STEVAN B. DANA PROJECT GRANTS-ISRAEL
ASOR plans to award three Dana Project Grant for Israel of $5,000 each during 2026.
Established in 2021, the Stevan B. Dana Project Grant Fund was created to support ASOR-affiliated excavation projects in Israel.
Excavations at Tell Hazor. Photo credit: Susan Ackerman.
The Stevan B. Dana Fund for Projects in Israel provides modest annual grants to worthy field projects in Israel that are ASOR-affiliated, particularly to newer and smaller projects, to help them get started, and to discrete components of larger projects that can be completed with an award. Funds may be use to purchase a piece of equipment or to pay for a discrete smaller initiative. The grant also may provide support for off-season research and/or analysis. Three Dana Grants of $5,000 will be awarded in 2026.
- Universal Project Grant Application
- Questions: Please email Marta Ostovich.
Application Deadline: February 23, 2026
Guidelines
1. Applications should be submitted by directors of ASOR-affiliated projects or senior staff members of affiliated projects. Applications by staff members other than the director must be accompanied by a letter of endorsement from the project director.
2. Only one application from an excavation project or site will be funded in any given year. In addition, the Dana Selection Committee will give preference to excavation projects that have not received an ASOR Project Grant (Dana, Gold, Harris, or Seger) in the past three years.
3. Dana Project Grants for Israel are not designed to fund travel for student volunteers or junior staff members (see Scholarships for Fieldwork Participation).
4. Funds will be made available from the ASOR office, and recipients may receive a Form 1099 for the funds received. In order for ASOR to distribute funds to an institution, certain restrictions may apply. Only direct expenses are permitted, and no indirect or overhead may be charged.
Apply for ASOR Affiliation for a Project
Disclaimer: If for any reason many archaeological excavations cannot take place during 2026, ASOR may at its sole discretion decide not to offer scholarships and grants. If ASOR deems such a decision as necessary, applicants may reapply for non-fieldwork summer stipends if ASOR can offer stipends for 2026. Regrettably, applicants and successful applicants may not postpone scholarships and grants to another year if the applicant or ASOR decides that scholarships and grants will not be awarded in 2026. If the pandemic or any other reason causes a cancellation of fieldwork in 2026, applicants must reapply for funding in 2027 (or for stipends if they can be made available in 2026).
Previous Grant Recipients: $40,000 awarded
2026: $15,000
- Sophia Avants, Duke University, “Radiocarbon Analysis of Ritual Pool Plasters to Establish Household Use During the 2nd-3rd c. CE in Sepphoris, Galilee”
- Ido Koch, Tel Aviv University, “Tel Hadid Archaeological Project”
- Omer Sergi, Tel Aviv University, “Tel Shaddud Archaeological Project”
2025: $15,000
- Zachary Dunseth, University of California San Diego, “Early Desert Cities: An Investigation into 3rd Millennium BCE Urbanism at the Macro- and Microscales”
- Gregg Gardner, University of British Columbia, and Orit Peleg-Barkat, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “The Horvat Midras (Israel) Archaeological Project”
- Kathryn Gleason, Cornell University, “Promonotory Palace Project at Caesarea Maritima”
2024: $5,000
- Bethany J. Walker, University of Bonn, “Study of Cultivation Strategies at Khirbet Beit Loya”
2023: $5,000
- Asa Eger, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, “Caesarea Coastal Archaeological Project”
Marsha Rozenblit is the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Jewish History at the University of Maryland. She is a specialist in the history of the Jews in Austria-Hungary and its successor states, and she has written several books and many scholarly articles on such topics as the Jews of Vienna, the impact of World War I on the Jews, and Jewish marriage and courtship practices. She is the moderator of this session because her late husband Kenneth Holum directed the land excavations on the Temple Platform at Caesarea for many years. After his death in 2017, she oversaw the publication of the final reports from his excavations at Caesarea.
Yael Arnon is a Professor of Archaeology at Oranim College in Israel. At the beginning of her academic career, she focused on early Islamic archaeology, especially material culture. Over the years, she has expanded her studies to include artistic and architectural aspects of archaeology as well as more recent periods of history in the Islamic world in general and the Land of Israel in particular. In 2008, Arnon published a book about the material culture of the early Islamic and Crusader periods in Caesarea, and the relationship between pottery styles and coin dating (Oxford University Press). Arnon’s future research includes changes in Islamic art over time, in particular in Israel and the Galilee. For many years she worked as registrar and ceramicist at Caesarea.
Anna Iamim was a long-time friend and colleague of Ken Holum. At Caesarea, she produced the graphic field documentation, contributed chapters, and drew the architectural reconstructions on the cover of Caesarea Maritima: Excavations in the Old City 1989-2003, Final Reports, Vol. 1, edited by Kenneth G. Holum, ASOR, Archaeological Reports 27 (2020).
