmit an application not selected for funding. Resubmissions must meet the application requirements and review criteria of the current competition.

https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/federal-matching-funds-guidelines https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.306 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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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.

If you submit multiple applications for one project, NEH will accept only your last validated submission prior to the deadline under the applicable Grants.gov funding opportunity.

Project director and codirector eligibility:

• Each application must have a sole project director who is a scholar affiliated with the applicant institution, and who is not enrolled in a degree-granting program. The director must demonstrate (through publications and experience detailed in their résumé) their ability to carry out the project. The director must devote significant, sustained time and effort to the project during the period of performance.

• Any collaborating scholar who is not enrolled in a degree-granting program may be designated as a codirector. You may have more than one codirector.

• An individual enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application may not be the sole collaborator, the project director, or a codirector. They may, however, serve in other roles on the project team.

• An individual who has satisfied the requirements for a degree but is awaiting conferral may serve as director, codirector, or sole collaborator if the application includes 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 codirector of only one Collaborative Research award at a time.

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

• Project directors, codirectors, and collaborators of funded Collaborative Research applications may not hold concurrent full-time awards from NEH.

D. Application Contents 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 20260916-RZ. There is also a link on the program resource page.

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

See NEH’s General Application Guide for Awards to Organizations for application component designations, page limits, formatting requirements, and submission rules, as well as instructions for the Grants.gov forms in your application package (SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance, Supplementary Cover Sheet for NEH Programs, Project/Performance Site Location(s) Form, Attachments form, lobbying forms, and the Research and Related Budget form and accompanying budget justification).

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

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If you include application elements other than those listed in the table, NEH will reject your application.

If your application exceeds mandatory page limits or deviates from formatting instructions, NEH will reject it.

1. Application Component Table

Application Component

File Name Designation Page Limit

Attachments 1: Project team list team.pdf Required 2 (mandatory) 2: Narrative narrative.pdf Required 10

(mandatory) 3: Work plan workplan.pdf Required 3 (mandatory) 4: Bibliography bibliography.pdf Required 3 (mandatory) 5: Résumés for project team members resumes.pdf Required 2 per résumé (suggested)

6: Additional materials additionalmaterials.pdf Recommended 10 (mandatory)

7. Statement of funding received and requested fundingreceived.pdf Conditionally required 2 (suggested)

8: Degree conferral degreeconferral.pdf Conditionally required 9: Subrecipient budget(s) subrecipient.pdf Conditionally required

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

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

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Application Component

Designation

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 required

Standard Form-LLL, “Disclosure of Lobbying Activities”

Conditionally required

2. Application Elements Attachment 1: Project team list (required) List the members of the project team. Designate the project director and any codirectors. Group other team members by institutional affiliation.

If applicable, list 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 those in the Collaboration section of the narrative, as well as any in the budget.

If applicable, list advisors after the project team.

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. Per the Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence for NEH Grant Proposals, you must acknowledge (by use of footnotes or other marginal notations) when you have inserted AI-generated text into your proposal.

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.

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

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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

• Scholarly Digital Project

Provide a concise statement about your project written for a non-specialist audience. Describe the expected final output(s). 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) Summarize your project’s significance for the humanities, broadly understood, and its contribution to our understanding of American history and culture or Western civilization.

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) 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 and 3) Describe your project’s theoretical framework and research design. Explain why a collaborative approach is the best way to fulfill its goals. Discuss your rationale for choosing certain methods and how those methods address your research questions.

In addition, each project category has specific requirements:

Planning International Collaboration: Describe how you will develop the collaborative project and its final output(s). Relate the methods to the work activities. Explain the choice of U.S. and international collaborators. Explain the goals of any travel. If you propose in-person meetings, explain why in-person, rather than virtual, meetings are necessary. Describe how you will structure these meetings and what they will achieve.

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

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Scholarly Digital Project: Describe how collaboration will take place and the division of labor to produce the digital output. Discuss remaining research and associated travel. Explain why a digital format is the best way to communicate the project’s results. Describe the organization and contents of the digital output, including details about its arguments and interpretive components. Discuss the technology you will employ, keeping in mind that NEH considers open-source software key to the broad distribution of digital scholarship. If you will not employ open-source software, explain why. Where appropriate, provide information on pertinent technical standards and the use of best practices. Provide information about data management and digital preservation infrastructure and policies. Where applicable, identify institutional partners who will provide technical support. If the project involves materials under copyright, indicate your plans to secure the necessary permissions.

History of the project and its productivity (about one page; aligns with review criteria 1 and 2) 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 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.

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) Summarize the qualifications and responsibilities of the project team members named in Attachment 1: Project team list. 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. Explain the benefits of bringing together these particular collaborators.

