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[firecracker]

My department offers a semester-long dissertation fellowship, and part of the application is a letter of application. (They also require a current CV and short description of the dissertation, as well as letter of support.)

I've started drafting the letter of application, and have included the following information:

1.  Progress to date on dissertation and brief outline of writing/submission schedule for future, emphasizing that I would like to finish during the time frame of the fellowship period
2.  Brief discussion of my current employment status (I am not in residence, and not teaching), and how the fellowship would help me
3.  Brief discussion of highlights of recent professional activity (to demonstrate my efforts to publish/conference while dissertating)

I'm wondering if I need to discuss my dissertation research itself (esp. since there will be a description of it in a separate document) and if I need to try to connect my work to the fellowship (it's one of those fellowships in honor of a major figure in the state/university, but the guidelines provided by the department merely restrict applicants to a general area (think Asian history rather than European)).

Any other advice for what to include? I don't want to consider the letter of application as merely as pro forma "here's my stuff" type of letter, but rather as another important document for consideration. Am I wrong to be considering it as such?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[seniorscholar]

The letter of application should probably open with a brief overview of your dissertation (even though they've asked for an abstract), a description of what has been done so far, and something like "a fellowship should allow me to complete the writing by [whenever the end of the fellowship is].

But arent you providing all these things later, you ask? Yes, but treat the opening as an introduction, so the committee knows what they're about to read. And also remember that, in most departments, faculty from several different areas will be reading these applications. Make sure you avoid jargon limited to your subspecialty and provide some context for the committee. (The abstract, on the other hand, can be written for the specialists in your field.)

Make sure to keep the "how the fellowship would help me" short and clean. Committees know that all grad students need money and wish they could fund everybody well enough to shorten their time to degree. This is not a decision based on personal circumstances but on professional competencies.

[firecracker]

Thanks for the advice, Seniorscholar!