Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program 2027-2028
The Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship Program offers scientists, writers, scholars, public intellectuals, and artists a rare chance to pursue ambitious projects for a full academic year. The fellowship takes place in a vibrant interdisciplinary setting amid the extensive resources of Harvard University.
Fellowship Focus Areas
General Scope
The institute welcomes applications proposing innovative work that confronts pressing social, scientific, and policy issues. Projects should seek to engage audiences beyond academia. Reflecting Radcliffe’s unique history and institutional legacy, the program welcomes, but does not limit eligibility to, proposals that focus on women, gender, and society or draw on the Schlesinger Library’s rich collections.
Multiyear Focus Area
Applicants are also invited to submit proposals relevant to the Institute’s multiyear focus area, which for 2024–2029 is academic freedom and connecting across difference.
Proposals should address intellectual virtues, free and open inquiry, diversity of thought, political polarization, peace and conflict, inequality, and religious pluralism. This includes the intersection of religion and public and family life, as well as other policy issues as they relate to institutions of higher education. Within this focus area, the institute welcomes proposals that constructively challenge disciplinary orthodoxies or advance new and potentially transformative perspectives or approaches.
Application Deadlines
The application for the 2027–2028 fellowship program is now available. Prospective applicants must adhere to the following deadlines based on their specific field:
- Humanities, social sciences, creative arts, and nonfiction and journalism: September 10, 2026, at 5 PM ET.
- Science, engineering, and mathematics: October 1, 2026, at 5 PM ET.
How to Apply
To begin an application, you will need to register as a new user by creating a new account with your name, email address, and password. Once you have registered, you may log in to the Online Fellowship Application Portal and select your specific application area. The available areas are Humanities and Social Sciences, Creative Arts, Nonfiction and Journalism, or Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Eligibility Criteria
The institute accepts applications in a wide array of disciplines across the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts. Applicants must meet discipline-specific eligibility criteria.
- The fellowship program is not intended to serve as a postdoctoral fellowship.
- Those who are currently enrolled in a degree program are ineligible to apply.
- The program accepts applications from individuals across all career stages and does not require academics to have tenure to apply.
- Former Harvard Radcliffe fellows from 1999 to the present are ineligible to apply.
Required Application Materials
The fellowship application must be submitted via the online application portal and consists of the following components:
- Application form
- Curriculum vitae
- Project proposal of 1,400 words, including a bibliography when appropriate
- A writing or work sample
- Contact information for three references
Once you provide the contact information, your three references will be prompted over email to upload their letters of recommendation in support of your application. All materials must be submitted electronically through the portal.
