Dissertation Year Fellowship
Active
- Assistance listing
- 12.440
- Agency
-
Department of the Army
Department of Defense
- Grant awards
- 8 $240,000 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Also known as
- CMH Dissertation Fellowship
- Assistance type
-
- Project Grant
- Treasury account
-
- 21-2020-0-1-503
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The Department of the Army's U.S. Army Center of Military History Dissertation Year Fellowship (CFDA 12.440) funds stipends for civilian graduate students writing dissertations on land warfare history, with the next application deadline typically January 15 annually. The program has awarded eight Project Grants totaling $240 thousand in federal dollars since 2019, with the most recent award issued September 29, 2025. Award activity has been sporadic—three awards in 2019, two in 2020, two in 2024, and one in 2025—indicating an inconsistent cadence rather than a reliable annual funding cycle.
All awards under this program are Project Grants issued as fixed-amount lump-sum awards to individual recipients rather than institutions. The Department of the Army obligated $190 thousand across three awards, while the Department of the Army Headquarters Office of the Secretary obligated $50 thousand across five awards. Award magnitudes have varied significantly: recent 2024–2025 awards ranged from $15 thousand to $160 thousand per recipient, with the September 2025 award to a Col Young fellow reaching $160 thousand and the two 2024 dissertation fellowships each at $15 thousand. Earlier awards from 2019–2020 were uniformly $10 thousand each.
Applicants must be civilian U.S. citizens pursuing doctoral degrees in history, unaffiliated with the federal government. Military personnel, federal civilian employees, and government contractors are ineligible. The program reviews proposals based on relevance to land warfare history, research feasibility, and applicant credentials; a special panel of Army Center of Military History historians makes recommendations to the Chief of Military History for final selection. Application materials are mailed to colleges, universities, and historical societies three months before the deadline; solicitations also appear on grants.gov and the Society for Military History website. The program issues fixed-amount awards with specified records requirements and one-year performance periods. No recent grant opportunities are currently posted in the source material.
Objective and description
- Objective
The U.S. Army Center of Military History Dissertation Year Fellowship program is designed to support scholarly research and writing among qualified civilian graduate students preparing dissertations in the history of land warfare. The area of study
- Description
The U.S. Army Center of Military History Dissertation Year Fellowship program is designed to support scholarly research and writing among qualified civilian graduate students preparing dissertations in the history of land warfare.
Eligibility
- Applicant eligibility
Applicants must be civilian U.S. citizens pursuing a doctoral degree in history. They must be unaffiliated with the federal government. Military personnel, civilian federal service employees, and contractors with the U.S. government are ineligible. Awards will be issued to individual (natural person) recipients vice to institutions that an individual is attending for their doctoral degree.
- Credentials and documentation
Applicants must provide official copies of all transcripts along with a statement from their graduate committee advisor indicating that the applicant has met all requirements for the doctoral degree except for the disseration.
- Uses of assistance
The fellowships can be used to cover any costs related to dissertation research, required visits to the Center of Military History, or as supplemental income during the writing/editing phase of the dissertation.
- Length and time phasing of assistance
Assistance is issued at the beginning of the fellowship year, based upon the academic calendar.
How to apply
- Application procedure
Deadlines are usually Jan. 15 of a given year; however, please see funding announcement to see if any change to that date in a given year. Three months before the application deadline, cover letter signed by the Chief Historian and brochure describing the Dissertation Year Fellowship will be mailed to colleges, universities, and historical societies. Notice of the fellowship program and instructions on how to apply will also be posted on the Society for Military History website and Facebook page. Solicitations for the grant will also be posted on grants.gov.
- Criteria for selecting proposals
Selection criteria are based upon a combination of the dissertation proposal's relevance to the program's objectives, the feasibility of the research program described in the application, and the applicants overall credentials (as reflected in letter's of recommendation, a writing sample, and transcripts). A special panel of U.S. Army Center of Military History historians review the proposals, rate them, and send recommendations to the Chief of Military History for a final selection.
- Award procedure
Upon selection for the award, fellows must sign a statement formally accepting the fellowship and agreeing to its terms. Paperwork is then submitted by CMH and the fellow to the Army Contracting Command which issues payment in the form of a lump-sum grant (fixed amount award).
- Deadlines
Deadlines are usually Jan. 15 of a given year; however, please see funding announcement to see if any change to that date in a given year.
Grant awards
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Makowicki, Shane | $10,000 | 4% |
| 2 | Zander, Cecily | $10,000 | 4% |
| 3 | Mortimer John | $10,000 | 4% |
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $80,000 |
| FY2025 | $80,000 |
| FY2024 | $30,000 |
| FY2020 | $20,000 |
| FY2019 | $30,000 |
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 12.440?
Assistance Listing 12.440 is Dissertation Year Fellowship, a federal grant program run by Department of the Army (Department of Defense).
What is the CFDA number for Dissertation Year Fellowship?
Its CFDA number is 12.440: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 12.440 awarded?
8 grant awards under 12.440 have obligated $240,000 in federal funds to 3 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 12.440?
The recipients obligated the most under Dissertation Year Fellowship are Makowicki, Shane ($10,000), Zander, Cecily ($10,000) and Mortimer John ($10,000).
How much did 12.440 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 12.440 obligated $80,000 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
On GovTribe
See this program's full record
- Every grant award and opportunity under it
- Funding by recipient, agency and assistance type
- Alerts for new opportunities
- Ask GovTribe AI about this program