Northwestern University doctoral students in years 3–5 are eligible. Applicants are permitted three total quarters of this fellowship over the course of their graduate careers and may only apply once per academic year. Applicants must be conducting research abroad during the quarter(s) for which they are seeking this fellowship. Fellowship quarters will not be granted for quarters during which the applicant plans to fully be in-residence in the US.

Applications can only be made for the academic year following each deadline. For example, if you would like to apply for fall and spring quarters next year as well as winter quarter in the year after that, you would apply for two quarters at this deadline and another quarter at next year's deadline.

Applications are due January 30, 2026. Faculty recommendation letters are due February 2, 2026. Please note that it is the applicant's responsibility to advise their recommenders of the letter due date. Recommenders will not receive an invitation from the system until the application is submitted. 

The most competitive applications will include a clear statement about the major questions to be explored, the sources and methods to be used, as well as the significance of the dissertation project to the literature on the subject. Please write your proposal so that the significance of the dissertation is clear to people outside your field.

 Applications for the next cycle will open the first week of January. The application portal can be accessed via SOAP. The application requires the following:

• A project narrative of no more than five double-spaced pages that explains your dissertation research and its significance for a general scholarly audience. In addition to clearly articulating the argument your dissertation makes, this narrative should describe the state of current debates on this topic and your intervention in these debates, indicating the global and international dimensions of your work. It should also include a plan of work for the research that this funding will support; this plan should outline what research site visits and related activities that will be undertaken. This research plan should clearly identify the quarter(s) for which you are seeking the fellowship and outline your plans to conduct research abroad during all or part of this period. The five-page limit does not include notes and bibliography, which should be limited to two additional pages.
• Two letters of reference: one from your advisor and another from a committee member or someone else who knows your work well
• Departmental approval from your DGS

Questions about the fellowship can be sent to buffett.grad@northwestern.edu.