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Research Fellowships
Merit and Beeuwkes Awards
Merit awards allow outstanding students to focus their time on research and/or writing. These fellowships are for Harvard Griffin GSAS students in the humanities, social sciences, and in specifically designated areas of study in the natural sciences and mathematics. The Beeuwkes fellowships offer exceptional students in the humanities and social sciences the opportunity to conduct one term of research in the United States. For both, students must have passed generals and have an approved dissertation prospectus at the time of nomination or no later than the beginning of the term when the award is taken. Notification for this fellowship is typically in mid-April.
Please consult your department for internal deadline.
Instructions for Application
The merit fellowships are for outstanding Harvard Griffin GSAS students in the humanities, social sciences, and in specifically designated areas of study in the natural sciences and mathematics. The fellowships are intended to enhance opportunities for research and writing. The Beeuwkes fellowships fund exceptional students for one term of domestic research. The award comes from a fund established in honor of Reinier Beeuwkes III, PhD ‘70, AB ‘62, in appreciation of his more than 30 years of service to the Graduate School Alumni Association Council.
Applications are due in late fall (check with your department for your deadline), and recipients may take the fellowship in either the fall or spring term of the following academic year. Students apply for the two fellowships with one application in CARAT. Only those who propose domestic research will be considered for the Beeuwkes fellowships. Notification is typically in early March.
Stipend, Tenure, and Location
In the humanities, social sciences, and specified fields in the natural sciences, the grant is a single-term standard cohort stipend, paid in five monthly installments from September 1 through January 1 or February 1 through June 1. The award may be taken in either fall or spring. Merit fellowships are not based on location.
Terms and Conditions
Eligibility
To be eligible, you must:
- have passed your generals or qualifying exams
- have an approved dissertation prospectus no later than the beginning of the term when the award is taken
- be registered in a designated Harvard Griffin GSAS department and apply through that department
- not be receiving presidential funding in the same academic year as the award.
Restrictions
- Since the norm for many departments in the natural sciences is guaranteed research support, eligibility is only for students in specified natural science departments (statistics, mathematics, theoretical physics, organismic and evolutionary biology, and human evolutionary biology), with exceptions outside these fields granted on rare occasions.
- Students who receive a merit offer and receive an offer for a full-year fellowship from another source must consult with Dr. Miller. In most instances, students must decline the merit if they have funding from another source during the merit term. If the alternate offer is for a single term from a Harvard research center or other source, the acceptance of both must be approved by both sources and used for separate terms. Some research centers will not allow multiple awards in the same academic year.
- During the award term, recipients are expected to spend the full time on the dissertation and may not enroll in courses; teaching is restricted to one standard section or the equivalent (for example, a research assistantship) with no other employment allowed.
- Acceptance of an award may not be deferred; students must reapply.
- A given Harvard Griffin GSAS fellowship can only be held once.
Instructions for Students
- Determine your departmental deadline by contacting your department administrator. Applications for the merit and the Beeuwkes fellowships must be completed in CARAT by the internal departmental deadline.
- A completed application includes the following materials:
- application form (via CARAT)
- CV of no more than two single-spaced pages in length
- unofficial transcript generated from my.harvard to represent their current graduate studies at Harvard
- statement of purpose no more than four double-spaced typed pages in length, in Times New Roman 12-point font with one-inch margins. The statement should describe your project, the scope and purpose of your research, your plan of research for the term, and the context of your project in your degree and career plans. For language study, describe the necessity of the language for your future research. Include your name on each page and your signature at the end of the statement. See below for criteria used to evaluate candidates.
- two letters of recommendation, at least one of which should be from a member of the Harvard faculty. The recommenders must upload the letter directly into CARAT.
Criteria Used to Evaluate Candidates
Quality of Statement of Purpose and Qualifications of Applicant
- Clarity of statement of purpose in terms of the major question(s) to be examined, sources and methods to be used, feasibility of the project (avoiding too many questions or goals to be accomplished during the grant period), relationship of the project to the literature on the topic, and its importance to the concerns of the discipline; attention paid to making the statement accessible for people outside the field.
