The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), through its Division of Research Programs, is offering funding for the Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research program. This grant opportunity supports empirical field research—either domestic or international—that uses archaeological and/or ethnographic methods to answer important humanities questions. NEH is a federal agency dedicated to advancing knowledge and public understanding of the humanities by funding high-quality scholarly work. This grant specifically focuses on enabling rigorous, humanities-centered fieldwork by scholars with a terminal degree in the humanities or related social science subfields.

The program funds field-related costs such as travel, lodging, field staff, equipment, permits, and salaries, including salary replacement for project directors and compensation for collaborating scholars. Awards can be for up to three years, and projects may be based in the United States or abroad. NEH encourages collaboration with local communities and stakeholders in co-creating and preserving cultural knowledge. However, projects must focus on fieldwork; those that are laboratory-based, archive-centric, or focused on collections or legacy data are ineligible. Field school expenses, professional development, and publication costs are not allowed. Additionally, projects that exceed 50 percent laboratory analysis are considered unallowable.

Applicants must be U.S.-based nonprofit organizations, public or nonprofit accredited institutions of higher education, state or local governments, or federally recognized tribal governments. Individuals, foreign organizations, and for-profits are not eligible. Applications from institutions where the project director is a tenured faculty member must include a required cost share of at least $20,000 in third-party funds to release federal matching funds. Other institutions may apply without matching requirements unless they voluntarily request matching funds. Awards are capped at $150,000. Projects lasting one to three years may request up to $75,000 annually. An optional $5,000 per year is allowed for conservation or community outreach.

Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov and must include a narrative, work plan, bibliography, résumés, and budget documents. A full list of required and conditionally required attachments is provided in the NOFO. Applications missing mandatory components or exceeding specified page limits will be rejected. A pre-recorded webinar will be posted online by June 26, 2024, for guidance. Optional draft reviews are accepted until July 15, 2024, for the 2024 cycle and June 16, 2025, for the 2025 cycle. Full applications are due September 25, 2024, or September 24, 2025, respectively.

Evaluation is based on intellectual significance, research design, qualifications of personnel, dissemination plans, and the likelihood of project completion. Successful applicants will be notified by April 30 of the following year and awards will be issued starting in May. The project start date must fall between June 1 of the following year and May 1 of the year after that, depending on the application cycle. NEH emphasizes the importance of compliance with all federal regulations and expects recipients to manage subawards appropriately, protect personal data, and ensure accessibility and public dissemination of results.

Contact information for the program is as follows: Division of Research Programs, NEH, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20506, phone 202-606-8200, email fieldwork@neh.gov. For questions regarding administrative requirements or costs, contact the Office of Grant Management at 202-606-8494 or grantmanagement@neh.gov. Telecommunications relay is available at 7-1-1. Technical support for Grants.gov is available at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.