Full Program Details
You finished a PhD on drought and crop yields, or on air quality in fast growing cities, or on the law of climate finance. Now you want two years to chase the bigger question your thesis only touched. Harvard has a fellowship built for exactly that moment, and it pays a full salary.
The Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) has opened applications for its 2027 Environmental Fellows. The program lets recent doctorate holders spend two years working with a Harvard faculty host in any school or department, on an environmental project of their own design. Applications close at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on 1 December 2026.
Fellows earn a salary of $92,000 a year for two years, with Harvard employee health insurance eligibility and a $2,500 yearly allowance for travel and professional costs.
Details at a glance:
- Host: Harvard University Center for the Environment
- Level: postdoctoral fellowship for recent PhDs or holders of a comparable terminal degree
- Length: two years, starting in September 2027
- Awards: about five fellowships for the 2027 cohort
- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Application deadline: 1 December 2026, 5 p.m. ET
- Reference and host letters: due by 11 December 2026
- Application fee: none listed
What the Fellowship Offers
- A salary of $92,000 per year
- Eligibility for Harvard employee health insurance
- Up to $2,500 in reimbursed relocation costs
- An annual allowance of $2,500 for travel and other professional expenses
- A place in a cohort of around a dozen fellows, with biweekly dinners alongside Harvard faculty and a faculty speaker
Who Can Apply
- Anyone with a doctorate or comparable terminal degree awarded between May 2023 and August 2027. You must file your dissertation before your appointment starts in September 2027.
- Your degree can come from any university in the world. Harvard says foreign nationals are eligible, though study at Harvard requires proficiency in English.
- Fields are wide open: sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design and the humanities have all been welcomed.
- Your project must be an independent line of research that clearly goes beyond your PhD work and beyond your host's current research.
If you earned your degree at Harvard or already work there as a postdoc, you can still apply, but you must move into a clearly new direction and should not propose to keep working with the same professors or group.
The Step Most Applicants Underestimate: Finding a Host
Every fellow needs a Harvard faculty member to host and mentor them and to provide office space and basic support. Your host must send a letter of support, up to two pages, describing their commitment to you and your project. Many faculty receive several requests, and some run their own selection to choose one or two applicants to back. Each faculty member can only host one Environmental Fellow at a time, and HUCE lists a few faculty who are not available as hosts for 2027.
Start contacting potential hosts now. The Department of the History of Science, for example, has a 1 November deadline for all sponsor requests. HUCE points applicants to the Salata Institute website as one place to find faculty working on climate and the environment.
How to Apply
- Identify and agree terms with a Harvard faculty host who is excited about your project.
- Prepare a CV with a list of publications.
- Write a detailed research proposal of up to five pages, with references counted separately.
- Choose up to three publications or writing samples.
- Arrange three reference letters, including one from your dissertation adviser.
- Submit everything through the Harvard Academic Positions portal by 5 p.m. ET on 1 December 2026.
- Make sure your referees and host send their letters by 11 December 2026. Host letters go to environmental_fellows@harvard.edu.
How Selection Works
A committee of HUCE faculty reviews the proposals. It looks at your past academic and professional record, the originality of your project, its relevance to environmental problems, and how committed and able your host is to support you. A small group of applicants is then invited to discuss their proposal with the committee over video.
GizPulse Verdict
Who this is for: Early career researchers from anywhere, including African PhDs working on climate, water, energy, agriculture or environmental policy, who have a bold project idea and can win the backing of a Harvard professor.
Who should pause: If your doctorate was awarded before May 2023, or you want to continue the exact research from your PhD with the same team, you will not fit this fellowship.
One tip to stand out: Treat the host letter as half your application. Send a potential host a one page summary of your proposed project first, show how it connects to their work without repeating it, and give them weeks, not days, to write a detailed letter.
Read the full rules, host restrictions and application link on the official Harvard University Center for the Environment website.
