Doctoral Fellows Award

About this program

The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) offers the Doctoral Fellows Award, a $3,000 stipend to support dissertation-related expenses for doctoral research that demonstrates innovative ideas and rigorous methods in social work research, policy, or practice with attention to marginalization, oppression, or privilege. Recipients will be honored at the SSWR 2027 Conference (January 20–24, 2027) in San Francisco, CA. Eligible nominees must be current SSWR members with an approved dissertation proposal; nominations are submitted by nominators (self-nominations encouraged), board members are ineligible, and nominators must request a nomination ID by 5:00 PM ET on August 4, 2026. Applications must be de-identified and include a letter of agreement, a dissertation synopsis (max 5 pages), the approved proposal, a letter of support from the dissertation chair, a JPEG headshot, and a 3–5 sentence biography, with final submissions due by 5:00 PM ET on August 25, 2026.