$90,000 Cullman Center Fellowship

The New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers picks 15 Fellows a year and gives each one nine months, a private office and a $90,000 stipend to work on a writing or research project that draws on the collections of the Library's landmark building on Fifth Avenue. Academics, independent scholars, journalists, novelists, playwrights, poets, translators and visual artists can apply from the United States or abroad, provided they are conversant in English. Fellows work at the Center in Manhattan five days a week from September 2027 to May 2028, and applications for that class close on Friday, September 25, 2026 at 5pm EDT.

What you get:

• A $90,000 stipend for the fellowship term
• A private office with a computer in the Cullman Center, on the second floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
• Full access to the Library's physical and electronic research collections, with help from its curatorial and reference staff
• Nine months alongside 14 other Fellows, with weekly lunches and other chances to share and discuss your work

What you'll do:

• Work on your own project at the Cullman Center five days a week, Monday to Friday, from September 7, 2027 to May 26, 2028
• Do your research mainly in the collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building rather than at other divisions of the Library
• Give a talk over lunch about your work in progress to the other Fellows and invited guests
• Take part in other Library programmes if you are asked
• Keep research trips, conferences and speaking engagements short: any absence of more than two days must be notified to the Center's Director or Deputy Director, and the Library pro-rates the stipend for excessive time away

Key dates:

• Applications close Friday, September 25, 2026 at 5pm EDT, including all supporting materials and letters of recommendation
• Applicants for the joint NYPL and ACLS fellowship must also apply to ACLS by September 17, 2026 at 5pm EDT
• Applicants are notified in March 2027
• The fellowship term runs from September 7, 2027 to May 26, 2028

More information:

• Eligibility and guidelines on the application portal: https://nypl.onlineapplicationportal.com/misc/guidelines/default.aspx
• Up to five of the 15 fellowships may be awarded jointly with the American Council of Learned Societies. That route needs a separate ACLS application, and ACLS asks for a PhD conferred by its deadline, though some established scholars without one may qualify: https://www.acls.org/competitions/acls-fellowships/
• Current and past Fellows, and the Center's public talks, Conversations from the Cullman Center: https://www.nypl.org/about/fellowships-institutes/cullman-center-scholars-writers
• Questions about the application portal go to csw@onlineapplicationportal.com

• Open to academics, independent scholars, journalists, creative writers (novelists, playwrights and poets), translators and visual artists
• Your project must draw on the research collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, and you must work mainly there rather than at other divisions of the Library
• Open to applicants from the United States and abroad; you must be conversant in English and submit your application in English, though people working in other languages are welcome
• Not open to anyone seeking funding for research leading directly to a degree, including graduate-school dissertation research
• Fellowships are not granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows
• NYPL publishes no age limit and no degree or publication requirement; it looks for top-quality writing and seeks diversity in race, ethnicity, age, gender, field and type of project
• You must be able to work at the Center five days a week from September 7, 2027 to May 26, 2028, and may not take on other major professional obligations during the term
• Apply with a research proposal, a CV, new letters of recommendation (dossier letters are not accepted) and a creative writing sample or art work sample
• Not open to NYPL staff or their partners, or to people active on the Library's Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees or Library Council