Our Fellowships
Application periods
February 16, 2026 – January 4, 2027:
The Levy/Sloan Fellowship
June 1, 2026 – January 4, 2027:
The Biography Fellowship
The David Levering Lewis Biography Fellowship
The Martin J. Sherwin Biography Fellowship
The Leon Levy Center for Biography offers several annual fellowships to support the research and writing of outstanding biographies. These include special fellowships for CUNY dissertation students and the Sloan Fellowship for biographies of scientists.
Note: Non-U.S. citizens will need to establish their eligibility for a U.S. visa under current administration rules.
Have questions about the application process? Visit our FAQ page.
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The Leon Levy Center for Biography offers four resident fellowships each year (September – May). Fellows receive:
A $72,000 stipend
Private writing space at the CUNY Graduate Center
Full access to research facilities
Research assistance
Fellows focus on their biography projects, take part in monthly seminars, and participate in public events, including the annual lecture and conference. They are also encouraged to engage with the CUNY Graduate Center’s vibrant intellectual community.
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The Leon Levy Center for Biography offers one resident Levy/Sloan fellowship each year (September – May). Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Sloan Fellowship supports the writing of a biography on a figure from science or technology. Fellows receive:
A $72,000 stipend
Private writing space at the CUNY Graduate Center
Full access to research facilities
Research assistance
Fellows focus on their biography projects, take part in monthly seminars, and participate in public events, including the annual lecture and conference. They are also encouraged to engage with the CUNY Graduate Center’s vibrant intellectual community.
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The Martin J. Sherwin Biography Fellowship in Nuclear Age History is a summer residency fellowship for biographers and historians writing about influential figures in nuclear-age science, politics, and diplomacy.
Fellows receive:
A $20,000 stipend to support their work during the summer fellowship period
Optional use of private writing space at the CUNY Graduate Center
Full access to research facilities
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Applicants interested in the David Levering Lewis Biography Fellowship should submit a Biography Fellowship application and check the box “Consider my application for the David Levering Lewis Biography Fellowship.” A separate application is not required, and applicants may be considered for both fellowships.
The David Levering Lewis Biography Fellowship will support biographers and historians writing about the African Diaspora.
David Levering Lewis is professor emeritus of history at New York University. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal, Lewis received the Pulitzer Prize for each volume of his W. E. B. Du Bois biography. He is the author of eleven books and lives in New York City.
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Application forms are available from the Provost’s Office, which receives submissions and coordinates review with the Leon Levy Center.
The Leon Levy Center for Biography awards Dissertation Fellowships to two Ph.D. candidates at the CUNY Graduate Center each year.
Open to students from any discipline, but the dissertation must focus on biography.
Fellows receive writing space and take part in monthly biography seminars.
Attendance at the Center’s annual lecture and conference is expected.
Application materials include:
Statement of purpose (to the Leon Levy Center for Biography)
Dissertation proposal and bibliography
Two letters of reference
Curriculum vitae (CV)
Who can apply?
While our selection committees evaluate each application on its own merits, preference in the award of fellowships is given to those who have not yet published a biography or received fellowships for the writing of a biography. But we also welcome applications from mid-career and senior writers who are undertaking a biography. The Leon Levy Center for Biography does not award fellowships for memoirs, essays, plays, films, or fiction.
Application Requirements
Applications require a brief CV or resume (3 pages max), a narrative account of the applicant’s career (250 words), a project description (750 words), a sample of the proposed biography (maximum 2,500 words), and two letters of reference. Applicants are discouraged from seeking letters from their agents, editors, or publishers. Only online/digital applications will be accepted.
“The Leon Levy fellowship was a terrific experience for me, especially since I work out of my own home ordinarily and don’t get much feedback. I particularly liked the informal discussions of biography and biographers and I think it may be the only place where you “workshop” a piece of your biography, the kind of supportive and detailed interaction that, as far as I know, is usually only given to fiction writers.”
— D.T. Max, 2011–2012 fellow, author of Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace (Viking, 2012).
“As a first-time biographer, I derived enormous benefit from the Leon Levy Center for Biography fellowship, not only because it provided a workplace and financial support (two very important factors), but because it put me in regular contact with other biographers, some of whom had significantly more experience working in the genre.”
— Susan Bernofsky, 2012–2013 fellow, writing a biography of Robert Walser, the Swiss modernist author.