Eligibility
Disciplines Listing
Application Materials
Letters of Recommendation
Science, Engineering, and Mathematics
Troubleshooting the Application Portal
Selection Process
Application Deadlines
Eligibility
+ What are the eligibility requirements to apply for a Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship?
Harvard Radcliffe Fellows demonstrate an extraordinary level of accomplishment. This is not intended to serve as a post-doctoral fellowship. Applicants must demonstrate a strong body of independent research and writing.
Applicants in the humanities and social sciences must:
1. Have received their doctorate (or appropriate terminal degree) in the area of their proposed project at least four years prior to their appointment as a fellow (December 2022 for the 2026-27 fellowship year). Appropriate terminal degrees include PhD, MD, and JD.
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 prior to their appointment as a fellow (December 2022 for the 2026-27 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 the creative arts must meet discipline-specific eligibility requirements, as outlined below:
- Film and Video: Applicants in this discipline 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 and Nonfiction: Applicants in these disciplines 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 in this discipline 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.
- Journalism: Applicants in this discipline are required to have worked professionally as a journalist for at least five years.
- Playwriting: Applicants in this discipline must have a significant body of independent work in the form. This will include, most typically, plays produced or under option.
- Music Composition: It is desirable, but not required, for applicants in music composition to have a PhD or DMA. Most importantly, the applicant must show strong evidence of achievement as a professional artist, with a record of recent performances.
Former Harvard Radcliffe fellows (1999–present) are ineligible to apply.
+ Does the Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship Program accept group projects?
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. At the Individual or Group question on the General Information page of the application, select Group, and list the names of both group members, including yourself, in the available fields.
- Each group member should submit an individual CV and writing sample.
- Both group members should upload the same project proposal, making special note in your proposal about the nature of your collaboration.
- We encourage applicants within a group to ask for letters from different recommenders. If there is a recommender who is well-suited to speak to your group's proposed project as a whole, or who has worked closely with both group members, they can be listed as a recommender for both group members and may upload the same letter.
Disciplines
+ What discipline should I select if my work is interdisciplinary in nature?
Applicants may designate a primary discipline and are given the option to designate an additional disciplinary area. You may select this additional area from a drop-down menu or write your own description in the answer field.
We advise applicants to select the discipline that best fits their proposed project and educational, professional, or artistic background and the discipline for which they have met 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.
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Application Materials
+ What does the application include?
The application consists of an application form, curriculum vitae, 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 in support of your application. All materials must be submitted via our online application portal.
+ How do I start an application?
Register as a new user by entering your name, email address, and password responses on the New User Registration page of the online application. Once you have registered, you may log in to the portal here and select an application area: Humanities and Social Sciences, Creative Arts (including Journalists and Nonfiction writers), or Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.
+ What should I include in the project proposal?
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 for the abstract is:
- 1–2 sentences of basic introduction to the field
- 1–2 sentences clearly describing the project being pursued
- 1 sentence describing the material/sources/archives to be used
- 2–3 sentences providing a broader perspective of how the project will contribute to the discipline/society
The body of your proposal should describe the project, explaining the significance of the topic, placing the work in the context of your field, and indicating how the project would contribute to your field. Be clear about the theory and methodology. Cite the work of others, if relevant; indicate the status of any project already begun and any data already collected.
All applicants should write for an informed but broad disciplinary audience. All proposals will be evaluated by experts in the relevant field. Finalists are reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee.
+ How long should my proposal be? How should it be formatted?
Your project proposal should contain no more than 1,400 words, beginning with a 150-word abstract summarizing the proposed project. (The 150-word abstract counts as part of the 1,400-word limit on the proposal.) The proposal should be in 12-point font, double-spaced, with a 1-inch margin.
+ Can I see a sample of a successful project proposal?
While we cannot provide an example of a successful proposal, 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 these for examples of the types of projects we support.
+ What should I submit as a work sample?
For applicants in the humanities and social sciences: If you have completed writing relevant to your proposed project, please include that (even if it is unpublished). Otherwise, please upload a published article or book chapter. The maximum length is 40 pages.
Applicants in science, engineering, and mathematics should submit three published articles.
For applicants in the creative arts, our writing/work sample guidelines vary by discipline:
- Applicants in fiction and nonfiction should submit a recent book chapter, short story, manuscript, or article, approximately 30 pages total. Submitted material should be related to your project. If not related to it, published material is required.
- Applicants in poetry should submit up to 10 poems.
- Applicants in journalism should submit three substantive published articles, approximately 30 pages total. Applicants in this discipline may also submit up to 15 minutes of work on YouTube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud on the Journalism Supporting Materials Upload page.
- Applicants in playwriting should submit one play or a section of a play, no more than 30 pages total.
