Humanities Research Center at Rice University
Collaborative Faculty Research Fellowships AY 2008-09
Application Cover Sheet
Name
Rank
Department
Mailstop
Campus Phone
E-mail
Previous HRC Fellow?
Yes
No
If yes, what year?
Title of research project:
Names, affiliations, and addresses of two external referees
1
2
Submissions checklist:
By email attachment
Curriculum Vitae
Project Proposal
By hard copy
This cover sheet
Letter of intent from collaborator
Two reference letters
Applicant’s signature
Date
Department chair’s endorsement
Date
If applicant is not in School of Humanities:
Dean’s endorsement
Date
Collaborative Research Fellowship
Humanities Research Center MS 620
Rice University
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77005
Call for 2008-2009 Collaborative Research Fellowships
*****PLEASE NOTE NEW DEADLINE: October 17, 2007*****
The Humanities Research Center awards up to three fellowships to Rice faculty per year
aimed at fostering collaborative research initiatives and providing faculty the time and
resources to write grants for new intellectual endeavors, sponsored or co-sponsored by
the HRC. For example, fellows may develop proposals for major grants to the
Rockefeller Foundation or Ford Foundation, or may apply for institutional programs like
the Mellon Foundation’s Sawyer Seminars. Collaboration can occur between Rice
faculty or between Rice faculty and faculty from other institutions.
Because many such grant-writing endeavors are multi-institutional and collaborative in
nature, the HRC will provide a collaborative research fund of up to $5000 per fellow. The
HRC will provide in-house grant-writing support as appropriate. The HRC will also
negotiate possible matching funds with the School of Humanities.
The collaborative fellowship program furthers the HRC’s mission of fostering scholarly
research and intellectual community in the humanities broadly understood; facilitating
scholarly work between other areas of the university and the School of Humanities; and
leading institutional change through partnerships with foundations, other centers,
research institutions, and other universities. It coincides with the HRC’s goal of
stimulating innovative collaborative initiatives that have lasting impact on the
University's intellectual life and that bring Rice Humanities to national attention.
Rice faculty members from humanities departments – and from other departments in
which the faculty member is engaged in humanistic research broadly construed – are
eligible to apply. Fellows will be expected to make some form of public presentation (a
lecture, for example) during the term of their fellowship or in the semester immediately
following.
Selection Process
Each proposal is evaluated by members of a committee comprised of the HRC Faculty
Advisory Panel, a representative member of the Dean of Humanities Planning
Committee, and an external reviewer. This committee takes its collegial responsibilities
seriously. Its members will not serve as advocates for proposals from their own
departments. Although members of the committee may know applicants by name or
reputation, it is unlikely that they will have any genuine familiarity with an applicant’s
work.
All application materials will be forwarded for review to a distinguished scholar outside
Rice. The Advisory Panel will select this external reviewer. Invited outside evaluations
are anonymous, and because they compare different proposals, they will not be made
available to applicants.
Criteria for selection
 The intellectual significance of the project within its specific discipline, as well as
its potential impact on humanistic practice, broadly construed.
 The appropriateness of collaborative and innovative methods and the exigency of
the research questions raised in the initiative.
 The prospects for long-range intended outcomes of the project, and the quality and
usefulness of the intended outcome(s).
Submit the following materials by email attachment to hrc@rice.edu
 Curriculum vitae.
 1000-word project proposal with one-page bibliography. Please double-space and
use 12-point type. In language appropriate for a multi-disciplinary panel of nonspecialist readers, the proposal should
o explain the nature, scope, and significance of the initiative, including its
impact on larger scholarly communities.
o include a brief history of prior research or planning, past support, and future
plans for the initiative.
o identify other participants in the collaboration, and explain their roles and
qualifications.
Submit separately by hard copy
 Cover sheet
 A letter of intent from the collaborative party.
 Two letters of reference from scholars outside the university. The center will not
solicit outside letters. The most effective letters show a detailed knowledge of the
candidate’s past work and address directly both the importance of the proposed
project and the candidate’s qualifications to pursue it. General praise is less helpful
to the committee. Referees must send reference letters directly to the HRC Office.
o Reference letters will be accepted until NOVEMBER 5, 2007.
Resubmitting proposals
In the event that a proposal is not funded, the candidate is welcome to resubmit an
updated proposal in any subsequent year.
Humanities Research Center Mission
The Humanities Research Center fosters scholarly research and intellectual community in
the humanities broadly understood, facilitates scholarly work between the School of
Humanities and other areas of Rice University, and leads institutional change by
partnering with other foundations, centers, research institutions, and universities. The
Center strives to bring a dynamic element to research and teaching by developing
"intellectual liquidity" within and between Humanities and the sciences, information and
communications technologies, and the professions.
Furthermore, the Center serves as the nucleus within the University where the
disciplinary changes that will shape its future can be profitably reflected on and
anticipated. For a university the size of Rice, these collaborations – both within the
university and beyond it – are crucial to stimulating innovation and new research. In
short, the Center is an agent of intellectual integration, within and beyond the School of
Humanities.