Opportunities for Researchers | Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

Whether looking to work on individual projects or to collaborate with colleagues, researchers at all levels will find opportunities at Radcliffe. We offer yearlong and short-term residencies as well as financial support for research projects.

Each year, the Radcliffe Institute hosts leading scholars, scientists, artists, and practitioners from around the world in its renowned residential Fellowship Program. Academic Ventures and Engagement brings together scholars from across the University and around the world to foster multidisciplinary collaborations that lead to new ideas, innovative research, and the advancement of knowledge; programs range from small, intensive workshops to large public conferences. The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America offers a variety of research grants to support new scholarship on women, gender, and sexuality.

Quick Links Opportunities for Scholars, Artists, and Professionals Opportunities for Harvard Faculty and Radcliffe Fellows Opportunities for Researchers

Michael Kazin speaking at "Does the Left Have a Future?"

Amy Szarkowski speaking at the "Beyond Words" conference

The Radcliffe Institute forges links among different humanities fields, as well as among the humanities, other scholarly disciplines, and the wider world.

Leah Price 2006–2007 Walter Jackson Bate Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute and Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Leah Price's Website

The Radcliffe fellowship helped my work progress in almost too many ways to count. It is the most amazing opportunity I have been afforded in my career. It gave me the time for unimpeded thinking, creating, and exploring.

David Gruber 2017–2018 fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, Presidential Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Baruch College, and president of Project CETI David Gruber's Website

Many of the research problems I’ve worked on have come from other fields, so the idea of being part of a community of scholars in all kinds of disciplines—ranging from physics to history to art and music—is incredibly appealing, both on a personal level and as a way to expand my horizons beyond my current research directions.

Lauren K. Williams Sally Starling Seaver Professor at the Radcliffe Institute and professor of mathematics in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Lauren K. Williams's Research

The temptation for everyone who writes in the wake of government service is to litigate some of the debates that went on. My being at Radcliffe, in an environment where people bring such wholly different perspectives, has helped pull me out of my government, bureaucratic navel-gazing. It has helped me to look up rather than back and to try to write something that’s more enduring, more forward-looking.

Samantha Power 2017–2018 Perrin Moorhead Grayson and Bruns Grayson Fellow at Harvard Radcliffe Institute and administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power's Website

This is one of the best-run institutions I’ve ever been associated with, even in a temporary fashion.

Michael Kazin 2017–2018 Kim and Judy Davis Dean’s Lecturer at the Radcliffe Institute and professor of history at Georgetown University Michael Kazin's Faculty Profile

The seminar was a dream come true. The connections made, the projects in progress, the learning that happened and continues to occur, the invitations for opportunities that have resulted—I have been astounded by the impact of that experience. The work that Radcliffe does and helps to support is changing lives.

Amy Szarkowski Workshop participant at the Radcliffe Institute and attending psychologist and associate professor of psychology, Harvard Medical School More about Amy Szarkowski

Fellowship Program

Scholars and practitioners at the forefront of the arts, humanities, journalism, sciences, and social sciences apply to our competitive Fellowship Program to pursue bold ideas, artistic endeavors, and new research. Applicants come from across Harvard University and around the world. Radcliffe fellows receive a stipend of up to $78,500 for one year.

Become a Radcliffe Fellow

Conferences and Lectures

Our conferences and symposia are public conversations on large topics in which academics, artists, practitioners, and the public challenge assumptions and grapple with different perspectives from across all disciplines.

View Upcoming Events View Past Conferences and Symposia View Past Lectures

Exploratory Seminars

Harvard Radcliffe Institute's Exploratory Seminar Program provides funding to scholars, practitioners, and artists for collaboration in an interdisciplinary exploration of early-stage ideas. Our program encourages intellectual risk taking as participants gather in an intensive seminar setting to explore new fields of research and inquiry. Hundreds of Harvard faculty members and current and former Radcliffe fellows have benefited from this program, which challenges its participants to reimagine the boundaries of knowledge through multidisciplinary discussion.

Learn More about Our Seminar Program

Accelerator Workshops

Harvard Radcliffe Institute's Accelerator Workshop Program provides funding to scholars, practitioners, and artists to propel their original research programs or projects toward a specific outcome: a publication, a grant application, a course curriculum, an exhibition, a performance, or policy recommendations, to name only a few possibilities. With an eye toward accelerating the spread of innovative ideas and knowledge into the academic or public realm, our workshop program brings participants together to further develop and refine their work as they prepare for its eventual dissemination.

Learn More about Accelerator Workshops

Climate Policy Accelerator Workshops

In partnership with the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s new Climate Policy Accelerator Workshop program provides funding to scholars and practitioners to propel original research and bold ideas toward a specific outcome at the heart of the climate crisis. With an eye toward accelerating the development and spread of innovative policy ideas concerning action to address climate change, especially climate justice, this workshop program brings participants together to refine their work as they prepare for dissemination and implementation.

Learn More about Climate Policy Accelerator Workshops

Fellows since Founding 1,249

Scholars, artists, and practitioners from around the world have benefited from the Radcliffe Fellowship Program.

Conferences and Symposia since 2010 432

Large-scale, public events across the disciplines have taken place at Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

Manuscript Collections 4,616

Personal papers and organizational records are available for research at our Schlesinger Library.

Schlesinger Library Dissertation Grants

The Schlesinger Library invites predoctoral scholars whose dissertation research requires use of the Library’s collections to apply for research support. Grants of up to $3,000 will be given on a competitive basis. Applicants must have advanced to candidacy in a doctoral program in a relevant field and have an approved dissertation topic, and priority will be given to those whose projects require use of materials available only at the Schlesinger Library. We are no longer accepting applications for the 2023–2024 academic year. The next application cycle will open on October 28, 2024.

New England Regional Fellowship Consortium

The New England Regional Fellowship Consortium offers grants to encourage projects that draw on the resources of 18 major cultural agencies, including the Schlesinger Library.

Apply for a Consortium Fellowship

Schlesinger Library Research Support Grants

The Schlesinger Library invites scholars and other serious researchers at any career stage beyond graduate school to apply for support for their work in our collections. Grants of up to $3,000 will be given on a competitive basis. Applicants must have a doctoral degree or equivalent research and writing experience, and priority will be given to those who have demonstrated research productivity and whose projects require use of materials available only at the Schlesinger Library. The awards may be used to cover travel and living expenses, photocopies or other reproductions, and other incidental research expenses, but not for the purchase of equipment or travel to other sites for research. We are no longer accepting applications for the 2023–2024 academic year. The next application cycle will open on October 28, 2024.