- Applicants in visual arts should submit 12 images and, if applicable, up to 3 moving-image excerpts on the Visual Arts Supporting Materials Upload page.
- Applicants in film and video should submit a maximum of 15 minutes of work on YouTube or Vimeo on the Film and Video Supporting Materials Upload page. If your total submission sample exceeds 15 minutes in run time, please provide the timestamps of 15 minutes’ worth of material that you would like to be evaluated.
- Applicants in music composition should submit one to three samples of recent compositions on 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.
+ How strict are the page limits?
We encourage you to respect the page limits to the best of your ability but submitting a document slightly over the page limits outlined above will not disqualify your application from review. Application readers typically become frustrated with overly long samples.
Letters of Recommendation
+ What should I take into consideration when asking for letters of recommendation?
We advise that you request letters from individuals who can speak to the merits of your proposed project, your record of achievement, and your collegiality.
If applicable: We advise that only one of three recommenders be from your home institution and only one of three recommenders be from a dissertation committee member. We encourage applicants not to request letters from their dissertation advisor if they are more than five years past their PhD, 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 lab as one of the three letters of recommendation.
For applicants in writing: Please do not request letters from current editors or agents who may have a conflict of interest in recommending your work.
+ How do I request recommendation letters via the application portal?
Please select the "Add Recommender" button on the Listing of Recommenders page in the application and complete the required information in the window that is displayed. Please verify the email address with your recommender. You may include a personalized message to your recommender and attach your proposal. Once you select "Send Email to Recommender," an email will be sent to your recommender with instructions for how to upload their letter in support of your application.
After sending the request, the recommender's name will appear in the "Recommender Status" section, along with the status of the letter itself. The current status of the letter will be listed in red. The three stages are Email Sent, In Progress, and Submitted.
+ When are my recommendation letters due?
Letters of recommendation are due by the application deadline: September 11, 2025, for applicants in the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts; September 30, 2025, for applicants in science, engineering, and mathematics. Please notify your recommenders well ahead of the deadline so they have sufficient time to submit your letters.
Science, Engineering, and Mathematics
+ What are some examples of the kinds of projects in the sciences that are well suited for a Harvard Radcliffe fellowship?
1) Scientists proposing to write a book reflecting on the larger implications of their research or who wish to communicate to new audiences.
2) Scientists who are interested in projects that cross disciplinary lines.
3) Projects that do not rely on extensive infrastructure—e.g., research in theoretical fields, data science, computer science, mathematics, statistics, and so on.
4) Scientists whose projects are in collaboration with a lab or group at a local, Boston-based institution.
Selection Process
+ Who evaluates my application?
Each application we receive is reviewed in a two-tiered process—first by experts in the relevant field, then by a multidisciplinary committee charged with selecting a diverse class of fellows of the highest achievement and potential.
+ What are the evaluation criteria?
Applications are evaluated 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 along every dimension, including geography, ethnicity and race, stage in career, and ideological perspective. As a uniquely multidisciplinary community, we highly value collegiality and openness to cross-disciplinary conversation.
Troubleshooting the Application Portal
+ How can I save/print a copy of my application once I've completed it?
Before you submit your application, you can click the View/Print Application page to save and/or print your application. After you have submitted your application, you may still log onto the application portal and click the Print Application link under Track Recommenders to save and/or print your completed application.
+ How can I confirm that my application has been successfully submitted?
You will receive a confirmation email notifying you that your application has been successfully submitted. You will still be able to access a "Track Recommenders" link on the portal homepage to see the status of your recommendation letters even after your application has been submitted.
+ My proposal document looked fine in MS Word, but after I uploaded it, all the formatting changed and made it difficult to read. Why did this happen and how can I fix it? Will this affect the review of my application?
Our system converts your uploaded document to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Slight variations in formatting are a byproduct of the conversion process. Our reviewers are aware of this, and slight irregularities will not affect the review of your application.
To avoid problems in the conversion process, we recommend that you convert your document to a PDF and upload that version. Alternatively, you should use simple formatting as much as possible. You can check your original document as follows:
- Using the "show formatting" function on your computer, look for formatting that might have created problems, such as hard returns at the end of each line, text included in tables, diacritical marks, footnotes or endnotes, unnecessary page or section breaks, etc.
- Delete unnecessary formatting and try uploading your document again.
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Application Deadlines
+ When is the application due?
For applicants in the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts: Your complete application, including letters of recommendation, should be submitted by Thursday, September 11, 2025 (11:59 PM ET).
For applicants in science, engineering, and mathematics: Your complete application, including letters of recommendation, should be submitted by Tuesday, September 30, 2025 (11:59 PM ET).
Please note: Applications Office staff will be available to assist until 5:00 PM ET on those days.
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