GU

Guggenheim Fellowship

by John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

One of the oldest and most respected fellowships in the arts and sciences, supporting scholars, artists, and researchers to pursue ambitious work.

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Funding

~$50,000 (average; varies by project)

Duration

6-12 months

Geography

US & Canada

Eligibility

Open to citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada. Applicants must have a significant record of publication, exhibition, or professional accomplishment in their field. The fellowship targets mid-career professionals, not students or early-career researchers. Previous Guggenheim Fellows may not reapply.

Application

Annual (applications open in February, due in September)

Deadline

September 2026

Creative ArtsScience & ResearchAny Field

About This Fellowship

The Guggenheim Fellowship is one of the most venerable and sought-after awards in American intellectual and artistic life. Established in 1925 by Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife as a memorial to their son, the Foundation has awarded over 18,000 fellowships totaling more than $400 million. Guggenheim Fellows have included an extraordinary roster of cultural and scientific luminaries: Ansel Adams, Langston Hughes, Linus Pauling, Aaron Copland, Thomas Pynchon, and hundreds of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.

The fellowship supports individuals who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. Unlike many fellowships, the Guggenheim does not fund early-career work or specific projects — it supports mid-career professionals who have already established a significant body of accomplishment and need time and resources to take their work to the next level.

Guggenheim Fellowships are awarded across 53 disciplines spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and creative arts. The average grant is approximately $50,000, though amounts vary based on the fellow's needs and plans. The award is intended to supplement other income, providing the freedom to take a sabbatical, travel for research, or devote concentrated time to a creative project.

What You Get

The Guggenheim Fellowship provides flexible funding to support a sustained period of creative or scholarly work, free from the constraints of regular professional obligations.

  • A cash award averaging approximately $50,000 (amounts vary based on individual needs and project scope)
  • Complete freedom in how the funds are used — travel, living expenses, materials, research costs, or sabbatical support
  • The prestige of the Guggenheim name, which carries significant weight in academic hiring, tenure decisions, and grant applications
  • No formal reporting requirements or deliverables, though Fellows are asked to provide a brief summary of their work at the end of the fellowship period
  • Membership in the Guggenheim Fellow community spanning nearly a century of distinguished scholars and artists
  • Fellows typically use the award to take leave from teaching or other professional duties to focus on their work

Selection Process

The Guggenheim selection process is highly competitive, with expert peer reviewers in each of the 53 eligible disciplines evaluating applications.

  • Applications open in February and are due in mid-September each year
  • Applicants submit a detailed career narrative, a project description, a bibliography or portfolio, and references
  • Applications are reviewed by expert advisory panels specific to each discipline
  • Panels make recommendations to the Foundation's Educational Advisory Board, which prepares a final slate for the Board of Trustees
  • Approximately 175 fellowships are awarded each year from roughly 3,000 applications (about 6% acceptance rate)
  • Fellows are announced in April, with the fellowship period typically beginning in the following academic year
  • The Foundation values both the quality of past work and the promise of the proposed project

Disciplines Covered

The breadth of the Guggenheim Fellowship is one of its defining features. The Foundation awards fellowships across 53 disciplines, making it one of the most inclusive individual award programs in existence.

  • Natural Sciences: astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, mathematics, physics
  • Social Sciences: anthropology, economics, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, sociology
  • Humanities: classics, literary criticism, philosophy, religious studies
  • Creative Arts: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, drama, film, music composition, painting, photography, sculpture, choreography
  • Applied fields: architecture, education, engineering, law, public policy
  • The Foundation has continuously updated its discipline list to reflect evolving fields, including recent additions in digital arts and interdisciplinary studies

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