Frequently Asked Questions

Applicants who are enrolled in doctoral or master's programs at the time of application submission are ineligible, unless the dissertation has been accepted, the degree is forthcoming, and field-specific eligibility requirements have been met.

Harvard Radcliffe Fellows demonstrate a strong body of independent work and accomplishment. This fellowship is not intended to serve as a postdoctoral fellowship. Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for their Program Area.

Applicants in the humanities and social sciences must:

1. Have received their doctorate in the area of their proposed project at least four years before their appointment as a fellow (for example, December 2023 for the 2027-28 fellowship year). Appropriate degrees include PhD, MD, JD, DPhil, and DEd.

2. Have published a monograph or at least two articles in refereed journals or edited collections.

Applicants in science, engineering, and mathematics must:

1. Have received their doctorate in the area of the proposed project at least four years before their appointment as a fellow (for example, December 2023 for the 2027-28 fellowship year).

2. Have published at least five articles in refereed journals. Most science, engineering, and math fellows have published dozens of articles.

Applicants in nonfiction and journalism must meet discipline-specific eligibility criteria, as outlined below:

• Journalism: Applicants must have worked professionally as a journalist for at least five years.
• Nonfiction: Applicants must have one of the following:
• one or more published books;
• a contract for the publication of a book-length manuscript; or
• at least three shorter works (longer than newspaper articles) published.

Applicants in the creative arts must meet discipline-specific eligibility requirements, as outlined below:

• Film and Video: Applicants must have a body of independent work of significant achievement. Such work will typically have been exhibited in galleries or museums, shown in film or video festivals, or broadcast on television.
• Visual Arts: Applicants in this discipline must show strong evidence of achievement, with a record of at least five years of work as a professional artist, including participation in several curated group shows and at least two professional solo exhibitions.
• Fiction: Applicants must have one of the following:
• one or more published books;
• a contract for the publication of a book-length manuscript; or
• at least three shorter works (longer than newspaper articles) published.
• Poetry: Applicants must have had at least 20 poems or a book of poetry published in the last five years and must be in the process of completing a manuscript.
• Playwriting: Applicants must have a significant body of independent work in this form, typically including plays produced or under option.
• Music Composition: It is desirable, but not required, for applicants to have a PhD or DMA. Most importantly, applicants must demonstrate strong evidence of professional achievement as artists, with a record of recent performances.

Former Harvard Radcliffe fellows (1999–present) are ineligible to apply.

Yes. Applicants from around the world are encouraged to apply. Harvard University typically sponsors J-1 scholar visas for Harvard Radcliffe Fellows.

Yes, we welcome independent scholars, artists, and writers to apply. You do not need to be affiliated with an academic institution to be eligible.

Yes, we accept group applications of no more than two individuals who, if selected, would take two fellowship spots (two stipends, two offices, etc.). Both group members must meet the eligibility requirements for their fields. The two applicants must propose to work collaboratively on the same project throughout the fellowship year.

How to apply as a group:

• Each member of the group must register as a user on the application portal and submit a separate application. On the “Individual or Group” question on the General Information page, select Group, and list your collaborator’s full name, email, and application ID. Every application has a unique ID, which can be found on your “My Applications” page.
• Each group member should submit an individual CV and writing/work sample.
• Both group members should upload the same project proposal, making a special note in the proposal about the nature of the collaboration.
• We encourage applicants in a group to ask for letters from different recommenders. If there is a recommender who is well-suited to speak to the group's proposed project as a whole, or who has worked closely with both group members, they may be listed as a recommender for both and may upload the same letter.

Harvard Radcliffe Fellows come from a variety of disciplines across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. For a list of disciplines currently included in our application, please see this page.

Applicants may designate a primary discipline and have the option to designate an additional disciplinary area. You may select this additional area from a drop-down menu or add your own description by selecting “Other” and using the write-in field.

We advise applicants to select the discipline that best fits their proposed project and their educational, professional, or artistic background — and the discipline for which they meet the eligibility requirements. We often support fellows whose work crosses disciplinary borders; in fact, we believe Radcliffe is a great intellectual home for such work. We make every effort to find readers with the background and expertise to properly evaluate the applications we receive.

No! While we welcome projects related to our focus area, proposals may be on any topic.

The application consists of

• an application form
• a curriculum vitae
• a project proposal (with bibliography when appropriate);
• a writing or work sample; and
• the contact information of three references, who will be prompted via email to upload letters of recommendation.

All materials must be submitted via our online application portal.

Applicants who have applied in the past may submit a previously proposed project, but must submit a new application form and materials.

