Nomination Procedure

Candidates are generally nominated for Junior Fellowships by those under whom they have studied, e.g. an advisor, dissertation committee member, mentor, or other scholar who knows your work well. You cannot nominate yourself for the Junior Fellowship. The nomination letter is the most important letter in a candidate’s file and should be written by the individual who knows your work best. 

No, nominators are not required to have any Harvard affiliation. Nominations can come from faculty/researchers at any institution.

Yes, candidates can be renominated, although there should be significant changes to the candidate’s work and/or academic record to warrant a renomination. Please note that the Senior Fellows reviewing candidate files are aware if a candidate has been nominated more than once.

Senior Fellows cannot serve as referees, as it is a conflict of interest.

The Junior Fellowship is meant for scholars who are at the early stage of their scholarly careers, but the one-year timeline is more of a guideline than a strict rule. Candidates who have not started a tenure-track position at a university at the time of the application are generally considered to be eligible for the fellowship. Junior Fellows have, however, held other post-doctoral positions and/or served as lecturers, visiting assistant professors, etc. 

Junior Fellows are required to have a primary affiliation at Harvard, but are welcome to collaborate with faculty/affiliates at other institutions. Please note that Junior Fellows cannot hold a second fellowship concurrently and be paid by both. 

The annual stipend for first-year Junior Fellows is $101,000 as of the 2025-26 academic year. Health insurance is also provided. Junior Fellows in the humanities are provided with a dedicated office, subject to availability. 

No, but Junior Fellows are eligible to apply to the Milton Fund, an internal funding opportunity at Harvard. The Milton Fund awards up to $50,000 in the fields of medicine, geography, history, and science.

Junior Fellows must be in residence in the Cambridge area for the duration of the three-year fellowship, excluding winter and summer recesses. When the University is in session, they are expected to work full-time in the office or lab space provided to them by the University and attend three meals a week. Junior Fellows are not subject to examination, are not required to make reports or publish, receive no credit for courses, and may not be candidates for any degree other than the Ph.D. Junior Fellows may not undertake any teaching or other paid remuneration during the fellowship. 

Generally, no. There have been rare exceptions, but candidates should not apply for the Junior Fellowship with the intention of requesting a deferral. After completing the first year of the fellowship, Junior Fellows can go on leave for up to one year. 

The proposal should detail the work you plan to undertake during the fellowship and illustrate how you would make use of the three years. Candidates can write about as many projects as they like in the proposal, although most limit the scope to one or two.

Candidates typically submit three writing samples. These may include dissertation chapters, book chapters, articles, or conference papers. A small selection of your best work is preferable to a large mass of material, preferably less than 100 pages total. If you have any doubts about what to submit, please consult your nominator/advisor for advice on what best represents your body of work.

Yes, as long as your materials can be submitted electronically using the candidate portal.

We do not accept any application materials by mail. We would recommend uploading one or more chapters from your book as your writing samples rather than the entire book.

Junior Fellows can hold a second fellowship concurrently (e.g. the Clay Research Fellowship, Schmidt Sciences Fellowship, etc.) but can only be paid by one.