2026 Harvard University Environmental Fellows Program(Fully-funded) Deadline: 1 December, 2025

The application window for the 2026 Environmental Fellows program is now open. Applications are due December 1, 2025.

“Harvard is committed to fostering the development of talented scholars with an interest in environmental research. The Environmental Fellows at Harvard work with some of the University’s leading faculty, creating linkages across research disciplines and professional schools, and benefit from all that Harvard has to offer.”

— Dan Schrag, Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, Professor of Public Policy Co-Director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School

Purpose:

HUCE created the Environmental Fellows program to enable recent doctorate recipients to use and expand Harvard’s extraordinary resources to tackle complex environmental issues. Fellows work for two years with Harvard faculty members in any school or department to form a community of researchers that strengthens connections across the University.

The Award:

The fellowship includes a salary of $90,000 per year, employee health insurance eligibility, up to $2,500 reimbursement for relocation expenses, and a $2,500 annual allowance for travel and other professional expenses. The Environmental Fellows Program is open to anyone with a doctorate or comparable terminal degree awarded between May 2022 and August 2026. HUCE expects to award approximately five fellowships for the 2026 cohort.

HUCE organizes a co-curricular program to ensure that the fellows get to know each other and each other’s work. All fellows join in biweekly dinners along with Harvard faculty and a speaker from amongst the Harvard faculty.

Selection Criteria:

• Applicant’s prior academic and professional success and their potential contribution to scholarship or practice
  • Project proposals are carefully evaluated by a committee of HUCE faculty. The proposed project should represent an independent line of inquiry, clearly extending beyond the candidate’s PhD work as well as the host’s ongoing research. The relevance of the proposed work for addressing environmental issues, along with demonstration of excellent potential for intellectual achievement, are critical factors in the selection process.
• The selection committee will select a group of fellows in 2026 who will complement those selected last year, creating a group of approximately a dozen scholars with a diverse set of academic interests, skills, and backgrounds. Recipients—and hosts—may include people with degrees in the sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design, and the full array of humanities. Their research topics will be equally varied.
• Harvard candidates: those receiving terminal degrees from Harvard and post-docs currently working at Harvard are eligible for the fellowship provided their research and host arrangements take them in new directions that are significantly distinct from their PhD research and forge new connections within the University. Harvard candidates should not propose to continue to work with the same professors or groups with whom they are currently associated, nor should their proposal be an extenuation of their current work.
• Interdisciplinary research projects are encouraged, although this is not a requirement for the fellowship, and candidates with interests in a single discipline are also encouraged to apply.
• Host’s commitment: Further important considerations are the host faculty member’s enthusiasm for the proposed project and fellow, the host’s ability to mentor the fellow, and their ability to provide office space and a productive work environment.
• Interview: A select group of applicants will be asked to further discuss their proposal over video with the selection committee.

Program Requirements:

• Applications for the 2026 cohort are due by December 1, 2025, at 5:00pm EST.
• Host letters and recommendation letters are due by December 10, 2025, at 5:00pm EST (10 days after the application deadline).
• Candidates for 2026 Environmental Fellowships should have received their terminal degree between May 2022 and August 2026. (Fellows must have filed their dissertation before starting their appointment in September 2026.)
• Candidates with a doctorate or equivalent in any field are eligible, and they may propose research projects in any discipline. Applicants without a PhD may apply if they have studied in fields where the PhD is not the typical terminal degree. All successful candidates will be able to demonstrate experience performing scholarly research.
• Candidates who received terminal degrees from Harvard, and post-docs currently working at Harvard are eligible for the fellowship provided their research and host arrangements take them in new directions that are significantly distinct from their PhD research and forge new connections within the University. Harvard candidates should not propose to continue to work with the same professors or lab groups with whom they are currently associated. No candidate should propose to work extensively with their thesis advisor.
• Each candidate must secure a commitment from one or more Harvard faculty members to serve as a mentor and to provide office or lab space for the two-year fellowship. Faculty members may only host one Environmental Fellow at a time. Faculty members who are not eligible for hosting fellows in 2026 are Paul Moorcroft, Zhiming Kuang, Caroline Buckee, and Satchit Balsari.
• Harvard is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer.
• Candidates may have received their degrees at any university in the world. Foreign nationals are eligible for fellowships, though study at Harvard generally requires proficiency in English.
• Successful candidates should be prepared to commit to work at Harvard for the full two years of the fellowship. This fellowship requires residency in the Cambridge area and any fieldwork trip must be scheduled for the summer or January recess.

 

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​​​​Finding a Host:

Potential candidates should start early to identify and establish a relationship with a Harvard faculty member to host their research. The host will be a mentor to the fellow and will provide office space and basic administrative support. In agreeing to be a host, the faculty member is making a significant commitment.

Successful candidates will be enthusiastically recommended by their proposed host. Each applicant’s host must submit a letter of support (maximum of two pages) to the selection committee describing in detail the level of commitment to the research and the candidate. Often Harvard faculty members are approached by many would-be applicants. Some faculty members conduct their own selection process to identify one or two applicants for recommendation to the selection committee.

Applicants unfamiliar with Harvard faculty members will find many potential hosts, though far from all, listed on the Salata Institute’s website. See faculty member’s own web pages for more detailed information regarding publications and interests. Any faculty member from any discipline may potentially serve as a host, regardless of whether the host has had prior experience with environmental research or HUCE. Faculty members may only host one Environmental Fellow at a time. Faculty members who are not eligible for hosting fellows in 2026 are Paul Moorcroft, Zhiming Kuang, Caroline Buckee, and Satchit Balsari.

Some applicants may also be interested in the Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship based at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. Global Change Fellows are eligible to be a part of the Environmental Fellows cohort at HUCE starting in September 2023. More information on that program can be found on the Arboretum’s website.

Note: The Department of the History of Science has a deadline of November 1st for all sponsor requests.

Please direct any questions to Jim Clem, HUCE Managing Director, at environmental_fellows@harvard.edu.

 

​​​​FAQs:

Is the program open to non-US citizens?

Yes, we have had many Fellows in the past from other countries and will work with our International Office to support visa applications.

I have multiple Master’s degrees, am I eligible to apply?

No, this is a post-doctoral fellowship for recent recipients of a PhD.

Do I need to have my doctoral diploma at the start of the fellowship?

You do not need to have officially graduated, but you will need a letter from your graduate school or department chair certifying that you have completed all requirements for the doctoral degree.

When will I hear about a decision on my application?

We plan to notify applicants of our decision by late January 2026.

Is there flexibility on start date?

Fellows can start as early as July 1st. Our goal is to have the new cohort in Cambridge by the beginning of September. In rare cases, we have allowed new Fellows to postpone their start dates for a month or two beyond that.

Can you help me find a faculty host?

We cannot make host recommendations for fellowship applicants. You can find a list of our affiliated faculty here. Faculty hosts must be tenure-track professors at Harvard.

I cannot get a commitment from a faculty host. Can I still apply?

Your application will not be reviewed without a faculty host letter. Obtaining that commitment can be a significant challenge since our faculty get many requests from applicants.

Can I have more than one host?

It is not common to have co-hosts, but if you can get commitments from both, and it makes sense for your proposal, it is allowed.

Does my faculty host need to be a faculty associate of the Center or the Salata Institute?

No.

Will my application be reviewed with more or less than three letters of recommendation?

Yes.

Is there a particular format/spacing/font size required for the five-page proposal?

No, we give applicants flexibility to describe their research plans. We only ask that the document is easy for the review committee to read.

For more information please visit : https://www.environment.harvard.edu/environmental-fellows-program

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