USA Scholarships
Cullman Center Fellowship 2027 - $90,000 at the NYPL
The Cullman Center Fellowship 2027-2028 competition is open now, and it offers something almost nobody else does: an office inside the New York Public Library and nine uninterrupted months to use it. The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers appoints fifteen Fellows a year, pays each of them a stipend of $90,000, and hands over a desk with a computer plus full access to the Library's physical and electronic resources. The term runs September through May, and the Library expects you there five days a week, Monday to Friday, working primarily at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street rather than at other Library divisions. That expectation is the whole design. The Center funds projects that genuinely draw on those research collections, so the strongest applications explain exactly which holdings the book needs and why it cannot be written anywhere else. Who applies is deliberately broad: academics, independent scholars, novelists, playwrights, poets, and visual artists whose projects require extensive use of the collections. The programme is international, and work in languages other than English is welcome provided you are conversant in English and submit your materials in it. Two groups are ruled out, and both catch people every year. Fellowships are not granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows, nor to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research. Applications close 25 September 2026 at 5pm EDT, notifications go out in March 2027, and the award period runs 7 September 2027 to 26 May 2028.
What is the Cullman Center Fellowship?
The Cullman Center Fellowship buys a writer the one thing money usually cannot: nine months where the only job is the book. The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers sits inside the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue, and each year it appoints fifteen Fellows, gives each one an office with a computer, full run of the Library's physical and electronic resources, and a stipend of $90,000. Colson Whitehead was a Fellow in 2007-2008 and his entire published verdict on the experience was "Can I come back???", which tells you most of what you need to know about how the year feels from the inside.
The programme is unusually catholic about who counts. Academics apply alongside independent scholars with no institutional home at all, and alongside novelists, playwrights and poets. Visual artists are welcome where the project requires extensive use of the collections, which in practice means artists at work on a book. What unites them is not credentials but dependence: the Center funds projects that draw on the research collections of that specific building, and a proposal that could be written from a university library three states away is not a Cullman proposal. The most useful hours you can spend before applying are in the collection listings at nypl.org, working out precisely which holdings your book needs and why.
Two exclusions catch people every single year, and both are stated flatly in the guidelines rather than buried. Fellowships are not granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows. They are not granted to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research. If you are a postdoc with an academic project or a doctoral candidate finishing a thesis, no amount of proposal-polishing changes the outcome. A third restriction is narrower but absolute: to avoid conflicts of interest the Center takes no applications from NYPL staff or their partners, or from anyone active on the Library's Board of Trustees, Board Advisory Committees or Library Council.
Then there is the commitment, which deserves reading twice before you apply. The Library expects Fellows at the Center five days a week, Monday through Friday, from September to May, working primarily at the Schwarzman Building. Absences over two days require notice to the Director or Deputy Director, and stipends are pro-rated for anyone who spends excessive time away. Other major professional obligations are off the table for the term, and research trips, conferences and speaking engagements have to stay short. That is not fine print, it is the mechanism: fifteen people in one place, talking to each other and to the public across the Library's programmes, for long enough that something gets finished. For the 2027-2028 year, applications close 25 September 2026 at 5pm EDT, with a research proposal, a CV, fresh letters of recommendation and any writing or artwork sample all due by then. Notification lands in March 2027, and the term runs 7 September 2027 to 26 May 2028. If you are mapping out residential and research fellowships for the same cycle, the Harvard Academy Scholars Program guide and the Reginald F. Lewis Fellowship guide cover two more. Guidelines and the application portal are linked from the official Cullman Center page.
Eligibility
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✓A project that needs the Schwarzman Building collectionsThe Center supports work drawing on the research collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Successful candidates work primarily there rather than at other divisions of the Library, so a proposal that could be written anywhere is the wrong proposal.
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✓A scholar, writer or visual artist with a book projectAcademics, independent scholars and creative writers including novelists, playwrights and poets are all in scope. Visual artists are welcome where the project requires extensive use of Library collections, and the NYPL frames that as artists at work on a book project.
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✓Not a post-doctoral fellow on an academic projectStated plainly in the guidelines: fellowships will not be granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows. If you are in a postdoc and the project is academic, this competition is closed to you, however strong the proposal.
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✓Not doing dissertation researchGraduate students working on doctoral dissertation research are excluded outright. The Center is funding people writing books for publication, not people completing degrees, and the distinction is enforced rather than interpreted loosely.
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✓Able to be in New York five days a weekThe Library expects Fellows at the Cullman Center Monday through Friday for the whole term. Anyone away more than two days has to notify the Director or Deputy Director, and stipends are pro-rated for Fellows who spend excessive time away. Treat this as a relocation.
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✓Free of other major professional obligationsFellows may not take on other major professional commitments during the term. A few prior commitments are tolerated, but research trips, scholarly meetings and speaking engagements have to be kept to short periods. Plan your year around the fellowship, not the other way round.
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✓Not connected to the LibraryTo avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest, the Center does not accept applications from New York Public Library staff members or their partners, or from anyone active on the Library's Board of Trustees, its Board Advisory Committees, or the Library Council.