- Explaining the need to spend a term on a merit or the Beeuwkes fellowship. This may include time to conduct the research, what sources will be consulted, and preparedness to carry out the research, or it might focus on writing up research.
- Reference letters showing that writers are well informed about the student’s topic and research plans, indicating close communication between student and recommenders.
- Overall strength of the applicant’s graduate academic record, including honors and publications, plus the extent to which the record demonstrates a strength relevant to the proposed project.
Instructions for Departments
- Please announce an internal deadline by when students must submit application in CARAT. Choose a date that will allow the department to complete the required ranking form by the submission deadline of December 5, 2024, at noon.
- Once the required materials have been submitted by the applicants, a nomination form that includes a ranked order of the candidates is to be completed by the department chair. Departments may only submit a maximum of two students on the ranked list.
- Once the department has done its ranking and completed its nomination form, departments upload this form to each student’s application in CARAT by the submission deadline of December 5, 2024, at noon.
- Departments should review the terms and conditions outlined above when advising students on fellowship applications.
Traveling Fellowships
The Committee on General Scholarships invites Harvard graduate and professional schools to nominate candidates who wish to apply for support to conduct research or study abroad for the academic year. The competition is open to current Harvard graduate students who are in their G2 year or later or students who will graduate from one of Harvard’s professional schools in the current academic year.
- The Lurcy Fellowship is strictly for research or study in France.
- The Lee Whittinghill Samuelson Traveling Fellowship funds students in programs of research or study conducted abroad that span the full academic year.
- Kennedy Fellowships support research at destinations outside of the United States.
- Knox Fellowships fund research and/or study in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, or the United Kingdom.
- Sheldon Fellowships support research, study, and/or travel primarily abroad.
Please consult your department for its internal deadline.
Competition for 2025–2026
The Committee on General Scholarships and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) invite Harvard graduate and professional schools to nominate current Harvard graduate students or students who will graduate from one of Harvard’s professional schools in May 2025 for traveling fellowships. Students apply to all these fellowships at once via a standard CARAT application.
Terms and Conditions
These instructions apply to the following fellowships:
- Sinclair Kennedy Traveling Fellowships
- Frank Knox Memorial Traveling Fellowships
- Lurcy Traveling Fellowships (current Harvard Griffin GSAS students only)
- Lee Whittinghill Samuelson Traveling Fellowships (current Harvard Griffin GSAS students only)
- Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowships
Eligibility & Restrictions
- Students must be in their G2 year or above at the time of application.
- Fellowship recipients are required to live at their research or study destinations for the length of the academic year; project periods of less than an academic year are not eligible for support.
- These fellowships are not intended to support multiple trips to research destinations for students who are based in Cambridge or elsewhere in the United States during the year.
- Fellowship funds are not renewable or deferrable and are not intended to support the dependents of a fellow; additional funding to support dependents is not available.
- Recipients may not hold other grants or fellowships for the same period without obtaining the approval of the Committee on General Scholarships or Harvard Griffin GSAS, who reserve the right to decrease the amount of an award.
Each fellowship in this group has slightly distinct eligibility requirements. Students apply to the group all at once via CARAT, and the Committee on General Scholarships will determine which fellowship a candidate is best suited for. Should you be interested in learning more about individual fellowship requirements, please see below:
Detailed Eligibility for Each Fellowship
Sinclair Kennedy Fellowships
Kennedy Fellowships support research at destinations outside of the United States.
Students are eligible if they:
- are currently registered in any of the graduate or professional schools at Harvard (Harvard Griffin GSAS students must be doctoral candidates)
- have completed at least one full year of graduate study at the time of their application
- are not enrolling at a foreign university.
Frank Knox Memorial Fellowships
Knox Fellowships support research and/or study in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, or the United Kingdom. Applicants must be citizens of the United States.
Students are eligible if they:
- are currently registered in any of the graduate or professional schools at Harvard (Harvard Griffin GSAS students must be doctoral candidates)
- have completed at least one full year of graduate study at the time of their application
- are US citizens
- are not enrolling at a foreign university.
