The Mellon/SAR Academic Freedom Fellowships support early-career researchers developing work on academic freedom and related higher-education values. Scholars at Risk runs the remote program with support from the Mellon Foundation and other donors.
The 2026–27 cycle offered a global track for comparative, international, or non-US country research and a United States track for research focused on US academic freedom. Fellows complete an individual project, join monthly online workshops, and contribute to a professional research community.
Benefits & funding
- An approximately USD 8,000 stipend for research, publication, or other project costs.
- A 10-month remote fellowship running from September 2026 through June 2027 for the most recent cycle.
- Monthly online workshops for progress sharing and peer feedback.
- Access to SAR programming and networking with academic-freedom experts and partners.
- Support to produce a substantial output such as a publication, course, workshop, webinar, or related product, plus exploration of a collaborative cohort output.
Eligibility
- Applicants should be early-career researchers with a PhD awarded within the previous eight years.
- Final-stage doctoral candidates may be considered in limited cases, and applicants beyond the eight-year window may request an exception for career gaps or interruptions.
- Applicants must have a current research or teaching affiliation with a higher-education institution, association, or research organization.
- Applicants must demonstrate interest in teaching, researching, or publishing on academic freedom or related higher-education values.
- Fellows must commit to monthly remote workshops from September 2026 through June 2027 and be able to receive the stipend lawfully and complete the program from their current country.
- Personal experience of risk is not required. Applicants from the Global South, marginalized communities, and current or former at-risk researchers were strongly encouraged, but these were preferences rather than eligibility restrictions.
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Application process
- 1Choose either the Global Mellon Academic Freedom Fellowship track or the US Academic Freedom Fellowship track.
- 2Combine an abstract of 250–500 words, a research plan and 10-month timeline of no more than two pages, and a CV of no more than two pages with two professional references into one PDF.
- 3Complete the online short-answer questions on objectives, output format, dissemination, audience, security risks and mitigation, and assessment, with a maximum of 300 words for each response.
- 4Submit the online form by the stated deadline; the 2026–27 application form is now closed.
Program timeline
Applicant Q&A webinar.
May 7, 2026
May 29, 2026
Application deadline for the 2026–27 cycle.
Decisions expected.
Early July 2026
Fellowship period and monthly workshops begin.
September 2026
Fellowship period ends.
June 2027