The Post-PhD Research Grant is the Wenner-Gren Foundation’s award for individual research projects by scholars who already hold a doctorate in anthropology. The New York–based foundation funds anthropology worldwide.
Any subfield, method, topic or location qualifies, and projects that bridge two or more subfields are especially welcome. Grantees carry out their own fieldwork, lab, archival or museum research wherever the project requires.
Benefits & funding
- Up to US$25,000 per grant; nonrenewable.
- No limit on grant length; separate research phases (e.g. two summers) can be funded if the design calls for them.
- Covers direct research costs such as travel, fieldwork living expenses, research assistance, childcare and participant compensation.
- Excludes your salary, institutional overhead, family members’ costs and writing or publication expenses.
Eligibility
- A doctorate in anthropology (socio-cultural, linguistic, biological, archaeology, or the local equivalent) held when you apply; or a doctorate in a related field plus an academic appointment in anthropology.
- Any nationality or institutional affiliation; independent and senior scholars may apply.
- Only one application under consideration at Wenner-Gren at a time, across all its programs.
- Holders of an earlier Wenner-Gren award must first complete all its requirements, including final reports.
- A declined application may be resubmitted once only.
- Primatology and language-structure projects must show broader anthropological relevance.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Education required
PhD
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Application process
- 1Apply in English through the online portal, which opens two months before the deadline.
- 2Give two research designs, an in-person Plan A and a remote Plan B; skipping Plan B makes you ineligible.
- 3No reference letters are required or accepted.
- 4Submit by May 1, midnight US Eastern Time; resubmissions add a statement answering the reviewers.
- 5If funded, copies of research permits are required before funds are released.
Program timeline
last deadline (closed)
May 1, 2026
portal opens
Around March 1, 2027
application deadline
May 1, 2027
decisions
Shortly after November 1, 2027
January 1 – December 31, 2028
funded projects may start