Archaeological Fellowships

 Application Form  Fellows

The CBA Office will begin accepting applications on SEPTEMBER 15th.

Application Deadline: November 15th 

CBA funds up to two fellowship awards annually of up to $5,000 each to support member participation in an archaeological excavation (or for work that bears directly on the excavation in lieu of participation, in the event that the dig has been canceled). 

Application Requirements

• Applicants must be either Full or Associate Members of the CBA in good standing or Graduate Student Members of the CBA working toward the doctorate (or S.S.L.) in biblical studies or in related areas.
• Applicants must have been accepted for a specific excavation that is institutionally affiliated and relevant to biblical studies.

Applicants must provide:

1. Application form, completed (revised 2026).
   The form includes a 300 (maximum) word description of the area of inquiry you intend to pursue in conjunction with the excavation or a statement about how participation in the excavation relates to an ongoing research project, and how participation in the excavation advances the purposes of the CBA (https://www.catholicbiblical.org/about-us).
2. Evidence of acceptance into an archaeological excavation.
3. A detailed budget.
4. A Curriculum Vitae (no more than two pages single-spaced).
5. One letter from an academic reference in support of the application sent to cba-office@cua.edu
   with the subject "[APPLICANT'S LAST NAME] Archaeological Fellowship reference".

PLEASE NOTE:

• All pages of the application, other than the completed form and the evidence of acceptance into an archaeological excavation, must be standard letter size
  (8.5x11 inches or A4), 12-pt. standard Roman font (e.g., New Times Roman).
• Citations (social science or humanities style) are included in page and word counts.
• The committee will not consider incomplete or incorrectly formatted applications.

Application Process

• Please note the following document naming protocol. 
  • If possible, all documents should be pdfs.
  • Documents for the Archaeological Fellowship should be named as follows (including the number):
    1.    APPLICANT’S LAST NAME-Application
    2.    APPLICANT’S LAST NAME-Dig
    3.    APPLICANT’S LAST NAME-Budget
    4.    APPLICANT’S LAST NAME-CV
• The four (4) completed application documents and one (1) reference letter must be submitted on or before NOVEMBER 15 to cba-office@cua.edu with the subject: Archaeological Fellowship Application, in order to be considered (the reference letter directly from the source should be attached to an e-mail to cba-office@cua.edu with the subject [Applicant's Name] Archaeological Fellowship Reference).
• N.B. if within a week of submitting your application, you have not received from the CBA Office an email response confirming receipt of the application, please call the office (202-319-5519) and leave a message stating your name and the date you submitted your Archaeological Fellowship Application.
• All applicants will be notified via e-mail on or before JANUARY 15 regarding the status of their application.

Selection Process

The CBA Committee on Research Support will assess applications based upon the following criteria

• Applications from members who have been in the CBA for at least three years will be prioritized or favored in the vetting process.
• Applications will be evaluated on the basis of merit. Preference is normally given to applicants who have not received a grant from the CBA in the recent past. 
• The committee will not consider incomplete or incorrectly formatted applications.

Recipients

• After the recipient has been notified on or before January 15th, funds will be disbursed in the next CBA fiscal year
  (July - June). Non-US citizens will receive a wire-transfer and will need to provide the following information:
     1. The name of the Bank, street, and city:
     2. IBAN:  
     3. BIC /SWIFT:
     4. Account number:
     5. Name of the account holder/beneficiary, street, and city:
• Archaeological Fellowship recipients are required to submit a report to the CBA Executive Board via the CBA Office (cba-office@cua.edu) at the conclusion of the award period.
• Recipients are expected to present their supported research in a Research Report or panel at the Annual General Meeting within two years of receiving the grant. 
• Should the dig be canceled, CBA allow funds to be used for work that bears directly on the excavation in lieu of participation in the canceled dig. Awardees also have the option of postponing their award to use on the canceled dig the following season.