AIS Dissertation Completion Fellowship
The Association for Israel Studies’ Dissertation Completion Fellowship is for outstanding doctoral students in any field of Israel Studies. The fellowship aims to provide support to doctoral students for the final stages of the completion of their dissertation. Based upon its commitment to fostering multidisciplinary research about Israel, these fellowships constitute recognition of the contribution and potential of an emerging scholar.
One fellowship, in the amount of $1,500, will be offered annually to an outstanding doctoral student, chosen by a committee of AIS-member scholars. The fellowship is offered for a single year only, as it is aimed at providing assistance for the final stages of doctoral work only. Students are expected to complete their dissertations during the completion year. The grantee will be asked to acknowledge the source of funding in all publications that rely on the funds of the AIS scholarship.
ELIGIBILITY
The AIS dissertation completion fellowship will be available to students at universities in any country who:
• Have completed all departmental and university requirements (obtained ABD status).
• Have completed an approved dissertation prospectus.
• Have completed two draft dissertation chapters (or one draft article for students in fields where the dissertation consists of three articles), confirmed by the dissertation advisor.
• Are current members of the AIS at the time of application.
• Eligible dissertations may be written in English or Hebrew.
APPLICATIONS
Applications and should include:
• A cover letter (up to 1500 words) describing:
- The purpose, objective and rationale for the research project.
- The methodology or methodologies employed.
- Major findings of the dissertation and their importance/ contribution to the field of Israel Studies.
• A chapter of the dissertation.
• A bibliography (no more than 2–3 pages).
• A one-page timeline outlining the schedule for completing and successfully defending the dissertation within the fellowship year.
• Three letters of recommendation, one of which must be from the student’s doctoral adviser/supervisor.
• Professional CV and a full list of publications.
• Status Confirmation Form to be completed by department chair or director of graduate studies.
Applications must be written in English (even if the dissertation itself is in a different language). The materials should be emailed in a single PDF attachment comprising all aspects of the application (with the exception of letters of recommendation). Send to the Chair of the Dissertation Completion Fellowship Committee – Prof. Niva Golan Nadir, niva.golan@post.runi.ac.il by February 15, 2026.
Recommenders can submit their letters of recommendation by emailing them as attachments to the same email address. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
2025
Liat Daudi for her dissertation An Ethnography of Waste Disposal in Israel: Masculinity, Ethnonationalism, Labor Relations and Environment (Tel Aviv University) and Einat Kramer for her dissertation Between Theology and Environmental Practice: The Development of Environmental Discourse and Action in Israel through the Lens of Shemitah Amid the Climate Crisis (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
2024
Mordy Miller for his dissertation Interactions Between Kabbalah and Political Ideologies Amongst Jewish-Orthodoxy in the State of Israel in the Late 20th Century and Early 21st Century (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev).
Honorable mention goes to Leehee Rothschild for her dissertation Israeli Polyamorous and Queer Families in Practice: Living Arrangements, Child Rearing and Law. (Manchester Metropolitan University).