Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program

Pitt Nomination Limit: 2 (1 tenured, 1 untenured)
Website: https://carnegie.org/our-work/special-projects/andrew-carnegie-fellows/
Sponsor: Andrew Carnegie Foundation (formerly Carnegie Corporation of New York)
Pitt Internal Deadline: TBD
Sponsor Deadline: November (typically)
Award Amount: Up to $200,000 for a 12- or 24-month research project
Pitt Select Funder: Yes. Interested groups should contact PAE-CFR for more information.

About the Program

The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program funds humanities and social science scholarship on political polarization — how it manifests, what drives it, and how it might be mitigated. Beginning with the 2027 cohort, the program is expanding its lens beyond U.S.-only research to ask what the U.S. can learn from how other democracies have resisted, reversed, or failed to contain polarization.

Funding Information

Up to $200,000 per fellow, for a 12- or 24-month project. No indirect or overhead costs are allowed — the full grant goes to supporting the research. The fellowship must begin between June and September 2027, with no deferrals permitted. Fellows can choose to receive funds as an individual (1099) or have Pitt administer the award and handle tax reporting.

Eligibility

• Must be a U.S. citizen or legal U.S. resident
• Must hold a PhD or other terminal degree (JD, MD, MFA, etc.), or be a senior professional/intellectual without a terminal degree but with exceptional relevant experience
• Must be nominated by Pitt's president — deans cannot nominate and self-nomination is not allowed
• One tenured and one untenured scholar may be nominated; "untenured" includes both tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty
• For schools without tenure, "tenured" = terminal degree earned more than 10 years before the deadline; "untenured" = 10 years or less
• Candidates nominated in 2026 or earlier may reapply once during the 2027–2029 cycle; candidates selected in 2027 cannot be renominated in 2028 or 2029
• Cannot hold another fellowship of comparable size/prestige on an overlapping timeline (smaller grants are fine, case by case)

What the Sponsor Will Not Fund

• Overhead or administrative/indirect costs of any kind
• Deferred fellowship start dates (must begin by September 1, 2027 at the latest)
• Self-nominated candidates
• A third nomination beyond the one tenured/one untenured limit

Internal Selection Process

Pitt must nominate faculty for this opportunity. If you are interested in being considered as a nominee, please see the limited submission guidelines before submitting a pre-application to InfoReady. 

1. Interested investigators should submit the following materials via InfoReady by: TBA
   • An abbreviated CV (five pages max)
   • TBA
2. Internal applicants will be peer-reviewed on the following criteria:
   • Originality and promise of the idea
   • Quality of the proposal
   • Promise to address harmful polarization or enhance social cohesion
   • Record of the nominee
   • Plans to communicate findings to a broad audience beyond the candidate's own discipline

Key Dates