Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program

The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program was established in 2015 to provide philanthropic support for high-caliber research in the humanities and social sciences. During its first eight years, nearly 250 scholars received fellowships of $200,000 to explore a range of important and enduring issues confronting our society.

In June 2023, Carnegie announced a second phase of the program and a new focus on political polarization in the United States. The program asks scholars to help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what we can do to strengthen the forces of cohesion in our society. Political polarization is characterized by threats to free speech, the decline of civil discourse, disagreement over basic facts, and a lack of mutual understanding and collaboration. The next class of fellows will be announced in spring 2026.

Fellowships of $200,000 are awarded annually to about 30 exceptional scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals. The funding is for a period of one or two years with the anticipated result of a book or major study. The criteria prioritize the originality and promise of the research, its promise to offer actionable solutions, and the scholar’s plans for communicating the findings to a broad audience.

Focus areas:

Carnegie anticipates that the work of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program will explore the many ways political polarization in the United States manifests itself in society and suggest ways that it may be mitigated. Studies of polarization in other countries are welcome, provided they offer lessons that can be applied to the United States. Projects based in disciplines across the humanities and social sciences are welcome.

Evaluation criteria: 

• Originality and promise of the idea
• Quality of the proposal
• Promise to offer solutions to harmful polarization or to enhance social cohesion
• Record of the nominee
• Plans to communicate findings to a broad audience

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, applicants must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent U.S. residency status. University presidents may nominate one tenured and one untenured scholar.

Candidates who have been nominated for the Fellows Program since the change of focus to polarization (i.e., who were nominated for the 2024 or 2025 fellowships) may not be nominated again, regardless of who nominated them.

Application Instructions

Please submit as one combined pdf labeled with PI’s Lastname, Firstname:

1. A one‐page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach specifically addressing the evaluation criteria.
2. CV (not biosketch) of the PI.
3. A letter of nomination from the Dean or Chair. This letter should indicate whether the faculty member is eligible in the tenured or untenured category. This letter of support signifies that the Dean or Chair has ensured that the nominee and application are likely to be of sufficient quality to be competitive nationally. Please be sure to address the funder’s stated selection criteria.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, September 17, 2025. If given the go-ahead by the limited submissions review committee, submissions are due to the sponsor 11/7/2025. Faculty with questions about this funding opportunity may contact Andrew Storms (as89@uw.edu) or Sumathi Raghavan (sumathi@uw.edu) in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.