If this is your first time applying, please register as a new user on our online application by entering your name, email address, mailing address, and a password. Once registered, you may log in to the portal here and begin an application by selecting an application area: Humanities and Social Sciences; Creative Arts, Journalism and Nonfiction; or Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.

We want to make sure that the Institute will be able to support you in your work. We do our best to accommodate the varying software/hardware needs of our fellows, but some equipment will be beyond our means. With the information you provide in response to this question, we can work to assess available resources at Harvard University.

Your curriculum vitae should be no longer than six pages and emphasize only your most significant achievements, publications, exhibits, and related accomplishments.

Your project proposal should begin with a 150-word abstract summarizing your proposed project. The abstract must be comprehensible to a person in any discipline. The recommended format is:

• 1–2 sentences introducing the field in general terms;
• 1–2 sentences clearly describing the project you propose;
• 1 sentence describing the materials/sources/archives you will use
• 2–3 sentences explaining how the project will contribute to the discipline and/or society more broadly.

The body of your proposal should:

• Describe the project and its significance;
• Place the work in the context of your field;
• Indicate how the project would contribute to your field
• Be clear about the theory and methodology;
• Cite the work of others, if relevant; and
• Indicate the status of any project already begun and any data already collected.

All applicants should write for an informed but broad disciplinary audience. Proposals will be evaluated by experts in the relevant field; finalists are reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee.

Your project proposal should contain no more than 1,400 words, including the 150-word abstract. The proposal should be in 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins.

Footnotes or works cited are not included in the proposal word count. You may include images, though we encourage you to compress them so your file does not exceed the 10 MB maximum upload size.

Submitting a bibliography is optional; some projects will not require one. Most applicants in the humanities and social sciences submit a bibliography of 1–3 pages. Formatting is up to the applicant.

The bibliography helps reviewers understand how you situate your project within current scholarship and whether you are familiar with the relevant literature in your field. You may submit a bibliography of works you have already consulted or of works you intend to consult; please clearly indicate which it is.

We cannot provide an example of a full proposal. However, every fellow who has been in residence at Radcliffe has a brief description of their fellowship project on our website, and we encourage applicants to review it to see the types of projects we support.

Applicants in the humanities and social sciences:

If you have completed writing relevant to your proposed project, please include that (even if unpublished). Otherwise, upload a published article or book chapter. Maximum length:40 pages.

Applicants in science, engineering, and mathematics:

Submit three published articles.

Applicants in nonfiction and journalism:

• Nonfiction: Submit a recent book chapter, short story, manuscript, or article, approximately 30 pages total. Submitted material should be related to your project; if not, it must be published material.
• Journalism: Submit three substantive published articles, approximately 30 pages total. You may also submit up to 15 minutes of work via YouTube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud on the Journalism Supporting Materials Upload page.

Applicants in the creative arts:

• Fiction: Submit a recent book chapter, short story, manuscript, or article, approximately 30 pages total. Submitted material should be related to your project; If not, it must be published material.
• Film and video: Submit a maximum of 15 minutes of work via YouTube or Vimeo on the Film and Video Supporting Materials Upload page. If your total sample exceeds 15 minutes, provide timestamps for the 15 minutes you would like reviewed.
• Music composition: Submit one to three samples of recent compositions via Soundcloud, YouTube, or Vimeo on the Music Supporting Materials Upload page. All samples should be accompanied by written scores, except for electronic or improvisational work.
• Playwriting: Submit one play or a section of a play, no more than 30 pages total
• Poetry: Submit up to 10 poems
• Visual arts: Submit 12 images and, if applicable, up to 3 moving-image excerpts on the Visual Arts Supporting Materials Upload page.

Yes. You may submit more than one piece, provided the total does not exceed the designated page limit. These must be combined and uploaded as a single file.

We encourage you to respect the page limits. Submitting a document slightly over the limit will not disqualify your application. However, application readers typically become frustrated with overly long samples.

All application materials must be in English.

Three letters of recommendation are required. No more than three will be accepted.

Request letters from individuals who can speak to:

• the merits of your proposed project;
• your record of achievement; and
• your collegiality.

When applicable, we advise that:

• No more than one of your three recommenders can be from your home institution;
• No more than one be from a dissertation committee member, and
• Applicants more than five years past their PhD generally avoid asking their dissertation advisor, barring special circumstances. Lab-based scientists whose proposed projects involve collaboration with a local, Boston-based lab must include a letter of support from the host lab as one of their three letters. For applicants in writing, please do not request letters from current editors or agents who may have a conflict of interest.

