Deadline: March 1, 2026
Applications are open for the Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellow Awards 2026-2027. 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.
Every two years, the Foundation selects a cohort of Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellows. Approximately a dozen emerging scholars are recognized for projects judged to be of high quality and closely relevant to the Foundation’s interest in violence.
The Foundation welcomes proposals for the African Fellow Awards 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. Highest priority is given to research that can increase understanding and amelioration of urgent problems of violence and aggression in the modern world. The proposed project must relate directly to the African continent.
Areas of Interest
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
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. Likewise, historical research is considered to the extent that it is relevant to a current situation of violence. Examinations of the effects of violence are appropriate for a proposal only if a strong case can be made that these outcomes serve, in turn, as causes of future violence.
Fellowship
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
Eligibility
- Applicants for the fellowship may be citizens of any country.
- They must be aged 45 or younger.
- Currently enrolled in an accredited Ph.D. program at an African higher-education institution, and living on the continent.
Application
For more information, visit Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellow Awards.
