AMS Dissertation Fellowships

Ends on

Application Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST, 1 February 2027

Overview

The American Musicological Society administers three fellowship programs. The Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Fellowships and Holmes/D’Accone Dissertation Fellowship in Opera Studies support dissertation work, and the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship funds graduate work by students who are members of historically underrepresented groups.

This application allows you to apply for either or both of the Society's dissertation fellowships (AMS 50 and Holmes/D'Accone Fellowships). If you would like to apply for the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship, please note that it has a separate application form.

Eligibility

Individuals applying for the AMS 50 Fellowship or the Holmes/D'Accone Fellowship must be full-time doctoral students in good standing at a North American university (defined as all 23 countries in North America). At the time of application, applicants must have completed all formal degree requirements except the dissertation. AMS 50 applicants may be pursuing doctoral research in any area of music studies. Holmes/D'Accone applicants must be pursuing doctoral research in the field of opera studies.

Application Procedures

To apply for the Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Dissertation Fellowship and/or the Holmes/D'Accone Fellowship, the following materials are required:

  1. A brief dissertation project description (maximum 200 words).
  2. A current dissertation proposal of 2,000–4,000 words, double-spaced, in 12-point font. The proposal should include a detailed rationale of the project (supported by, but not limited to, an assessment of relevant secondary literature) and an overview of each chapter. It should be a sourced document with footnotes, endnotes, and/or bibliography. Word count does not include footnotes, endnotes, or bibliography.
  3. A timeline (1–2 pages) for completion of the dissertation, including information about progress to date. The timeline should indicate all milestones (completion of exams, proposal approval, etc.) that are relevant for your program/institution.
  4. A sample chapter or excerpt (preferably not an introductory chapter reviewing the literature). This chapter or excerpt should be one that clearly represents or bolsters your overall thesis, and should not exceed 60 double-spaced pages in length.
  5. A verification from the registrar or departmental Director of Graduate Studies, attesting to ABD (all-but-dissertation) status. This must be requested using the reference request feature included in the application form, so have your attestor's name and email handy when filling in the form. You may send this letter request at any time, even before you are ready to submit the application.

NOTE: All documents should include the name of your project, but omit personally identifying information, such as your name and institution (including text, headers, footers, footnotes, and document properties). Please be particularly careful not to name university-based sources of funding or other institutional information in the prospectus and timeline.

Notification and Use of Funds

Applicants will receive a decision notice in April.

All AMS fellows receive a twelve-month stipend, currently set at $25,000. Recipients may also elect to accept the award on a non-stipendiary basis (thus freeing scarce resources for others). Fellowships are for one year and not deferrable or renewable. An AMS fellowship may not be held concurrently with a comparable or year-long fellowship from another source unless accepted on a non-stipendiary basis. There are no provisions for the payment of tuition.

AMS dissertation fellowships are intended for full-time study. They are not intended to support the early stages of research; it is expected that a fellow's dissertation will be completed within the fellowship year. Fellows are expected to focus on completing their dissertations and not to undertake more than twenty (20) hours each week of paid or unpaid employment during the fellowship term.

Important Notes

  1. Start your application process early. You may save an incomplete form and continue later.
  2. You MUST click the "Submit" button at the end of the form to submit your application. Applications not submitted by the deadline cannot be considered.
  3. Upon submission of your application form you will receive an email confirmation. You may also check the status of your application by signing into your Submittable account and clicking "My Submissions."
  4. If you have any questions about your application, please contact the AMS office at ams@amsmusicology.org. For technical questions about Submittable, please visit submittable.com/contact.

Application Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST, 1 February 2027

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
Continue