BSP Funding Opportunities

NO CALL CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR AY 2026/2027

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BSP Dissertation Fellowships are intended to provide one academic quarter of support to students in the dissertation research or writing stages of their doctoral program. The 50% appointment includes fees, benefits, and a monthly stipend for one academic quarter of the awardee’s choice.

In addition to advancing their research and/or writing, BSP Dissertation Fellows are expected to: attend at least three (3) BSP events within the academic year of award; participate in the BSP Graduate Seminar which meets approximately twice per quarter; and attend at least one (1) BSP Graduate Writing Collective session per quarter within the academic year of award. Eligible applicants may be in any discipline, but supported research should be situated within African American, African, and/or African Diaspora Studies. Preference will be given to projects that engage the critical themes and key questions of the Black Studies Project (see below), as well as to students without other sources of funding.

Black Studies Project @ UCSD

Black Studies Project (BSP) is an interdisciplinary, cross-divisional formation for collaborative and innovative research, intellectual exchange, and student engagement in the field of Black Studies. By convening faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from across campus and throughout the UC system, BSP creates opportunities for expansive and trenchant conversations at the intersections of Black feminist and queer studies, transnational and Diasporic studies, and the study of Black social movements. Through our programming, research funding, and sponsored intellectual collaborations, BSP explores how contemporary social, political, cultural, and economic shifts in the US and globally require scholars, community activists, and campus leaders to collectively reimagine the field of Black Studies.

Eligibility Requirements:

1. A registered UCSD graduate student, enrolled for the academic year of award
2. A doctoral student who has completed their first two years of coursework in good standing
3. In residence during their funding quarter and available to participate in events throughout the year of award (please note that BSP Graduate Seminar and Writing Collective sessions and the majority of BSP events throughout the academic year will be in person only events)
4. Acceptance that the award precludes instructional employment in graduate academic titles for recipients during their ONE QUARTER TENURE as a BSP dissertation fellow. Additionally, supplemental Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) or research fellow appointments will be considered by exception request provided the research supports the Fellow’s research work.

All eligible students are encouraged to apply. The Sara Clarke Kaplan Dissertation Fellowship does not consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories as part of the application and selection process.

Application Materials

Application for the fellowship includes completing an application form online and uploading a combined PDF with the following materials:

1. Project description (no more than 1200 words), including timetable for completion
2. Curriculum vitae
3. UCSD transcript (unofficial)

Notification and Acceptance: Fellowship award notifications are usually disseminated at the end of April by email.

Please address questions to: Lorraine Makone, Associate Director, Black Studies Project, bsp@ucsd.edu

NO CALL CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR AY AY 2026/2027

To receive additional funding call notifications please subscribe to the BSP listserv at the banner below. 

Predoctoral fellowships provide a 50% appointment for one academic quarter to students in the earlier phases of dissertation project development. Each award includes fees, benefits, and a monthly stipend for one academic quarter of the awardee’s choice. Students who are in the advanced writing stages of the dissertation should apply to the BSP Dissertation Fellowship.

Fellows must have completed their first two years of coursework in good standing. We recognize that milestones for doctoral students vary across departments as do funding strategies to support students as they prepare to advance to candidacy. In that spirit, the predoctoral fellowship may support students in the late qualifying stage or those who are in the early stages of launching dissertation studies. If you have questions about your eligibility for this fellowship, please contact us. Successful applications will involve research projects that show promise for a sustained and substantive engagement with Black Studies and/or Black communities in Africa and the African Diaspora. The goal of this fellowship is to provide PhD students with academic guidance and support during the crucial period of conceptualizing their research topic by providing them an intellectual cohort of students and faculty through which they can strengthen their foundational knowledge and hone their critical analysis in the field of Black Studies. Priority will be given to PhD students in departments where faculty in Black Studies are underrepresented, to provide them with a firm foundation in the field as they begin their dissertation planning and research.

In addition to advancing their research and/or writing, BSP Predoctoral Fellows are expected to: attend at least three (3) BSP events within the academic year of award; participate in the BSP Graduate Seminar that meets approximately twice per quarter; and attend at least one (1) BSP Graduate Writing Collective session per quarter within the academic year of award.

