Become a Radcliffe Fellow

Radcliffe fellows are exceptional scientists, writers, scholars, public intellectuals, 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.

“A year at Radcliffe was everything I could ask for. The gifts of time and space elevated the way I thought about my work. After many, many years, I felt truly free to explore my craft.”
—2022–2023 Radcliffe fellow

Our online application for the 2025–2026 fellowship year is now available.

The deadline for applications in humanities, social sciences, and creative arts is September 12, 2024.

The deadline for applications in science, engineering, and mathematics is October 3, 2024.

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.

Watch previous public fellows’ presentation series.

The Radcliffe Fellowship Program awards 50 fellowships each academic year. Applicants may apply as individuals or in a group of two 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.

We welcome applications from a wide range of fields and perspectives. Our fellowship program’s strength is its diversity.

“This fellowship was the most inspiring and generative year of my scholarly life to date. The opportunity to meet and talk with people from such different areas of expertise expanded my horizons beyond measure.”
—2018–2019 Radcliffe fellow

Radcliffe supports engaged scholarship. We welcome applications from scholars and artists proposing innovative work that confronts pressing social and policy issues and seeking to engage audiences beyond academia.

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.

We welcome proposals relevant to the Institute’s focus areas, which include the following:

• Climate change, especially proposals addressing critical questions of impact and equity.
• Academic freedom and connecting across difference, especially proposals addressing political polarization, inequality, state regulation, and other policy issues as they relate to free inquiry at higher education institutions.

Fellowship Program Details 

Eligibility Guidelines and Application Materials