Application Deadline: September 19, 2025.
LOCATION: USA
The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies is dedicated to promoting innovative social science hand-in-hand with deepening our shared knowledge of the experiences and practices of the world’s regions and countries. The Academy Scholars Program identifies and supports outstanding researchers at the start 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 outside of the United States or Canada. The scholarship of the group spans traditional disciplinary divisions and elucidates comparative, transnational, and domestic issues, past or present.
ELIGIBILITY:
These awards are open to recipients of PhD or equivalent degrees granted within two years of the August 1, 2026, 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, 2026, for an August 1, 2026, start date. Individuals who hold or have completed another postdoctoral fellowship are not eligible to apply.
The Academy Scholars Program is open to scholars from all countries and citizenships who have recently completed or are nearing completion of a PhD or equivalent degree program (DPhil and SJD included) in the social sciences.
All application materials must be submitted by the deadline of September 19, 2025. We do not accept late applications.
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; fifty pages maximum; in English)
A copy of your PhD program transcript
Three letters of recommendation (uploaded directly and confidentially by the recommender through the online application—please note you will need to submit your application before an upload link is sent to your recommender)
All parts of the application, including the three letters of recommendation, are submitted online as .pdf documents. Access the online application through The Harvard Academy’s website by clicking on the APPLY ONLINE button.
All materials except for letters of recommendation must be received by September 19, 2025 (ensure letters of recommendation arrive no later than September 29, 2025). 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 2025.
BENEFIT:
Each year, five to six Academy Scholars are named for two-year in-residence appointments with an annual stipend of $80,000 (annual research support of $5,000 is also provided), with the two years to be completed within a three-year window. Year 1 of the fellowship must be taken up no later than the fall immediately following the postdoctoral fellowship offer.
