Each year, the Rome Prize is awarded to about thirty emerging artists and scholars who represent the highest standard of excellence and who are in the early or middle stages of their working lives. The deadline for the nation-wide Rome Prize competition is 1 November 2014.  Applications will also be accepted between 2-15 November 2014 for an additional fee.

Fellows are chosen from the following disciplines:

•Architecture

•Design

•Historic Preservation and Conservation

•Landscape Architecture

•Literature (awarded only by nomination through the American Academy of Arts and Letters)

•Music Composition

•Visual Arts 

•Ancient Studies

•Medieval Studies

•Renaissance and Early Modern Studies

•Modern Italian Studies

Rome Prize recipients are generally invited to Rome for eleven months (some design fellowships are six months and some pre-doctoral art history fellowships are two years).

The Rome Prize consists of room and board, a stipend and separate work space, and privileged access to Rome.

Rome Prize winners are the core of the Academy’s residential community, which also includes Affiliated Fellows, Residents and Visiting Artists and Visiting Scholars.

Owing to the fluctuating dollar/euro exchange rate and the high cost of living in Rome, the stipends offered may not cover all expenses. This is especially true for Rome Prize winners who come to Rome with families. The American Academy in Rome welcomes spouses/companions and children of Rome Prize winners. However, Fellows with families live in subsidized apartments for which they pay rent, and pay for meals of family members. Thus they often incur expenses that exceed the Fellow’s stipend, so those wishing to bring their families are advised to supplement their stipends with additional funds. 

Eleven-month fellowships generally begin at the Academy in early-September and end at the beginning of August. Winners of six-month fellowships may choose to begin in early-September and end in early-March or begin in early-February and end in early-August.

http://www.aarome.org/apply/rome-prize/procedure-requirements