Wenner-Gren Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research “works to support all branches of anthropology and closely related disciplines concerned with human biological and cultural origins, development, and variation.” The majority of grants support individual research for scholars, including dissertation fieldwork grants, general research grants for Ph.D. and post-doctoral scholars, and other efforts that contribute to anthropological scholarship. Other areas of focus are conferences, workshops and symposia.

IP TAKE: Wenner-Gren considers advancing the field of anthropology to be its driving focus. This transparent funder has clear application procedures and posts its financials and annual reports on its website. The Foundation invites prospective grantees to reach out with questions or general inquiries. Groundbreaking U.S. anthropologists and anthropology Ph.D. programs in countries where the field is underrepresented and underfunded should keep this funder on their radar.

PROFILE: The Wenner-Gren Foundation is committed to “playing a leadership role in anthropology. [It] help[s] anthropologists advance anthropological knowledge, build sustainable careers, and amplify the impact of anthropology within the wider world. [It] dedicate[s] [itself] to broadening the conversation in anthropology to reflect the full diversity of the field.” The foundation ultimately has “three major goals: to support significant and innovative anthropological research into humanity's biological and cultural origins, development, and variation; to foster the international community of research scholars in anthropology; and to provide leadership at the forefronts of the discipline.”

Grants for Humanities Research

Individual research receives support from the foundation, but grants are also allocated to enrich the field through everything from conference support and fellowship funding to international symposia. Wenner-Gren has multiple grant opportunities for dissertations and postdoctoral research projects, as well as engaged anthropology projects. For Wenner-Gren, "engaged anthropology" is that which "enable[s] grantees to return to their research locale to share their research results with [t]he community in which the research was conducted, and/or [t]he academic/anthropological community in the region or country of research."

Grants that support dissertation research reach up to $25,000, and support candidates at universities across the U.S. while post-doctoral research grants max out at $25,000.

The foundation also supports Wadsworth International Fellowships that provide $20,000 for grantees each year for anthropology students “from countries where anthropology is underrepresented and where there are limited resources to send students overseas for training,” as well as one in the same amount specifically for anthropology students at higher education institutions in South Africa.

In addition to research and writing support, funding is also available for conferences and workshops, as well as Global Initiatives and Historical Archive grants, and SAPIENS Public Fellowships. Beyond the projects and efforts it funds, the foundation also hosts its own Wenner-Gren Symposia and is the founder and an ongoing supporter of Current Anthropology, a leading scholarly journal in the field.

Important Grant Details:

Grants range overall from $5,000 to $50,000, and $20,000 is the most common amount.

  • For more details about the foundation’s specific funding areas, Wenner-Gren’s interactive grants database is searchable by location, academic discipline, keyword, year and grant type.

  • The foundation also maintains a blog and an extensive FAQ page that include tips on how to apply for funding.

  • Just as important as what the foundation does fund is that which it usually does not support. Specifically, the foundation does not allocate funding for translation, non-academic photography or filmmaking, help with publication, or to support NGOs.

  • In addition, if you want support in the areas of “filling in” cultural knowledge, applied anthropology, primatology or linguistics, be particularly attentive to the foundation’s expectations in terms of aligning your work with its mission and objectives.

Application procedures vary by program; potential applicants should consult individual program pages for guidelines.

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