Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 2026 | $90K Postdoc Fellowship | Deadline 1 Dec 2025

What the Fellowship Offers

• Stipend: $90,000 per year
• Benefits: Employee health insurance
• Relocation Support: Up to $2,500 reimbursement
• Professional Allowance: $2,500 per year for travel or research expenses
• Community: Biweekly dinners and interdisciplinary engagement with peers and faculty

Eligibility Criteria

• Terminal Degree: Must have earned a doctorate (or equivalent) between May 2022 and August 2026, with dissertation filed before starting in September 2026.
• Discipline Scope: Open to all fields—science, policy, humanities—as long as the candidate demonstrates strong research capabilities.
• Host Faculty: Applicants must secure a Harvard faculty mentor who will provide office or lab space and support during the fellowship.
• Residency Requirement: Fellows must reside in the Cambridge area for the full two-year duration; fieldwork should take place during scheduled recess periods.

Selection Details

Aiming for a cohort of around five fellows, HUCE emphasizes:

• Independent research excellence that builds on—yet clearly extends beyond—PhD work
• Relevance to pressing environmental challenges
• Academic potential and capacity to enrich interdisciplinary collaborations

Application Timeline & Process

• Deadline: December 1, 2025, at 5 p.m. ET
• Materials Needed:
  • CV with publication list
  • Detailed research proposal (up to 5 pages, references excluded)
  • Up to three writing or publication samples
  • Three recommendation letters (including one from dissertation adviser)
  • Host faculty letter of support outlining mentorship and space provision
• Post-Deadline: Recommenders and hosts may submit letters up to December 10, 2025
• Selection Notification: Results communicated in late January 2026

Why It Matters

This fellowship offers an extraordinary opportunity to amplify your research impact within an elite academic environment. With substantial financial support, mentorship, and integration into Harvard’s vast interdisciplinary community, fellows are uniquely positioned to advance solutions to environmental challenges.