On the “Listing of Recommenders” page, select Add Recommender and complete the required information for each recommender. Once you click “send,” an email will be sent to your recommender with instructions for uploading their letter. Please verify each recommender’s email address before sending the request.

To track the status of your recommendations, please click “Pending Letter of Recommendation” in the application portal. The status will appear under each request:

Requests that say “not received” indicate that your recommender has received the request, but we have not received their letter yet. If your recommender has not received the request, please check the email you entered to ensure it is correct. If the email address is correct, please resend the request and have your recommender check their spam/junk folder to check if it is being routed there. If your recommender is still not receiving the request, please submit a request for help here.

No. Recommenders do not receive your full application automatically. We encourage you to contact them separately with any information you feel your recommenders may need to write in support of your project.

No. We do not accept letters from dossier services.

Letters of recommendation are due by the application deadline:

• Humanities, social sciences, and creative arts: Thursday, September 10, 2026, by 5:00 PM ET.
• Science, engineering, and mathematics: Thursday, October 1, 2026, by 5:00 PM ET

Please notify your recommenders well in advance of the deadline so they have sufficient time to submit.

You can track the status of your letters via the “Pending Letter of Recommendation” link in the application portal (even after your application has been submitted). The status will appear under each request.

Requests marked “not received” indicate that the recommender has received the request, but we have not received the letter.

If your recommender has not received the request, please:

• Confirm that you entered the correct email address.
• If correct, resend the request and ask them to check their spam/junk folder
• If they still do not receive the instructions, please submit a request via our support form here.

First, confirm that you listed the correct email address. If it is correct, ask your recommender to check their spam/junk folder. If they still cannot find or access the instructions, please submit a request for help via our support form here, and we will troubleshoot the issue.

Examples include:

1) Scientists proposing to write a book reflecting on the broader implications of their research or to communicate their work to new audiences.

2) Scientists interested in projects that cross disciplinary lines.

3) Projects that do not rely on extensive infrastructure—for example, research in theoretical fields, data science, computer science, mathematics, statistics, and related areas.

4) Projects in collaboration with a lab or group at a local, Boston-based institution.

You must contact a potential lab host for your project before applying. Of your three letters of recommendation, one must be a letter of support from the host of the local lab.

Fellows who run labs at their home institution often:

• Set up regular videoconference meetings with lab members;
• Establish clear expectations with collaborators about when and how they will be available, and
• Travel back to their labs once or twice during the year, typically during scheduled breaks in our program. There are two scheduled breaks during the fellowship year: a five-week winter break and a one-week break in March.

Each application we receive is reviewed in a two-tiered process:

• Experts in the relevant field review the application; and
• A multidisciplinary committee selects a diverse class of fellows of the highest achievement and potential.

Applications are evaluated based on:

• the quality and significance of the proposed project; and
• the applicant's intellectual and creative capacity, as evidenced by a strong record of achievement or extraordinary promise.

We seek diversity across disciplines, career stages, and all dimensions. As a uniquely multidisciplinary community, we highly value collegiality and openness to cross-disciplinary conversation. Harvard Radcliffe Fellows are expected to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and respect in their work and interactions with others.

Applicants will be notified of the results of the selection process by email in March 2027.

Yes. Applicants may reapply in a future cycle.

If you are offered another fellowship, please let us know. If you decide to accept another fellowship before our selection process is complete, please inform us so that we may withdraw your application from consideration.

We are unable to provide feedback on applications.

If you have used the "Lost password?" Link, entered your email address, and are not receiving a reset email:

• Check your spam/junk folder
• If you still cannot find the email with your temporary password, please submit a request for help via our support form here.

• Text files are accepted in Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF format. PDF is preferred.
• The maximum allowed file size is 10 MB for text documents.
• For visual arts applicants, image files in JPG, GIF, or PNG format are accepted, up to 3MB per file.

• Before submission: Click the Print in the “Action” column under the “My Applications” tab to print your application.
• After submission: You may still log into the portal and print your completed application by clicking Print under the “My Applications-Completed” tab.

You will receive a confirmation email when your application has been successfully submitted. You will still have access to the portal homepage to see the status of your recommendation letters.

The PDF conversion process can change formatting and affect document length. Slight variations are common and will not be taken into consideration when judging proposals.

Humanities, social sciences, and creative arts:

Your complete application, including letters of recommendation, should be submitted by Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET.

Science, engineering, and mathematics:

Your complete application, including letters of recommendation, should be submitted by Thursday, October 1, 2026, at 5:00 PM ET.

Applications Office staff will be available to assist until 5:00 PM ET on these days.