Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research
Division of Research Programs
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The Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research program makes awards to institutions and organizations conducting empirical field research to answer significant questions in the humanities. Archaeology and ethnography are important methodologies utilized by many disciplines across the humanities and social sciences that provide observational and experiential data on human history and culture.
Archaeological methods may include field survey and field-based remote sensing, documentation or visualization, and/or excavations in support of answering research questions in all aspects of the human past, including but not limited to ancient studies, anthropology, art history, classical studies, regional studies, epigraphy, and other related disciplines. Ethnographic methods may include participant observation, surveys and interviews, and documentation or recording in pursuit of research questions in anthropology, ethnolinguistics, oral history, ethnomusicology, performance studies, folklore studies, and related disciplines.
Projects may be led by individuals with institutional affiliation or by teams of collaborating scholars from the same or multiple eligible institutions. Awards provide up to three years of support for fieldwork and data processing. While the ultimate expectation of such awards is the dissemination of results through publications and other media, this program supports costs related to fieldwork such as travel, accommodation, and equipment as well as compensation for field staff and salary replacement for the project director and collaborating scholars. Applicants interested in publishing the results of field research are encouraged to apply to one of NEH’s individual fellowship programs or Collaborative Research.
Program staff hosted a webinar for prospective applicants on August 10. A recording of the webinar is available here.
Begin by reading the notice of funding opportunity. You want to ensure you understand all the expectations and restrictions for projects delivered under this program and are prepared to write the most effective application.
Download Application Materials
Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research Notice of Funding Opportunity (PDF)
Archaeological and Ethnographic Field Research Grants.gov application package
Program Resources
As soon as you know you're ready to apply for an award, make sure you register for a D-U-N-S number, with SAM.gov, and with Grants.gov account as this is vital to the grant application process. If you already have registered for these items, make sure they are up to date.
Be sure to follow the instructions outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and in the Grants.gov instructions.
You will receive a confirmation from Grants.gov when you've successfully submitted your application.
After you submit your application, Grants.gov will send you up to five e-mail messages confirming receipt of your application. These messages represent different stages in the application acceptance process. You should verify that you have received all confirmation messages. Please note that email filters may send these messages to your spam or junk folder.