Research grants – Central European History Society

Research & travel grants

Each year, CEHS awards a number of grants that underwrite short-term research trips outside of North America by doctoral candidates and recent PhDs. Each grant has a maximum value of $4,000.

Grant eligibility

Applications for grants will only be accepted from North American doctoral candidates (ABD) or recent PhD recipients (up to three years after degree completion) in Central European history. In addition, applicants must be members of CEHS. (For information about becoming a member, click on the “join” button at the top of this page.)To be eligible, the proposed research project must demonstrate a clear and significant connection to Central Europe and involve travel outside North America. For the purposes of this grant, “Central Europe” includes the region’s historically German-speaking lands as well as the Habsburg Empire and its successor states. However, projects focusing on the period after 1945 in Eastern Europe will need to engage with “German” and/or “Austrian” questions in order to be considered “Central European” (rather than Eastern European).Scholars who have received a travel and research grant as a doctoral student may also apply for a grant to support a postdoctoral research project.All grant-related travel must be planned to take place between April 1 and December 31 of the competition year.

The grant application

A complete grant application consists of the following three elements. All grant materials (except the letter of recommendation) will be submitted via the grant application portal. N.B. To access the portal, you must be signed in as a current CEHS member. If you are not yet a member, use the “join” button (at the top of this page) to become a member and then access the application portal.

For the 2026 competition, the submission deadline is January 15, 2026.

The online application form. In addition to gathering important basic information about the applicant and the project, this form has a required section where applicants will estimate, itemize, and (as necessary) explain the expenses (up to $4,000) envisaged for the research trip. As part of the form, applicants are also requested to upload a current CV and the statement of purpose (see below).
Statement of Purpose (maximum of 1000 words). This document should provide a succinct summary of the project itself (what will be done, where, and why), and explain how the research to be undertaken fits into the larger research project (and that project’s anticipated scholarly contributions). If the application is a resubmission from a previous year, this narrative should also indicate how the project has advanced since the previous application.
One (1) letter of recommendation (normally from the thesis director). This letter should be emailed directly to CEHS by the grant deadline, using the address CEHSrtgrants@centraleuropeanhistory.org. Applicants are advised to give their recommender several weeks’ notice of their need for a letter.

Questions regarding the program and the application process may also be directed to CEHS using the email address: CEHSrtgrants@centraleuropeanhistory.org.