Through its Higher Learning grantmaking area, the Mellon Foundation has announced a new Call for Concepts. This year’s call invites humanities-grounded ideas for research and/or curricular projects focused on either of the following two areas:

• Unruly Intelligences
• Normalization and Its Discontents
  

Grants may be for $250,000–$500,000 over a duration of up to four years. The University of Minnesota may submit up to three applications from the Duluth campus and up to three applications from the Twin Cities campus. The Institute for Advanced Study will coordinate the University’s internal review, selection, and endorsement process.

Overview of Process & Deadlines

Detailed registration and application instructions are below.

• Step 1: Register with the Mellon Foundation. Deadline: Monday, December 1, 2025 by 2:00 p.m. CST
• Step 2: Submit concept to the IAS. Deadline: Friday, January 16, 2026 by 11:59 p.m. CST. The IAS will select applications for submission to the Mellon Foundation, notify applicants, and arrange for endorsement letters.
• Step 3: Submit application to the Mellon Foundation. Deadline: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 by 2:00 p.m. CST
• Step 4: Submit proposal to the Mellon Foundation. Deadline likely to be September 2026. Finalists will be invited by the Mellon Foundation in Summer 2026 to develop final proposals for consideration at a late fall Mellon Board meeting.

Eligibility

• The PI should be a faculty member and/or dean in a program or department in the humanities or humanistic social sciences, or the institution’s provost/chief academic officer.
• Other fields of study that might fall into a professional college, yet may incorporate humanities-based perspectives and methodologies are also eligible. Examples include Architecture (historical or theoretical), Environmental Studies, Musicology, Performance Studies, and Urban Studies. See guidelines for more information.