Guggenheim Fellowship
- Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
- Type: Fellowship
- Location: United States, Canada
- Deadline: September 15, 2026
- Funding: Partially Funded
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has backed artists, writers, scholars and scientists across the United States and Canada since 1925, and it runs one open competition a year. Awards go to mid-career people who already have a recognised body of work behind them, to spend six to twelve months on a single project of their own choosing, with no university post required and no set deliverables. Roughly 200 Fellows are selected each year and recent success rates have averaged around 5 percent. **What you get:** - A monetary award towards six to twelve months of work on one project you choose yourself - Freedom to follow your own direction, in what the Foundation calls the freest possible conditions, with no set deliverables - No institutional affiliation needed. Applicants without any university or employer affiliation are considered on equal footing - Eligibility is kept open alongside other support: people on sabbatical at full or part salary, and people holding other fellowships or research appointments, can still be appointed - Amounts are not published. The Foundation states that grant amounts vary and that it does not guarantee it will fully fund any project, weighing a Fellow's other resources and the scope of their plans **What you'll do:** - Choose one field from the Foundation's list of more than fifty, then propose a single, well defined project in it - Write a 1,000 word career narrative and a 1,000 word statement of plans, and list up to seven of your most significant works - Line up three references, with a fourth optional, who upload letters directly to the Foundation - Submit work examples if your field requires them, uploaded or postmarked two weeks after the portal closes - If selected, pursue the project over a six to twelve month Fellowship period **Key dates:** - Mid-August 2026: application portal opens - September 15, 2026: application due at 11:59 EST. Late applications are not accepted - September 29, 2026: work samples due or postmarked, in fields that require them - October 13, 2026: reference letters due - Late April 2027: Fellows announced by email **More information:** - The Foundation publishes a full application guide for this cycle, dated July 29, 2026 - The list of more than fifty eligible fields spans the creative arts, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and several interdisciplinary areas - The Foundation states that it charges no fees and has no affiliated application consultants or advisors, and that no third party has influence over its selection process - Each application is read in full by two to five expert reviewers, then goes to a Committee of Selection and finally the Board of Trustees. The process takes over six months - Questions go to competition@gf.org or (212) 687-4470
