Apply now for Radcliffe Fellowship Program

Harvard Radcliffe Fellows benefit from a uniquely interdisciplinary and creative community that each year spans the sciences, arts, humanities, and professions. This diversity of approaches and expertise sets their program apart from other fellowship opportunities. With access to Harvard’s unparalleled resources, Harvard Radcliffe Fellows can dive deeply into their projects while engaging with scholars, writers, and practitioners with whom they might not otherwise connect. Along with their cohort, Radcliffe Fellows join an exceptional network of alumni, making an impact in their professional fields and in the larger world.

Focus Areas

• Climate change, especially proposals addressing critical questions of impact and equity
• Academic freedom and connecting across difference.

Funding Information

• Stipend
  • Fellows receive a stipend of $78,000 plus an additional $5,000 to cover project expenses. If instructed, Harvard Radcliffe Institute will pay the stipend to the fellow’s US-based home institution. The stipend should be allocated entirely for salary and fringe benefits while the faculty member is in residence as a fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The Institute does not allow overhead to be charged on these payments. If the fellow’s home institution is not US-based, the stipend will be paid directly to the fellow.
• Relocation
  • Housing and moving allowances are available to eligible fellows and dependent family members who relocate to the Boston area for the purpose of the fellowship.
  • Housing Allowance
    • Single, married, or partnered fellow:
    • $5,220 per fellowship year
    • Fellow with 1 child:
    • $6,580 per fellowship year
    • Fellow with 2 or more children:
    • $7,940 per fellowship year
  • Moving Allowance
    • The fellowship program offers an allowance for moving expenses, to offset some of the expenses incurred by fellows to relocate to the Greater Boston and Cambridge area for the purpose of the fellowship and to return home at the end of the fellowship.
    • The moving allowance is based on the travel starting point of the fellow and the number of eligible accompanying family members.
• Child Care
  • Funds are available in the following amounts to help eligible fellows cover the costs of child care for accompanying family members through sitters, nannies, licensed daycare, and/or after-school programs for the time period of September through May.
  • 1 child age 12 or younger:
  • up to $2,840 per fellowship year
  • 2 children 12 or younger:
  • up to $3,970 per fellowship year
  • 3 or more children 12 or younger:
  • up to $5,100 per fellowship year
  • Additional funds for child aged 3 or younger:
  • up to $7,940 per fellowship year
  • Additional funds for child aged 4–6 years:
  • up to $5,100 per fellowship year
  • The child care funds will be reduced by half for single-semester fellowships.
• Health Care
  • Harvard Radcliffe Institute encourages fellows to have comprehensive health care coverage for the duration of the fellowship year. US citizens and permanent US residents are expected to retain their current insurance through their US-based home institutions. Fellows on J visas are required to maintain health insurance in accordance with J Scholar Visa regulations for themselves and all dependents for the entirety of their stay in the US.
  • Due to the high cost of medical care in the US, Harvard Radcliffe Institute strongly suggests that fellows on J visas carry medical coverage that exceeds the US Department of State’s minimum requirements. Harvard Radcliffe Institute will provide eligible fellows a health care stipend that will cover the full cost of insurance premiums in Radcliffe’s recommended health and dental care plans. Fellows eligible to receive the health care stipend will also receive assistance in navigating the health insurance enrollment process.

Eligibility Criteria

• Harvard Radcliffe Fellows demonstrate an extraordinary level of accomplishment. This is not intended to serve as a post-doctoral fellowship. Applicants must demonstrate a strong body of independent research and writing.
• Applicants in the humanities and social sciences must:
  • Have received their doctorate (or appropriate terminal degree) in the area of their proposed project at least two years prior to their appointment as a fellow (December 2023 for the 2025-26 fellowship year). Appropriate terminal degrees include PhD, MD, and JD.
  • Have published a monograph or at least two articles in refereed journals or edited collections.
• Applicants in science, engineering, and mathematics must:
  • Have received their doctorate in the area of the proposed project at least two years prior to their appointment as a fellow (December 2023 for the 2025-26 fellowship year).
  • Have published at least five articles in refereed journals. Most science, engineering, and math fellows have published dozens of articles.
• Applicants in the creative arts must meet discipline-specific eligibility requirements, as outlined below:
  • Film and Video: Applicants in this discipline must have a body of independent work of significant achievement. Such work will typically have been exhibited in galleries or museums, shown in film or video festivals, or broadcast on television.
  • Visual Arts: Applicants in this discipline must show strong evidence of achievement, with a record of at least five years of work as a professional artist, including participation in several curated group shows and at least two professional solo exhibitions.
  • Fiction and Nonfiction: Applicants in these disciplines must have one of the following:
    • one or more published books;
    • a contract for the publication of a book-length manuscript; or
    • at least three shorter works (longer than newspaper articles) published.
  • Poetry: Applicants in this discipline must have had at least 20 poems or a book of poetry published in the last five years, and must be in the process of completing a manuscript.
  • Journalism: Applicants in this discipline are required to have worked professionally as a journalist for at least five years.
  • Playwriting: Applicants in this discipline must have a significant body of independent work in the form. This will include, most typically, plays produced or under option.
  • Music Composition: It is desirable, but not required, for applicants in music composition to have a PhD or DMA. Most importantly, the applicant must show strong evidence of achievement as a professional artist, with a record of recent performances.

Ineligibility Criteria

• Applicants cannot be students in doctoral or master’s programs at the time of application submission unless the dissertation has been accepted and degree is forthcoming (and field-specific eligibility requirements have been met). Applicants must demonstrate a strong body of independent work that has been published, exhibited, or performed.
• Former Harvard Radcliffe fellows (1999-present) are ineligible to apply.
• Applicants from throughout the world are encouraged to apply.
• Harvard University typically sponsors J-1 scholar visas for Harvard Radcliffe Fellows.

Deadlines

• The deadline for applications in humanities, social sciences, and creative arts is September 12, 2024.
• The deadline for applications in science, engineering, and mathematics is October 3, 2024.

For more information, visit Harvard Radcliffe Institute.