Program Overview

Introduction to the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program

The 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program provides philanthropic support to scholars and writers for high-caliber research in the humanities and social sciences. The Carnegie Corporation of New York plans to award around 30 fellowships of up to $200,000 each to extraordinary scholars, authors, journalists, and public intellectuals.

Purpose of Award

The goal of the program is to help Americans understand how and why our society has become polarized and what can be done to strengthen the forces of cohesion. The foundation is interested in solutions-focused, pathbreaking research from across the humanities and social sciences which may be relevant to polarization and social cohesion in America today.

Award Information

• The $200,000 funds can be used for travel, hiring research assistants, and sabbaticals.
• The funding is for a period of one or two years with the anticipated result of a book or major study, i.e., recipients have the choice of a 12-month or a 24-month fellowship.
• The fellowship must begin on the first of the month between July and September of 2026.
• It is not possible to defer the start of the fellowship. It must begin no later than September 1, 2026.

Eligibility

To be eligible, Kansas State University nominees must have a PhD, hold a terminal degree other than a PhD, or be a high-level professional with exceptional experience that qualifies them as a senior professional or intellectual. Kansas State University may nominate up to two candidates — one tenured and one untenured.

Eligibility Criteria

• Tenured candidates are faculty members who have completed the university's tenure review process and currently hold tenured appointments.
• Untenured candidates may include faculty on the tenure track who have not yet received tenure or faculty who are in a non-tenure track appointment.

Nominations

An internal competition will be held, and all interested applicants should submit their application following the guidelines and instructions below by no later than 5 pm on October 22, 2025. K-State's two finalists must submit their final application, the research proposal, and other relevant materials via Carnegie's online platform by no later than 5 pm EST on Friday, November 7, 2025.

Application Materials

1. A 3–5 page, double-spaced prospectus describing the project, including a projected work plan and approximate time frame.
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Estimate of budgetary requirement. Funds may support: salary and fringe benefits, project-related travel (research, conferences), research assistants (hourly or stipend), other project needs (i.e., data collection, surveys, transcription, project supplies, consultant, contractual service/s, etc.).
4. Letter of Support from your College Dean co-signed by your Department Head.

Review Committee and Approval Process

A selection committee composed of University Distinguished Professors will review the applications and select one or two candidates to recommend to the President by October 27th. The nominee(s) will work with the Office of Academic Affairs and Innovation to complete the full application process so they may directly upload their application to the Carnegie Corporation of New York's website by the deadline of November 7th, 2025 (5:00 P.M. EST).

Evaluation Criteria

The Carnegie jury will evaluate nominations by the following 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