Grants

Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment for Archaeological Field Surveys

Archaeological Institute of America

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Deadline: November 1, 2025

Announced: By March 1

Amount: up to $4,500

Purpose: The Julie Herzig Desnick Endowment provides grants to archaeologists to start new archaeological survey projects. The awards are intended for projects involving field survey on the ground or a combination of field survey and remote sensing methods, rather than those based entirely on satellite imagery or other remote sensing data. Geophysical survey projects are also eligible. While all are encouraged to apply, preference will be given to archaeologists at an early stage in their careers (within 8 years of the receipt of the PhD).

Projects may concern any location in the world and any time period. Each project should make innovative use of technology, and the fieldwork proposed should be designed to address important questions about the human past.

Requirements:

• Applicants must be AIA members at the graduate student or professional level at the time of application, with a PhD in archaeology or a related field, and are expected to have an academic affiliation.
• Applicants should either be the primary permit holder for the project proposed, or if the applicant is not the primary permit holder, the application should be accompanied by a letter of support from the primary permit holder. Awardees must have the permit in hand before funds will be disbursed.
• Awardees should submit a photo and a brief project description (one to three sentences) for inclusion on the AIA website and social media at the time the award is made.
• Awardees must make a formal report to the AIA at the conclusion of the award period. This report should include a brief illustrated summary, written for a general audience, that can be published on the AIA’s website.
• Awardees are expected to submit poster or fieldwork abstracts for presentation at the Annual Meeting (submissions will be evaluated in the general pool, and acceptance is not guaranteed).

Review the Follow-Up Check List for previous winners.

Non-Discrimination Statement

The AIA welcomes applicants of all backgrounds and is committed to equal opportunity for all. Under no circumstances will the AIA discriminate against qualified individuals on the basis of race, color, religious creed, retaliation, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, disability, mental illness, genetics, marital status, age, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.

Fieldwork And Families

As part of the Archaeological Institute of America’s ongoing commitment to fieldwork and families, reasonable line items for the care of dependent and elderly family members are allowable expenses for AIA grants, fellowships, and scholarships.

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Application Process

• Applications should be submitted via the online form accessible below
• All supplementary documents should be uploaded as PDF files
• Applicants must prepare a budget using the provided budget template which should be converted to PDF before submission. NOTE: AIA funds CANNOT be used to cover overhead or PI salaries.

Proposals will be reviewed according to the following criteria (roughly in this order of importance):

• The fit between the project and the mission of the Herzig Desnick Endowment
• The impact the research will have on our understanding of the past
• The feasibility of the project itself (how realistic its methods and goals are, in conjunction with its budget and timeline)
• The possession of, or the documented ability to acquire, the necessary permits
• The impact support from the Herzig Desnick Endowment will have on the overall success of the project (we assume that few projects will derive all their support from this source alone)
• The level of innovation in the use of technology
• The qualifications of the applicant (training, demonstrated research productivity, knowledge of/experience in the research region)
• The quality and feasibility of the publication plan, and (if digital data are involved) of the data management plan

Application Form

Recipients

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