Benefits
- Stipend $90,000 for the nine-month term
- Office space Your own office with a computer at the Center
- Library access Full access to physical and electronic resources
- Term 7 September 2027 to 26 May 2028
- Fellows appointed each year 15
- Housing or relocation costs Not stated as part of the award
- Time away from the Center Limited, and stipends are pro-rated for excessive absence
- Other major professional work Not permitted during the term
- A community of fifteen Academics, novelists, poets, playwrights and artists together
- Public forums Fellows present work in programmes across the Library
- The Schwarzman Building Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, five days a week
- An alumni list worth joining Past Fellows include Colson Whitehead and Hua Hsu
- Remote or part-time participation Not available, presence is the point
- Renewal Not offered, the fellowship is a single nine-month term
Document checklist
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✓A research proposalThe centre of the application. Name the specific collections at the Schwarzman Building your project depends on, and make the case that the work needs nine months in that building. Vague gestures at the Library's richness read as exactly that.
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✓A curriculum vitaeSubmitted through the online application portal alongside everything else. Because the pool mixes academics, novelists and artists, write it for a reader outside your own field rather than for a hiring committee in it.
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✓Letters of recommendationFresh letters only. The Cullman Center states outright that it will not accept dossier letters in place of new letters of recommendation, so an interfolio-style packet from your institution does not satisfy the requirement.
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✓A creative writing sample or artwork sampleRequired from applicants whose work calls for it, submitted with the rest of the application by the deadline. Choose the sample that best matches the proposed project rather than the piece with the best publication credit.
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✓Everything in EnglishApplications from people working in languages other than English are welcome, but the applicant must be conversant in English and all application materials have to be submitted in English. No translations are arranged for you.
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✓An account on the NYPL application portalThe whole submission runs through the online portal linked from the Cullman Center page. Completed applications and every supporting document must be in by 25 September 2026 at 5pm EDT, and nothing is accepted afterwards.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the Cullman Center Fellowship?
A nine-month residential fellowship at the New York Public Library, run by the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. Fifteen Fellows a year receive an office with a computer, full access to the Library's collections and a stipend, in exchange for spending the year writing a book that draws on the research collections of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The Center was endowed by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honour of Brooke Russell Astor.
How much is the Cullman Center Fellowship stipend?
$90,000 for the nine-month term. On top of the money comes an office with a computer inside the Center and full access to the Library's physical and electronic resources, which for a project built on those collections is worth a great deal on its own. Housing and relocation are not listed as part of the award, so budget New York accommodation separately.
Who can apply for the Cullman Center Fellowship?
Academics, independent scholars and creative writers including novelists, playwrights and poets, plus visual artists whose projects require extensive use of Library collections. The common thread is a project that genuinely needs the Schwarzman Building research collections. The programme is international, and applicants working in other languages are welcome so long as they are conversant in English and submit all materials in English.
When is the Cullman Center Fellowship deadline for 2027?
25 September 2026 at 5pm EDT for the 2027-2028 fellowship year. The guidelines say applications cannot be accepted after that moment, and everything has to be in by then: the research proposal, the CV, the letters of recommendation and any writing or artwork sample. Notification follows in March 2027, and the award period runs 7 September 2027 to 26 May 2028.
Can PhD students or postdocs apply for the Cullman Center Fellowship?
No, on both counts, and the guidelines are blunt about it. Fellowships will not be granted for academic projects to post-doctoral fellows, and they are not granted to applicants doing graduate-school dissertation research. The Center funds book projects rather than degree completion, so the exclusions rule out two of the groups who most often assume a library fellowship is aimed at them.
Do Cullman Center Fellows have to live in New York?
In practice, yes. The Library expects Fellows to work at the Cullman Center five days a week, Monday through Friday, for the full September to May term, and primarily at the Schwarzman Building rather than other divisions. Anyone away for more than two days must notify the Director or Deputy Director, and the Library pro-rates stipends for Fellows who spend excessive time away.
How many Cullman Center fellowships are awarded each year?
Fifteen. That small number, set against an international applicant pool spanning academia, publishing and the arts, is what makes the proposal do all the work. The Center also states that it seeks diversity in race, ethnicity, age, gender, field and type of project, and the mix of novelists, poets, historians and artists in any given cohort reflects that.
Can international applicants apply for the Cullman Center Fellowship?
Yes. The NYPL describes it as an international fellowship programme, open to anyone whose work will benefit directly from the collections at the Schwarzman Building. Applications from those working in languages other than English are welcomed on condition that the applicant is conversant in English and that all application materials are submitted in English. You will need to be physically in New York for the term.
Can you keep working during a Cullman Center Fellowship?
Not in any substantial way. Fellows may not accept other major professional obligations during the term. A few prior commitments are allowed, but research trips, scholarly meetings and speaking engagements must be limited to short periods, and absences beyond two days require notice. The fellowship is designed as nine months of protected writing time, and the Library enforces that with the stipend.
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