Radcliffe fellows are exceptional scientists, writers, scholars, public intellectuals, practitioners, and artists whose work is making a difference in their professional fields and in the larger world.

Based in Radcliffe Yard—a sanctuary in the heart of Harvard University—fellows join a uniquely interdisciplinary and creative community. A fellowship at Radcliffe is an opportunity to step away from usual routines and dive deeply into a project. With access to Harvard’s unparalleled resources, Radcliffe fellows develop new tools and methods, challenge artistic and scholarly conventions, and illuminate our past and our present.

Throughout the year, fellows convene regularly to share their work in progress. Coming from diverse disciplines and perspectives, they challenge each other’s ideas and support each other’s ambitions. Many say that it is the best year of their professional lives.

Our online application for the 2021–2022 fellowship year is now available.

The deadline for applications in humanities, social sciences, and creative arts is September 10, 2020.

The deadline for applications in science, engineering, and mathematics is October 1, 2020.

The Radcliffe Fellowship Program awards 50 fellowships each academic year. Applicants may apply as individuals or in a group of two to three people working on the same project. We seek diversity along many dimensions, including discipline, career stage, race and ethnicity, country of origin, gender and sexual orientation, and ideological perspective. Although our fellows come from many different backgrounds, they are united by their demonstrated excellence, collegiality, and creativity.

“During my year at Radcliffe, I have most enjoyed the rich and generous interaction with other fellows, the opportunity to engage with the wider Harvard community, and the space away from my professional responsibilities to reflect on the past few years. My book could not have been conceived without the space the fellowship created.”
—Hernan del Valle, 2018–2019 Rita E. Hauser Fellow

Explore the broad range of Radcliffe fellows’ projects.

We welcome applications from a broad range of fields and perspectives. The strength of our fellowship program is its diversity.

The following areas are of particular interest:

  • Radcliffe supports engaged scholarship. We welcome applications from scholars, artists, and practitioners proposing innovative work that confronts pressing social and policy issues and seeking to engage audiences beyond academia.
  • We welcome proposals relevant to the Institute’s focus areas, which include:
    • Law, education, and justice
    • Youth leadership and civic engagement
    • Legacies of slavery
  • Reflecting Radcliffe’s unique history and institutional legacy, we welcome proposals that focus on women, gender, and society or draw on the Schlesinger Library’s rich collections.
  • Interdisciplinary exchange is a hallmark of the Radcliffe Fellowship, and we welcome proposals that take advantage of our uniquely diverse intellectual community by engaging with concepts and ideas that cross disciplinary boundaries.