The Hart Fellowship in Tamil Studies

The Hart Fellowship for Tamil Studies, established with a generous contribution from Professor George Hart and Professor Kausalya Hart, both cornerstones of Tamil Studies at UC Berkeley, supports graduate students pursuing research projects focusing on Tamil studies. The fund provides for grants of up to $2000 for research travel to South Asia (one will be awarded) and $500 for domestic conference travel or in-country library research (one will be awarded). Priority will be given to mid-career graduate students conducting research toward a Masters thesis or dissertation proposal. Graduate students at UC Berkeley and other University of California campuses will be given priority.

The application process will begin on February 1, 2024 with the deadline for submission of application materials for travel to take place during the summer of 2024 (i.e., May through August 2024) or the 2024-25 academic year (i.e. August 2024 through May 2025), is April 1, 2024 by 5 pm.

Before starting your application, please make sure to have the following documents ready.

APPLICATION PORTAL FOR RESEARCH TRAVEL

 APPLICATION PORTAL FOR CONFERENCE TRAVEL

In your application for IN-COUNTRY LIBRARY or RESEARCH TRAVEL, please include the following:

  1. A cover letter stating the need for travel (750 words or less)
  2. A 2-page project proposal (double-spaced) (PDF format)
  3. A budget (only for research) (PDF format)
  4. A CV (PDF format)
  5. One letter of support from your advisor (PDF, sent by the recommenders directly)
  6. Please Note:
    • One award of upto $500 will be given for In-Country Library Research
    • One award of upto $2000 will be given for Research Travel to South Asia

CONFERENCE TRAVEL is only available for presenting your own research. In your application for conference travel, please include:

  1. A cover letter with information of the conference (500 words or less)
  2. If available, a print out or copy of the conference schedule showing your presentation listing (PDF format)
  3. An abstract of your presentation (PDF format)
  4. A CV (PDF format)
  5. Please Note:
    • Applicants may apply before their panels/papers are accepted. Disbursement of the money will be conditional on acceptance of paper by a panel/conference.
    • Awardees will be reimbursed up to $500 of their travel expenses upon presentation of copies of air-tickets/panel registration forms.

Please submit applications through the application portals provided above. Emailed applications will not be accepted. For questions, please email: Puneeta Kala at pkala@berkeley.edu

Topics

Funding topic page, Graduate Students topic page

The Berkeley Tamil Initiative

The Hart and Bodha Pravaham Fellowships Awardees