Nominations open for Carter Manny Awards (US and Canada)

As a predoctoral award program dedicated exclusively to architectural scholarship, the Award recognizes emerging scholars whose work promises to challenge and reshape contemporary discourse and impact the field at large. Eligible dissertation projects must focus on architecture, though scholarly investigations may be grounded in a range of academic disciplines and fields of inquiry that align with the mission of the Graham Foundation. These include: architecture and architectural history; art and art history; design; engineering; landscape architecture; urbanism; and other related fields. The award assists PhD candidates enrolled in graduate programs in architecture, art history, the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences working on architecture topics.

Types of Award 

• The Graham Foundation offers two Carter Manny Awards: one for a PhD candidate at the research stage of the doctoral dissertation and one for a PhD candidate at the writing stage of the doctoral dissertation:
  • Research Award: The Research Award assists PhD candidates with research that is essential to the doctoral project. The Research Award can be used for travel, documentation, materials, supplies, and other research and development costs. Applicants for a Research Award must articulate research goals through a clearly defined work plan that outlines travel, archival visits, and research methods, among other requirements.
  • Writing Award: The Writing Award supports the timely completion of the PhD by assisting advanced doctoral candidates during the final stages of dissertation writing. While some of the award funds may be used to conclude research, the award is primarily intended to support and facilitate a period of uninterrupted writing. Applicants for a Writing Award must submit a writing sample (excerpt from a dissertation chapter), a dissertation table of contents, and a writing schedule, among other requirements.

Funding Information

• Research Award: up to $20,000.
• Writing Award: up to $25,000.

Eligibility Criteria 

• PhD candidates – students who have completed all required coursework and exams and have had their dissertation proposal formally approved by their academic department – are eligible for nomination by their academic department to apply for the Carter Manny Award.
• To apply:
  • A PhD candidate must be nominated by their academic department for the Carter Manny Award.
  • A department may nominate up to two candidates per cycle: one for the Research Award and one for the Writing Award. To nominate a candidate, an academic department must provide a nomination letter that confirms the candidate’s eligibility for the award, including that the candidate has completed all coursework; advanced to PhD candidacy; and that the proposed dissertation has been formally approved by the department. This letter must be submitted as part of the application.
  • A PhD candidate may be renominated for the Carter Manny Award if a previous application was not successful. However, a PhD candidate who received a Research Award or a Writing Award is not eligible to be nominated for another Carter Manny Award.
  • The award is open to PhD candidates officially enrolled in schools in the United States and Canada, regardless of citizenship.

For more information, visit Graham Foundation.