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.
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.
2. Have published at least five articles in refereed journals.

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. 

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.