Funding Opportunities

The Higgins Institute offers individual major grants of up to $5,000 to full-time arts and humanities faculty at Clark University.

Major grants are intended to support individual faculty research or creative activity and to fund expenses such as research travel, book subventions, materials and equipment, special training, and development opportunities. Early career (untenured or recently tenured) faculty are particularly encouraged to apply for grants to support summer work and other opportunities helpful for career development.

Applications for individual major grants are normally considered only once during the academic year in late fall semester. Faculty may apply for up to $5,000 for a major project in a given academic year grant cycle. Full-time faculty members are normally eligible for a maximum of $8,000 in Higgins grant support (major grants and mini-grants) for their own research, creative work, and conference travel over any five-year period.

Grants are awarded on the recommendation of the Higgins Steering Committee, which is comprised of chairs from each of the five arts and humanities departments (or their designated proxies). The Higgins Director meets and consults ex officio but does not vote.

Grant awards must be spent within one year unless prior arrangements have been made. Recipients may be asked to contribute to Higgins Institute marketing and programming by presenting on and/or writing informally about their work-in-progress. One recipient of a major grant will be selected as the Alice and Milton Higgins Faculty Fellow. While this honorary recognition carries no extra funding beyond the grant award, it allows for additional opportunities to present work resulting from the grant.

Applications will open later in fall 2024.

The Higgins Institute offers Linking Major Grants of up to $5,000 to full-time arts and humanities faculty at Clark University.

Linking grants are intended to provide initial or matching monies for activities linking humanities departments; creating partnerships between humanities departments and departments across the University; creating partnerships between humanities departments and local cultural institutions, to include joint seminar programs, research projects, exhibitions, public programs, teaching activities, and regional, national, and international conferences. Grants might also support major initiatives in undergraduate and graduate programs in the humanities for course development, acquisition of library or other learning materials and equipment, and undergraduate and graduate research or creative activity.

Applications for linking grants are normally considered only once during the academic year in late fall semester. Applicants may apply for up to $5,000 for a major project in a given academic year grant cycle. Support for linking grants does not normally count toward the $8,000 limit per five-year period designated for individual research, creative work, and conference travel.

Grants are awarded on the recommendation of the Higgins Steering Committee, which is comprised of chairs from each of the five arts and humanities departments (or their designated proxies). The Higgins Director meets and consults ex officio but does not vote.

Grant awards must be spent within one year unless prior arrangements have been made. Recipients may be asked to contribute to Higgins Institute marketing and programming by presenting on and/or writing informally about work related to the linking grant.

Applications will open later in fall 2024.

The Higgins Institute offers mini-grants of up to $750 to full- and part-time arts and humanities faculty at Clark. These funds are intended to cover special or unforeseen expenses and opportunities for research, travel, programming, or teaching.

Mini-grant applications are considered on a rolling cycle throughout the academic year—November 15, January 15, February 15, March 15, April 15, and May 15—with notifications by the first day of the following month. No applications are considered in December and from June through September. Please note that mini-grant funding frequently runs out before the later submission deadlines listed above. Faculty are encouraged to plan ahead and to submit early whenever possible. 

Mini-grant decisions are made by the Higgins Director in consultation with members of the Higgins Steering Committee, made up of the Chairs of each of the five arts and humanities departments (or their designated proxies).

Grant awards must be spent within one year unless prior arrangements have been made. Recipients may be asked to contribute to Higgins Institute marketing and programming by presenting on and/or writing informally about the work or experiences supported by the funding.

Applications will open later in fall 2024.

In celebration of the newly renamed Alice Coonley Higgins Institute for Arts and Humanities, we will invite applications for a competitive seed grant to support a collaborative research initiative or creative project in the arts or humanities. Priority will be given to applications:

• For prototypes that will lead to larger projects;
• For projects that demonstrate collaboration across traditional fields of inquiry, especially in areas supported by the Institute’s research collaboratives;
• For projects that are poised to apply for further external funding; and
• For projects that, when possible, make use of existing Clark infrastructure and resources.

Applications will open later in fall 2024. Further information will be provided soon.

The Higgins Institute is excited to launch a new fellowship program for Clark arts and humanities students during the 2024-25 academic year. Awards of up to $3,000 will be available to support summer research and creative projects.

Additional details and application instructions will be announced in late fall 2024.