Summary and Goal of the Program:  

To provide intellectual and research advice, mentoring, and networking opportunities to 10 doctoral candidates pursuing studies related to the fields of nonprofit, philanthropic, voluntary action, or civil society studies. 

Award: 

• Awardees will receive the following:  
• Complimentary conference registration (at the student early-bird rate)  
• One night of conference lodging (for Wednesday night) 
• Dinner on Wednesday   

Eligibility: 

The ARNOVA Doctoral Fellows Program is open to all doctoral students whose dissertation research focuses on a topic related to the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, voluntary action, or civil society. Students will be divided into sub-groups at the conference according to their dissertation topic/method/theory. 

Preference will be given to students who are earlier in the dissertation process. The ideal candidate for the program is a student who recently defended their dissertation proposal or who will have successfully defended their proposal by November 2025.  

Students who are offered and accept a spot in the ARNOVA Doctoral Fellows Program must commit to sharing a 10-page document and a 10 minute video presentation with the faculty members by October 3rd. Students must also commit to attend the half-day pre-conference Doctoral Fellows Seminar on Wednesday from 1pm-8pm. 

Application Requirement and Submission: 

All applications must be submitted electronically in a single PDF formatted file (which includes the dissertation description and the letter of recommendation) to assure their integrity. 

• A cover sheet including the student’s name, university affiliation, email and mailing addresses, and dissertation title. The coversheet should also indicate the date the student defended (or will defend) their dissertation proposal.  

• A 3 page (single-spaced) description of the dissertation research.  

• A brief statement regarding how the student expects to benefit from participation in the seminar (2,000 character limit). 

• A letter of recommendation from the dissertation advisor or other committee member who can speak to the student’s research. The letter should include a statement regarding defense of the dissertation proposal (e.g. when the proposal was/will be defended). The letter can also indicate the type of feedback that might be most helpful to the student. 

Please submit your proposal to the Doctoral Fellows Program Committee Chair, Dr. Rebecca Nesbit by the following deadlines.