Black Studies Project @ UCSD

Black Studies Project (BSP) is an interdisciplinary, cross-divisional formation for collaborative and innovative research, intellectual exchange, and student engagement in the field of Black Studies. By convening faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from across campus and throughout the UC system, BSP creates opportunities for expansive and trenchant conversations at the intersections of Black feminist and queer studies, transnational and Diasporic studies, and the study of Black social movements. Through our programming, research funding, and sponsored intellectual collaborations, BSP explores how contemporary social, political, cultural, and economic shifts in the US and globally require scholars, community activists, and campus leaders to collectively reimagine the field of Black Studies.

Eligibility Requirements:

1. A registered UCSD graduate student, enrolled for the academic year of award
2. A doctoral student who has completed their first two years of coursework in good standing
3. In residence during their funding quarter and available to participate in events throughout the year (please note that BSP Graduate Seminar and Writing Collective sessions and the majority of BSP events throughout the academic year will be in person only events)
4. Acceptance that the award precludes instructional employment in graduate academic titles for recipients during their ONE QUARTER TENURE as a BSP predoctoral fellow. Additionally, supplemental Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) or research fellow appointments will be considered by exception request provided the research supports the Fellow’s research work.

All eligible students are encouraged to apply. The Sara Clarke Kaplan Predoctoral Fellowship does not consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories as part of the application and selection process.

Application Materials

Application for the fellowship includes completing an application form online and uploading a combined PDF with the following materials:

1. Project description (no more than 1200 words), including timetable for completion
2. Curriculum vitae
3. UCSD transcript (unofficial)

Notification and Acceptance: Fellowship award notifications are usually disseminated at the end of April by email.   

Please address questions to: Lorraine Makone, Associate Director, Black Studies Project, bsp@ucsd.edu

NO CALL CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR AY 2026/2027

To receive additional funding call notifications please subscribe to the BSP listserv at the banner below. 

BSP Faculty Fellowships are intended to help faculty make significant progress on a major research project by providing one course release and the opportunity to share their work with an interdisciplinary cadre of colleagues in the field of Black Studies. Eligible applicants must be ladder-rank, Senate faculty conducting research in African American, African, and/or African Diaspora Studies. Preference will be given to scholarship that explicitly engages the critical themes and key questions of the Black Studies Project (see below).

In addition to advancing their research and/or writing, BSP Faculty Fellows are expected to regularly attend BSP events and to participate in the BSP Faculty seminars. Each Faculty Fellow will be responsible for organizing two workshop sessions for participants to give and receive feedback, including one on their own work. An additional stipend is provided to help fellows plan workshops and BSP directors will assist in this process. Faculty Fellows must be in residence during the fellowship term. While the award provides teaching release, it does not exempt the awardee from service and advising responsibilities. The award only releases faculty from one course during the academic year of award; it does not provide release from summer teaching, nor does it provide a salary supplement.

Black Studies Project @ UCSD

Black Studies Project (BSP) is an interdisciplinary, cross-divisional formation for collaborative and innovative research, intellectual exchange, and student engagement in the field of Black Studies. By convening faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from across campus and throughout the UC system, BSP creates opportunities for expansive and trenchant conversations at the intersections of Black feminist and queer studies, transnational and Diasporic studies, and the study of Black social movements. Through our programming, research funding, and sponsored intellectual collaborations, BSP explores how contemporary social, political, cultural, and economic shifts in the US and globally require scholars, community activists, and campus leaders to collectively reimagine the field of Black Studies. 

Application Materials:

Application for the fellowship includes completing an application form online and uploading a combined PDF with the following materials:

1. Project description (1200 words maximum), including:
   1. The significance and contribution to existing scholarship in Black Studies;
   2. Any engagement with Black Studies Project's three areas of focus (Intersectional Analysis of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality; Transnational and Diasporic Studies; Social Justice Movements);
   3. Your research and/or writing aims for the term of the fellowship.
2. Workshop proposal, including:
   1. A brief description of the specific work you plan to share with an interdisciplinary group of Black Studies scholars;
   2. Potential scholars on or off our campus who you would be interested in inviting to share their scholarship at the BSP Faculty seminar.
3. Curriculum vitae (3 pages maximum)
4. Letter from the applicant's department chair, indicating approval of release time if an award is made and attesting to the timeliness of writing seminar and course release in helping applicant to complete the project in order to further their career goals.

All eligible faculty are encouraged to apply. The BSP Faculty Fellowship program does not consider race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories as part of the application and selection process.

Notification and Acceptance:

Fellowship award notifications are usually disseminated by the end of April.

Questions about the faculty fellowship program can be addressed to Lorraine Makone at bsp@ucsd.edu.