COVID-19 and Wenner-Gren Foundation Funding

At the Wenner-Gren Foundation, we are deeply concerned about the impact of the global coronavirus epidemic on those we serve.   It’s harder than ever to be an anthropologist, and yet our research is more relevant than ever.   We have an ethical duty as a Foundation to protect the safety of the anthropologists we fund and the broader communities affected by their projects.  But we also have an ethical duty to help our discipline survive and thrive.   Given our limited resources, we are being forced to make hard choices.  At the same time, we are eager to support anthropologists who are seeking new ways to do their work in these strange and uncertain times.

Over the coming months, we will take the following measures so we can continue to award grants and fellowships:

  • We are proceeding with our review of applications for the Dissertation Fieldwork and Post-PhD Research Grants submitted at the November 1, 2019 deadline. Applicants will have an opportunity to submit additional information on how their plans have changed.  The Foundation will be in touch directly with each eligible applicant with more information on the process and timeline.

 

  • With much regret, we will not be accepting applications for Dissertation Fieldwork and Post-PhD Research Grants at the May 1, 2020 deadline. This is a temporary pause.   We will be accepting applications for Dissertation Fieldwork and Post-PhD Research grants at the November 1, 2020 deadline.   We remain committed to funding the research of anthropologists at every stage in their careers.  For more information, see the Dissertation Fieldwork and Post-PhD Research Grant program pages.

 

  • We will be accepting applications for the Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Fejos Postdoctoral Fellowship at the May 1, 2020 deadline. Candidates for the Fejos are only eligible if they are able to complete their project safely and ethically, which may preclude applicants requiring additional research and/or filming.  For more information see the Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Fejos Postdoctoral Fellowship program pages.

 

  • We are launching a Global Initiatives Program that will support collaborative, capacity-building projects of benefit to the discipline. We encourage anyone interested in collaborating on a topic connected to the pandemic’s impact on anthropology to submit a letter of intent at the May 15, 2020 deadline.   For more information see the Global Initiatives Program page.

 

  • We will only be accepting Workshop Grant applications at our June 1, 2020 deadline. We will only be funding virtual events.  Applicants for Conference Grants should wait until our December 1, 2020 deadline, when we will run an expedited review process for events held in 2021. For more information see the Conference and Workshop Grants program page.

 

  • We will accept Wadsworth International Fellowship renewal applications at the July 1, 2020 deadline. For more information see the Wadsworth International Fellowship program page. We will accept Wadsworth African Fellowship applications at the December 15, 2020 deadline.  Click here for more information regarding the Wadsworth African Fellowship.

 

  • We will accept applications for Engaged Anthropology Research Grants at the August 1, 2020 deadline. However, we will only fund projects that the researcher can undertake safely and ethically, most likely through virtual forms of engagement.  See the Engaged Anthropology Grant program page for more information.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions.  In the meantime, we wish you and yours the best.   Please be well.