Lurcy Fellowship
The Lurcy Fellowship is awarded by a Harvard Griffin GSAS committee to students to conduct research on a topic that is uniquely French and available only in France. The Lurcy Trust will give strong preference to projects with “contemporary relevance” that relate to “a world which is ever changing at an increasingly dynamic pace.”
Students are eligible if they:
- are currently registered Harvard Griffin GSAS doctoral students
- are US citizens
- completed at least one full year of graduate study at the time of their application.
Lee Whittinghill Samuelson Traveling Fellowship
The Samuelson Fellowship supports students in programs of research or study abroad that span the full academic year. The fellowship was established by the gift of Lee Samuelson, MBA '66, PhD '72. As a graduate student, Samuelson benefited from the Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, which enabled him to study abroad. He hopes this gift will help ease financial burdens and open doors to international opportunities for future generations of graduate students, just as the Sheldon Fellowship did for him.
Students are eligible if they:
- are currently registered Harvard Griffin GSAS doctoral students
- completed at least one full year of graduate study at the time of their application.
Frederick Sheldon Fellowships
Sheldon Fellowships support research, study, and/or travel abroad, or for exceptional projects, within the United States (although not at Harvard University or in the Boston area). While the Sheldon Fellowship permits travel in the United States, the primary intention of this fellowship is to help students spend an academic year abroad.
Students are eligible if they:
- are currently registered in any of the graduate or professional schools at Harvard (Harvard Griffin GSAS students must be doctoral candidates)
- have completed at least one full year of graduate study at the time of their application.
Stipend, Tenure, and Location
Fellowships support a full academic year (September–June) of research or study abroad. The stipend was $32,000 for the 2024–2025 academic year. Recipients are required to live at their research or study destinations for the length of the fellowship tenure.
Application Instructions for Students
Find out your departmental deadline. Complete your application in CARAT by the deadline. Harvard Griffin GSAS students must apply through the fellowship opportunity listed in CARAT as “CGS Kennedy, Knox and Sheldon Travel Fellowships Application for PhD Candidates Only." Your application will consist of the following:
- CARAT application form, which includes a brief synopsis of the proposed project, budget synopsis, and project timeline.
- Statement of purpose no more than four double-spaced typed pages in length, recommended Times New Roman 12-point font with one-inch margins. It should describe your project, the scope and purpose of your research, your plan of research for the year, and the context of your project in your degree and career plans. Include your name on each page and your signature at the end of the statement.
- A one-page budget and a one-page timeline of your proposed research.
- CV (two pages are recommended).
- Official transcripts from all graduate programs (Harvard Griffin GSAS students may submit an unofficial transcript generated from my.harvard to represent their current graduate studies).
- Two letters of recommendation, at least one of which should be from a member of the Harvard faculty; letters are uploaded electronically into CARAT.
Criteria Used to Evaluate Candidates
- Clarity of Statement of Purpose in terms of the major question(s) to be examined, sources and methods to be used, feasibility of the project (avoiding a pile-up of too many questions or goals to be accomplished during the grant period), relationship of the project to the literature on the topic and its importance to the concerns of the discipline; attention is paid to making the statement accessible for people outside the field.
- Explaining the need to conduct the research overseas and preparedness to do so, including knowledge of the available sources required for implementing the project, contacts, language skills, and preliminary research already undertaken.
- Reference letters showing that writers are well informed about the student’s topic and research plans, indicating close communication between student and recommenders.
- Overall strength of the applicant’s graduate academic record, including honors and publications, plus extent to which the record demonstrates a strength relevant to the proposed project.
Instructions for Departments
- Announce an internal deadline when students must submit application in CARAT. Choose a date that will allow the department to complete the required ranking form by the submission deadline of December 5, 2024, at noon.
- Once the required materials have been submitted by the applicants, a nomination form that includes a rank order of the candidates is to be completed by the department chair. Departments may only submit a maximum of three students on the ranked list.
- Once the department has done its ranking and completed its nomination form, departments upload this form to each student’s application in CARAT by the submission deadline of December 5, 2024, at noon.
Departments should review the terms and conditions outlined above when advising students on fellowship applications.
