StudyDesk Scholarships
About the fellowship
The Environmental Fellows Program was created by the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE), a centre of Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, so that recent doctorate recipients can use Harvard’s resources to tackle complex environmental problems. Fellows spend two years working with Harvard faculty in any school or department, forming a cross-disciplinary community that strengthens links across the university.
The programme is deliberately discipline-blind: successful fellows and hosts have come from the sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design and the humanities. What matters is that the proposed research addresses an environmental issue and represents an independent direction — not a rerun of the applicant’s PhD or the host’s ongoing work.
Eligibility
- Hold a doctorate or comparable terminal degree awarded between May 2023 and August 2027; applicants without a PhD may apply where their field uses another terminal degree as the standard.
- Have filed the dissertation before the fellowship starts in September 2027.
- Propose research on an environmental issue, in any discipline.
- Have earned your degree at any university in the world — foreign nationals are eligible, subject to Harvard immigration requirements and English proficiency.
- Secure a Harvard faculty host who commits to mentoring you and providing office or lab space (one fellow per host at a time).
- Be prepared to live in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area for the full two years.
- Harvard graduates and current Harvard postdocs: eligible only with a significantly new direction and new host — do not propose continuing with the same professors or lab, or working extensively with your thesis adviser.
Benefits
- $92,000 annual salary for two years.
- Eligibility for Harvard employee health insurance.
- Up to $2,500 relocation reimbursement.
- $2,500 per year for travel and other professional expenses.
- A co-curricular programme: biweekly dinners with fellows, Harvard faculty and invited speakers.
- About five fellowships are expected for the 2027 cohort.
Documents to prepare
- CV including a list of publications.
- Detailed research proposal — maximum five pages, references counted separately — explaining your specific reasons for applying; the final product must clearly be your own work even though you should discuss it with your potential host.
- Up to three publications or writing samples.
- Three letters of reference, including one from your dissertation adviser (the system sends letter requests only after you submit, so brief your referees in advance).
- Host support letter from your Harvard faculty host, committing to mentor you and provide office or lab space, sent directly to the Center.
How to apply
- Find your host first. Approach Harvard faculty whose work connects with your proposal and secure a firm commitment — an application without a host letter will not be reviewed.
- Check the host is eligible to host in 2027 (the programme publishes a short ineligible/unavailable list each year).
- Draft the five-page proposal as an independent research direction, distinct from your PhD and from the host’s ongoing work.
- Complete the online application form on Harvard’s academic positions portal and attach your CV, proposal and writing samples by 1 December 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
- Make sure your three referees and your host submit their letters by 11 December 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET — referees get their upload link only after you submit, so submit early.
FAQs
Yes. Every candidate must secure a commitment from one or more Harvard faculty members to serve as mentor and provide office or lab space. An application without a host letter will not be reviewed.
No. The proposed project must represent an independent research direction that extends beyond your PhD research and the host’s ongoing work. Harvard graduates and current Harvard postdocs face the same test, and must not propose working extensively with their thesis adviser.
HUCE expects to award approximately five fellowships for the 2027 cohort.
Yes. Candidates may have earned their degrees at any university worldwide, and foreign nationals are eligible, subject to Harvard’s immigration requirements and adequate English proficiency.
Harvard expects to notify applicants by late January 2027; selected applicants are interviewed by video.
Verified 24 Oct 2026: environment.harvard.edu (official HUCE programme requirements page) — 1 Dec 2026 5:00pm EST deadline, host/rec letters 11 Dec 2026 5:00pm EST, May 2023–August 2027 degree window, dissertation filed before September 2027 start, host commitment and one-fellow-per-host rule, Harvard-candidate new-direction rule, ineligible/unavailable host names, Cambridge residency and fieldwork timing; academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/16664 (official application posting) — form, CV with publications, 5-page proposal, up to 3 writing samples, 3 reference letters including dissertation adviser, host letter to environmental_fellows@harvard.edu, late-January 2027 decisions; oyaop.com/opportunity/scholarships-and-fellowships/harvard-environmental-fellows-program-2027-92000-annual-salary-at-harvard-university/ — $92,000 salary, $2,500 relocation, $2,500/year allowance, ~5 awards, biweekly dinners.
