USA Scholarships
Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 2027 - $92,000
The Harvard Environmental Fellows Program is a two-year postdoctoral appointment run by the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and the window for the 2027 cohort is open now. Fellows are paid a salary of $92,000 a year, work with a Harvard faculty host in any school or department, and pursue their own research on environmental problems. The package also carries employee health insurance eligibility, up to $2,500 in relocation reimbursement and a $2,500 annual allowance for travel and professional expenses. HUCE expects to award roughly five fellowships this round. Applications close on 1 December 2026 at 5pm ET, letters follow by 11 December, and decisions are planned for late January 2027.
What is the Harvard Environmental Fellows Program?
The Harvard Environmental Fellows Program pays recent PhDs $92,000 a year to spend two years at Harvard working on environmental problems, with a faculty member of their choosing as a host. It is run by the Harvard University Center for the Environment, which sits inside the Salata Institute, and the idea behind it is simple. Environmental questions rarely belong to one department, so HUCE brings in people from wherever the good work is happening and lets them loose across the University. Fellows have arrived with degrees in the sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design and the humanities.
The money is straightforward. A $92,000 annual salary, employee health insurance eligibility, up to $2,500 reimbursed for the move, and $2,500 each year for travel and professional costs. Office or lab space comes from your host rather than from the Center. Around five fellowships are expected for the 2027 cohort, and because the appointments run two years, roughly a dozen fellows are in residence at any given moment. The Center keeps the group tight with biweekly dinners that bring in Harvard faculty and outside speakers, which is where much of the cross-disciplinary rubbing off actually happens.
Here is the part that catches people out. You cannot apply on your own. Every candidate needs a tenure-track Harvard faculty member who agrees to mentor them, provide space and write a letter of support, and HUCE will not review a file that arrives without one. Faculty get far more requests than they can take, some run their own quiet shortlists, and a single professor can only host one Environmental Fellow at a time. If you are reading this in autumn 2026, host hunting is the thing to start today. The Salata Institute publishes a faculty list, though it is not exhaustive, and any Harvard professor from any discipline may serve, environmental background or not.
Dates for the 2027 round are firm. The form closes on 1 December 2026 at 5pm ET, your three referees and your host have until 11 December, and HUCE aims to tell everyone by late January 2027. Fellows can begin as early as 1 July 2027, though the Center wants the cohort settled in Cambridge by early September. You are expected to live near Cambridge for both years and to fit fieldwork into the summer or January recess. Write a proposal that stands apart from your dissertation and from whatever your host already does, since that independence is exactly what the faculty committee is reading for.
Eligibility
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✓Terminal degree between May 2023 and August 2027Candidates for the 2027 cohort should have received their doctorate or comparable terminal degree inside that window. You do not need the diploma in hand when you apply, but you must have filed your dissertation before the appointment starts in September 2027, and HUCE asks for a letter from your graduate school or department chair certifying that you finished every requirement.
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✓A doctorate, or the terminal degree of your fieldAny discipline qualifies and you can propose research in any discipline. Applicants without a PhD may apply if they trained in a field where the PhD is not the usual terminal degree. Multiple master's degrees do not make you eligible, since this is a postdoctoral programme. Every successful candidate can show real experience doing scholarly research.
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✓A Harvard faculty host who commits in writingYou must secure a commitment from at least one Harvard faculty member to mentor you and provide office or lab space for the two years. The host has to send a letter of support, two pages maximum, and HUCE states plainly that your application will not be reviewed without it. Hosts must be tenure-track, may host only one Environmental Fellow at a time, and HUCE cannot match you with one.
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✓Research that addresses environmental issuesThe proposal should be an independent line of inquiry that clearly goes beyond both your PhD work and your host's ongoing research. Relevance to environmental problems and evidence of strong intellectual potential are the factors the faculty committee weighs most. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged but not required, and single-discipline proposals are welcome.
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✓Open to all nationalities, with visa supportForeign nationals are eligible and HUCE says many past fellows came from other countries. The Center works with the Harvard International Office on visa applications. You may have earned your degree at any university in the world, though study at Harvard generally requires proficiency in English.
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✓Two years in residence in the Cambridge areaPlan to work at Harvard for the full two years. The fellowship requires residency near Cambridge, Massachusetts, and any fieldwork trip has to be scheduled for the summer or the January recess. Start dates can be as early as 1 July 2027, with the goal of having the cohort in Cambridge by early September.
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✓Harvard insiders must change directionPeople finishing a terminal degree at Harvard and postdocs already working there can apply, provided the research and host arrangements take them somewhere genuinely new and build fresh connections across the University. You cannot propose to stay with the same professors or lab group, and no candidate should plan to work extensively with their thesis adviser.
