Deadlines

Applications for Fall fellows are due the first or second Tuesday of May each year. Applications for Spring fellows are due the second Tuesday of September each year. 

  • Please note that this program is currently on hiatus. 

Eligibility

University of Iowa applicants

  • Should be faculty members whose appointment requires significant research, including scholarship and work in the arts. Emeriti faculty may also apply.
  • May apply more than once (preference will be given to applicants who have not been a Faculty Fellow/Fellow-in-Residence in the past five years).
  • (In-residence fellows only:) Commit to being in residence full-time during the semester of the award working on the proposed project.
  • Agree to participate in bi-weekly discussions of Fellows' work-in-progress.
  • Are available to participate in occasional lunches and other opportunities for intellectual engagement with the community gathered at the Obermann Center.

External applicants

  • Are tenured or tenure-track faculty members.
  • Reside in or near Iowa City during the period of the residency (close enough to commute to the Center).
  • Meet all other requirements for UI applicants.

Application Materials & Submission Guidelines

Please submit the materials below in a single PDF by e-mail to obermann-center@uiowa.edu:

  • Cover sheet: Please download and complete this cover sheet (a fillable PDF), which asks for your name, department, desired semester, the award releasing you from all teaching responsibilities, and a DEO signature indicating that your DEO has approved your semester as a fellow if your application is successful.
  • A curriculum vitae: No more than three pages.
  • An abstract: Include an abstract of the proposed project (100 words or fewer and in third-person), including a title that will be used on our website if you become a Fellow.
  • A project description: This 3-5 page, single-spaced description should be clear and comprehensible to reviewers from a variety of disciplines; it should clarify how receiving this fellowship and participating in the bi-weekly Fellows’ seminar will benefit the project and how the applicant’s participation will benefit the other Fellows. Given that the Faculty Fellows program is increasingly competitive and that we have limited space, please state specifically whether you are requesting an office (and, if so, how often you would utilize the space) or if you would like to be a non-resident fellow. See below for guidelines on organizing your project description.

Additional notes

Please use these categories as headings to organize your project description:

  • An overview of the project and methodology.
  • The significance of the project.
  • A brief plan that indicates work that has been completed, the present status of the project, specific goals for the semester, and a timeline for the project (which may extend beyond the semester of the award).
  • The anticipated outcome for work completed during the fellowship and for the larger project, including publication, performance, or exhibition plans; conference presentations; grant applications; impact on teaching; or plans to share discoveries with groups or communities outside academe. (Again, please discuss projected outcomes for a general audience of non-specialists.  That may mean including a few sentences to clarify where your project intersects with existing work in your field.)
  • How you hope to benefit from and contribute to the multi-disciplinary intellectual community of the Center generally and participating in the bi-weekly Fellows’ research seminar specifically.
  • If you are requesting an in-residence fellowship, please note the amount of time you anticipate working at the Center.

E-mail erin-hackathorn@uiowa.edu or call (319) 335-4034 with any questions.