Harvard University Academy Scholars Program – APPLY NOW

This program is open to recent PhD recipients as well as doctorate candidates in the social sciences. The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies Academy Scholars Program identifies and supports outstanding scholars at the beginning of their academic careers whose work combines excellence in a social science discipline with a command of the language and knowledge or expertise of countries or regions other than the United States or Canada.

Their research should cross traditional disciplinary boundaries and shed light on comparative, transnational, or domestic challenges, both past and current.

The Academy Scholars are a small group of persons who have demonstrated ingenuity, initiative, and creativity in their work, and whose work shows promise as a basis for careers in research universities or international institutions.

Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named after the College’s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown, who upon his death in 1638 left his library and half his estate to the institution. A statue of John Harvard stands today in front of University Hall in Harvard Yard, and is perhaps the University’s best known landmark.

Harvard University has 12 degree-granting Schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The University has grown from nine students with a single master to an enrollment of more than 20,000 degree candidates including undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. There are more than 360,000 living alumni in the U.S. and over 190 other countries.

Benefits of Academy Scholars Program

• Postdoctoral Academy Scholars will receive an annual stipend of $75,000.
• The stipend is supplemented by funding for conference and research travel, research assistants, and health insurance coverage.

Academy Scholars Program Courses

• Social Sciences

Requirements for Academy Scholars Program Qualification

• These awards are open to recipients of PhD or comparable doctoral degrees (within two years of the August 1, 2024, start date) and advanced doctoral candidates in the social sciences.
• Scholars nearing dissertation completion must be able to submit degree conferral documentation issued by their university registrar’s office by June 30, 2024, for an August 1, 2024, start date.
• Individuals who hold or have completed another Harvard postdoctoral fellowship are not eligible to apply.

Documents Required for Application

The completed application will include:

• Curriculum vitae (CV); including list of publications
• Research proposal (2000 words maximum); including intellectual objectives and planned methodological and disciplinary work
• One scholarly writing sample (e.g., PhD dissertation chapter or single-authored peer-reviewed academic journal article; 50 pages maximum; in English)
• A copy of your PhD program transcript
• Three letters of recommendation (uploaded to the online application directly and confidentially by the recommender by September 22, 2023)

How To Apply for Harvard University Academy Scholars Program

All application materials must be submitted by the deadline of September 22, 2023. We do not accept late applications.

All parts of the application, including the three letters of recommendation, are submitted online as pdf documents. Access the online application through the homepage of The Harvard Academy’s website by clicking on the APPLY ONLINE button.

All materials must be received by September 22, 2023. The selection process begins immediately thereafter. Applicants whose materials are incomplete are at a disadvantage when considered by the Selection Committee. Announcement of the awards will be made in December 2023.

Questions should be emailed to: applicationinquiries@wcfia.harvard.edu.

For more details, visit Harvard University website on https://academy.wcfia.harvard.edu/programs/academy_scholar