Benefits
- Annual salary $92,000
- Length of appointment Two years
- Health insurance Employee health insurance eligibility
- Relocation reimbursement Up to $2,500
- Travel and professional expenses $2,500 a year
- Office or lab space Provided by your faculty host
- Fellows programme Biweekly dinners with faculty and guests
- Awards expected for 2027 Approximately five
- Housing or rent allowance Not offered
- Third year or extension Two years only
- Remote or part-time work Residency near Cambridge is required
- Help finding a faculty host HUCE cannot make recommendations
- Dependant or family support Not published
- Review without a host letter Application will not be read
Document checklist
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✓Online application form in ARIeSThe form lives on the Harvard academic positions system and must be complete by 1 December 2026 at 5pm ET. Supporting documents are attached as PDFs.
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✓Curriculum vitae with publications listA full academic CV that includes your list of publications. No page limit is published for it.
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✓Research proposal, five pages maximumA detailed proposal explaining what you would work on and your specific reasons for wanting a Harvard residential environmental fellowship. References are counted separately from the five pages, and no font or spacing rules apply. Discuss it with your prospective host, but the final document has to be clearly your own work.
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✓Up to three publications or writing samplesOne publication is required and two more are optional. Pick the pieces that best show the quality of research you produce.
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✓Three letters of referenceThree letters, no more and no fewer, including one from your dissertation adviser. ARIeS only emails the requests once you submit, so brief your referees in advance. They have until 11 December 2026 to upload.
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✓Host letter of supportYour Harvard faculty host writes a separate letter, two pages maximum, committing to mentor you, backing the proposed research and confirming office or lab space. Hosts email it directly to [email protected] and also have until 11 December 2026.
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✓Research title and 175-word abstractThe form asks for your proposed research title, an abstract of 175 words or fewer, your citizenship and the name of your Harvard host. Draft the abstract before you sit down with the form.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the Harvard Environmental Fellows Program?
It is a two-year postdoctoral fellowship created by the Harvard University Center for the Environment, a centre of the Salata Institute, for recent doctorate recipients working on environmental problems. Fellows are hosted by a Harvard faculty member in any school or department, run their own research project, and join a small cohort that meets over biweekly dinners with faculty and invited guests. The point is to pull environmental research across the usual departmental lines.
How much does a Harvard Environmental Fellow get paid?
The 2027 award is a salary of $92,000 per year. On top of that you get employee health insurance eligibility, up to $2,500 reimbursed for relocation, and a $2,500 annual allowance for travel and other professional expenses. Your faculty host supplies office or lab space. Harvard notes that the pay offered depends on factors such as experience, training and accomplishments in the field.
When is the Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 2027 deadline?
Applications for the 2027 cohort close on 1 December 2026 at 5pm ET. Reference letters and the host letter of support are due ten days later, by 11 December 2026 at 5pm ET. HUCE plans to select fellows and alternates and contact applicants with results by late January 2027.
Who is eligible for the Harvard Environmental Fellowship?
You need a doctorate or comparable terminal degree awarded between May 2023 and August 2027, in any field, from any university in the world. Applicants without a PhD can apply if their field does not use the PhD as its terminal degree. A stack of master's degrees does not qualify. Beyond the degree, you need a Harvard faculty host who commits in writing and a research proposal that goes beyond your doctoral work.
Can international researchers apply for the Harvard Environmental Fellows Program?
Yes. HUCE states directly that the programme is open to non-US citizens, that many past fellows came from other countries, and that it works with the Harvard International Office to support visa applications. Degrees from any university in the world are accepted. The one practical caveat is language, since study at Harvard generally requires proficiency in English.
Do I need a Harvard faculty host before I apply?
Yes, and it is the requirement that sinks most applications. Your host must be a tenure-track Harvard faculty member who agrees to mentor you and provide office or lab space for two years, and who submits a letter of support of no more than two pages. HUCE says an application without that letter will not be reviewed and that it cannot recommend hosts for you. Co-hosts are allowed but uncommon. For 2027, Charles Davis, Charles Taylor, Scott Edwards, Le Xie, Robin Kelsey, Phillip Deloria, Richard Lazarus and Joyce Chaplin are not available to host.
How many Environmental Fellows does Harvard select?
HUCE expects to award approximately five fellowships for the 2027 cohort. Because the appointments run two years, the new group is chosen to complement the one selected the year before, which puts around a dozen fellows in the community at any time. Their backgrounds range across the sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design and the humanities.
When will I hear back about my application?
HUCE plans to notify applicants of its decision by late January 2027, naming both fellows and alternates at that point. Before then, a selected group of applicants is asked to discuss the proposal with the committee over video. You get an automated email when the online form is submitted, and the Center confirms separately once your complete file, including all letters, has arrived.
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