The Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants program awards relatively small grants to support the planning stages of innovative projects that promise to benefit the humanities.

Proposals should be for the planning or initial stages of digital initiatives in any area of the humanities. Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants may involve

• research that brings new approaches or documents best practices in the study of the digital humanities;
• planning and developing prototypes of new digital tools for preserving, analyzing, and making accessible digital resources, including libraries’ and museums’ digital assets;
• scholarship that focuses on the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture and its impact on society;
• scholarship or studies that examine the philosophical or practical implications and impact of the use of emerging technologies in specific fields or disciplines of the humanities, or in interdisciplinary collaborations involving several fields or disciplines;
• innovative uses of technology for public programming and education utilizing both traditional and new media; and
• new digital modes of publication that facilitate the dissemination of humanities scholarship in advanced academic as well as informal or formal educational settings at all academic levels.

Program Statistics

In its last five competitions the Digital Humanities Start-up Grants program received an average of 151 applications per competition. The program made an average of 26 awards per competition, for a funding ratio of 17 percent.

The number of applications to an NEH grant program can vary widely year to year, as can the funding ratio. Information about the average number of applications and awards in recent competitions is meant only to provide historical context for the current competition. Information on the number of applications and awards in individual competitions is available from odh@neh.gov.