Deadline Date: March 01, 2026
The Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellow Awards (formerly the Harry Frank Guggenheim Young African Scholars) recognize emerging African scholars studying aspects of violence on or directly related to the African continent.
The Foundation is interested in violence related to many subjects, including, but not limited to the following: War, Crime, Terrorism, Family and intimate-partner relationships, Climate instability and natural resource competition, Racial, ethnic and religious conflict, Political extremism and nationalism.
Every two years, the Foundation selects a cohort of Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellows, with approximately a dozen emerging scholars recognized for projects judged to be of high quality and closely relevant to the Foundation’s interest in violence.
The Foundation welcomes proposals from any of the social and natural sciences or allied disciplines that promise to increase understanding of the causes, manifestations and control of violence and aggression, provided that the proposed project relates directly to the African continent.
Highest priority is given to research that can increase understanding and amelioration of urgent problems of violence and aggression in the modern world. The Foundation supports research that investigates the basic mechanisms in the production of violence, but primacy is given to proposals that make a compelling case for the relevance of potential findings for policies intended to reduce these ills.
Historical research is considered to the extent that it is relevant to a current situation of violence and examinations of the effects of violence are appropriate only if a strong case can be made that these outcomes serve, in turn, as causes of future violence.
Fellowships are offered to individual scholars for a period of two years. The African Fellow Awards include an in-person methods workshop on the African continent, fieldwork research grants of $10,000 each, mentoring from senior African and Africanist scholars, sponsorship at an international conference to present research findings and editorial and publication assistance through a writing workshop geared to support and prepare scholars to write for and submit to international peer-reviewed journals and other outlets for their research.
Candidates may apply online annually till March 1 and final decisions are made by the Board of Directors, with applicants informed promptly by email. The program begins with a research proposal workshop held on the African continent.
The Foundation funds the cost of fieldwork, including travel, living expenses, local research assistance, insurance, transcription costs, necessary software or equipment, visa fees, and remuneration for informants or survey participants, with all requested items requiring thoughtful justification.
The Foundation does not supply funds for overhead costs of institutions, travel to professional meetings, self-education, costly laboratory or field equipment or dissemination of research findings and they will not contribute to graduate research with other funding unless an independent Guggenheim component can be identified.
Applicants for the fellowship may be citizens of any country, must be aged 40 or younger, currently enrolled in an accredited Ph.D. program at an African higher-education institution, and living on the continent, as non-Ph.D. candidates are not eligible to take part in the program.
Proposals must be accompanied by a precise budget using the Foundation’s budget worksheet, along with a budget explanation that justifies each item. Applications are submitted online through the Foundation’s website, where applicants must create an account to access the application, complete all required sections and upload supporting documents including a curriculum vitae and proof of age and nationality, with late applications not considered.
