Social Science Research Council

Supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the SSRC-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program nurtures the development of scholars pursuing PhDs in the arts and sciences with a demonstrated commitment to diversity on the faculties of American colleges and universities. The Council's program builds on the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) by offering an integrated set of program activities designed to meet the specific needs of Mellon fellows at critical junctures in their doctoral and early postdoctoral careers. SSRC also offers a Predoctoral Research Grant to defray part of the expenses associated with graduate study and research. The SSRC-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program is designed to offer fellows tools for professional success that will remain with them throughout their careers as both scholars and teachers.

The SSRC-Mellon Mays Graduate Student Summer Conference

The SSRC-Mellon Mays Graduate Student Summer Conference introduces fellows to the national Mellon Mays community, provides a forum for Mellon Fellows to address critical issues in higher education and provides a venue for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration. Fellows’ presentations are a structuring component of the conference, and other activities focus on providing tools and skills for managing the early years of graduate school. The Graduate Student Conference focuses specifically on first to third year graduate students and on MMUF college seniors enrolled in doctoral programs.

Additional information on this year's SSRC-Mellon Mays Summer Conference is available by clicking the appropriate link above. E-mail mellonmays@ssrc.org for conference registration and travel details.

SSRC-Mellon Mays Program Seminars

The SSRC has found through long experience that small, targeted seminars offer a highly effective format for training and capacity building. Structured seminars provide an ideal space for a relatively small group of participants to focus on a set of pedagogically oriented activities. The Proposal Writing and Dissertation Development Seminar, the Seminar on Preparing for the Professoriate and the PhD Retreat enhance the quality of benchmark requirements in the process of graduate training, and provide a space for fellows to strengthen their networks by becoming acquainted with the intellectual interests and research foci of their peers, working collaboratively, and facing common challenges collectively.