Describe aspects of project design that 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 work, or laboratory analysis, explain how their activities are important for achieving the project’s goals.

Goals for performance period (about one page; aligns with review criterion 4) Summarize, rather than duplicate, the detailed work plan you will provide in Attachment 3.

Provide an overview of what the collaborators will accomplish during the grant period. Discuss how you will use NEH funds to achieve these goals. For multi-institutional collaborative projects, discuss the distribution of responsibilities across partner institutions.

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

Planning International Collaboration: Describe how you will disseminate the results of the initial collaboration or meetings (for example, public presentations, white papers, blog posts).

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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: 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.

Scholarly Digital Project: Discuss how you will disseminate the digital project, including plans for enhancing its discoverability and accessibility. Describe what will be available to users by the end of the period of performance. NEH expects digital products to be available long-term. To that end, describe how you will maintain and support the digital project’s results beyond the period of performance. Describe the digital publisher’s or hosting institution’s ability to ensure sustained access and its commitment to doing so. Describe how you will sustain the project financially.

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

Attachment 3: Work plan (required) 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.

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 and Scholarly Digital Project proposals, describe each six-month period. For each period, identify the 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 should not depend on receiving such reports.

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

Attachment 4: Bibliography (required) Your bibliography should consist of primary and secondary sources. Include works that pertain to the project’s substance and works relevant to the project’s theoretical or methodological approaches.

The bibliography must not exceed three pages; any standard format is acceptable. Name the file bibliography.pdf.

Attachment 5: Résumés for project team members (required) Include two-page résumés for each project team member named in Attachment 1: Project team list, excluding any advisory committee members and undergraduate and graduate research assistants. Résumés should include the highest degree earned and the institution awarding it, professional positions, institutional affiliations, and major publications. You must include a minimum of two résumés (since the project director must have at least one collaborator).

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

Attachment 6: Additional materials (recommended) Provide only essential supplementary materials as stipulated below. Do not include letters of recommendation or writing samples.

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 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 that the partner organization will fund.

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

Planning International Collaboration

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

Manuscript Preparation

• A draft table of contents. For edited volumes, indicate which contributors have confirmed their participation; you may provide a one-paragraph abstract of each contribution.

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

Scholarly Digital Project

• For digital publications, a schematic representation of the structure and contents. If available, a letter of interest or contract confirmation from a digital publisher.

• For websites and digital resources, one or more of the following: a site map (a diagram of pages of your project that notes the hierarchical connections between pages), a wireframe (a screen blueprint or visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of the website), or screenshots of relevant draft pages and features (annotated to indicate anticipated future developments).

• For websites and digital resources, a letter of support from the library, archive, publisher, or other institution that will host and maintain the site.

This 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. List prior NEH awards year by year. Include fellowships and individual awards that project participants have received, 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.

https://www.neh.gov/initiatives/international-opportunities

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Attachment 8: Degree conferral (conditionally required) If a project director, codirector, 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 form and budget justification for each subrecipient. 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 of 15%, 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.

3. Budget Instructions Specific to This Program See NEH’s General Application Guide for Awards to Organizations for instructions on completing your budget and budget justification.

Other Personnel: Students If applicable, include charges for tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid to graduate or undergraduate students as, or in lieu of, salaries and wages. You must report such costs in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.466(b), and must treat them as direct or indirect costs in accordance with the actual work performed. You may charge tuition remission on an average rate basis.

Equipment You may not purchase equipment with funding from this program.

Travel You may not use NEH funds to attend regularly occurring professional meetings.

Other Direct Costs: Materials and Supplies You may not purchase computers or peripherals, such as devices for scanning and printing.

https://whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/legacy_drupal_files/omb/circulars/A129/a-129.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.466#p-200.466(b)

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Other Direct Costs: Publication Costs As a matter of programmatic policy, print publication costs are not allowed. The Collaborative Research program funds manuscript preparation up to submission to a publisher but does not allow costs related to publication (including editing of page proofs and indexing), production (including typesetting and printing), and distribution. The program does not support press subventions. Digital open-access fees are not considered press subventions; you may request up to $6,000 for such fees. Include supporting information in your budget justification.

E. Application Review Information

1. Review Criteria Peer reviewers will use the following criteria to review applications under this notice:

1. Significance The intellectual significance of the project, including its value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both; the significance of the research questions and interpretive contribution; and the project’s potential to advance scholarship in American history and culture or Western civilization.

2. Methods and execution The appropriateness and feasibility of the methods, including, where relevant, the soundness of digital and technical methods; the quality of the project’s conception; the clarity of expression in the application; and the project team’s ability to access relevant research sites or materials.

3. Collaboration The qualifications, expertise, and levels of commitment of the project director and collaborating scholars; the appropriateness of the collaboration for the achievement of the project’s goals;

and the overall value of the collaboration for the advancement of knowledge in the humanities.

4. Work plan and completion The clarity and feasibility of the work plan, the likelihood that the project team will achieve its goals within the stated time frame, and the reasonableness of the budget in relation to the proposed activities and work plan. For projects previously funded during an earlier phase, productivity in relation to previous goals.

5. Outcomes and access As applicable, the likelihood of a successful international collaboration, prepared manuscript, or digital project. For manuscript preparation and digital projects, the soundness of the publication, dissemination, and access plans, including the strength of the case for employing a print or a digital format, and for digital projects, the quality of the sustainability plan.

2. Review Process NEH staff review all applications for eligibility, completeness, and responsiveness. The agency then conducts a peer review process for all applications that pass this initial screening.

Peer reviewers are experts in their fields with knowledge and expertise relevant to the activities that the program supports. NEH instructs peer reviewers to evaluate applications according to

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the review criteria in this notice. Peer reviewers must comply with federal ethics rules governing conflicts of interest.

NEH program officers supplement the peer reviewers’ comments to address matters of fact or significant points that the peer reviewers have overlooked. They then make funding recommendations to the National Council on the Humanities and to the NEH Chairman. The National Council meets at least twice each year to review applications and advise the NEH Chairman. By law, the Chairman has the sole authority to make final funding decisions.

Following NEH’s public announcement of funded projects, you may request copies of the peer reviewers’ evaluations of your proposal by contacting collaborative@neh.gov.

Learn more about the NEH review process.

Apply to be a peer reviewer for NEH.

3. Intergovernmental Review This funding opportunity is not subject to intergovernmental review under Executive Order 12372.

F. 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 20260916-RZ. There is also a link on the program resource page.

2. Submission Instructions The deadline for applications under this notice is September 16, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

When NEH receives your application from Grants.gov, the agency will assign it a tracking number beginning with RZ-.

Under this notice NEH will consider only applications that are complete, comply with length and formatting requirements, and have been validated by Grants.gov under the correct funding opportunity prior to the deadline. See the late submission policy for the limited situations when NEH might accept an application submitted after the deadline.

G. Award Notices

1. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates NEH will notify you of funding decisions by email in July 2027. Notification of funding does not authorize you to begin performance or incur costs.

https://www.neh.gov/about/national-council-on-the-humanities mailto:collaborative@neh.gov https://www.neh.gov/grants/application-process https://securegrants.neh.gov/signup/ https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12372.html https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12372.html https://www.neh.gov/grants/policy-on-late-submissions

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2. Federal Award Documents If NEH selects your application for an award, the NEH Office of Grant Management will send award documents to the institutional grant administrator and project director through eGMS Reach starting in November 2027.

3. Administrative and National Policy Requirements Specific to This Program

Refer to the NEH General Application Guide for Awards to Organizations for administrative and national policy requirements that apply to all NEH awards. These are the requirements specific to the Collaborative Research program:

NEH Research Misconduct Policy In accordance with the Federal Policy on Research Misconduct, NEH has established procedures for handling allegations of research misconduct applicable to both internal and external research programs. Review the NEH Research Misconduct Policy.

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) provides protection of Native American graves and items, including human remains, funerary objects, and sacred objects. NAGPRA applies to any organization that controls or possesses Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and that receives federal funding, even for a purpose unrelated to the Act. Learn more about NAGPRA.

Coordination of geographic information and related spatial data If you request funding for the development, acquisition, preservation, or enhancement of geospatial data, products, or services, you must first conduct a due diligence search of the Data.gov list of datasets to determine whether the needed data, products, or services already exist. If not, you must produce the proposed geospatial data, products, or services in compliance with applicable Federal Geographic Data Committee guidance.

H. Annual and Final Reporting If you receive an award, you must complete these required reports in NEH’s online grant management system, eGMS Reach:

1. Annual Federal Financial Report(s)

2. Annual Performance Progress Report(s)

3. Final Financial and Performance Reports

Learn more about performance reporting requirements and financial reporting requirements.

I. Agency Information If you have questions about the program, contact:

Division of Research National Endowment for the Humanities https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/NEH%20General%20Application%20Guide%2002-24-2026.pdf https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/12/06/00-30852/executive-office-of-the-president-federal-policy-on-research-misconduct-preamble-for-research http://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/research-misconduct-policy https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/index.htm https://catalog.data.gov/dataset http://www.fgdc.gov/ https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/performance-reporting-requirements https://www.neh.gov/grants/manage/financial-reporting-requirements

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400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8200 collaborative@neh.gov

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

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

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