With the constant and never-ending threat to our environment, an affiliate of Harvard University, the Harvard University Centre for Environment (HUCE) created the Environmental Fellows program to enable recent doctorate recipients to use and expand Harvard’s extraordinary resources to tackle complex environmental issues.
Harvard University Centre for Environment (HUCE) is offering scholarship opportunities to current doctoral holders.
The scholarship recipients which are addressed as Fellows will work with some of the University’s leading faculty, creating linkages across research disciplines and professional schools, and benefit from all that Harvard has to offer.
This is in a bid that HUCE Fellows will work for two years with Harvard faculty members in any school or department to form a community of researchers that strengthens connections across the University.
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About Harvard University Environmental Awards Fellows Program Scholarship:
Before we get deep, there is something I must explain about this scholarship. The Harvard University Environmental Awards Fellows Program scholarship is unlike a regular admission scholarship where you win an award that slashes your tuition fee and provides a stipend, this is different.
Although it does provide its monetary gains, it does not work like a regular scholarship.
How?
If you are accepted, you would be called a ‘Fellow’ and you would need a project proposal that has been verified and is also being worked on with you by your ‘Host’.
Your host is essentially a faculty member at any faculty in Harvard. Now, your host plays a very crucial role because without his/her involvement, you will not be accepted into this program.
Before we move on, I am going to highlight more importance of a Host and how you can find one.
Why Do You Need A Host For Harvard University Environmental Awards Fellows Program:
- Before your application is accepted, (while it Is still being reviewed) Successful candidates will be enthusiastically recommended by their proposed host. Each applicant’s host must submit a letter of support (maximum of two pages) to the selection committee describing in detail the level of commitment to the research and the candidate. If this is not done, your application, despite the brilliance of your research, will not be considered at all
- You would need to submit a project and your proposed project should represent an independent line of inquiry, clearly extending beyond the candidate’s PhD work as well as the host’s ongoing research. The relevance of the proposed work for addressing environmental issues, along with a demonstration of excellent potential for intellectual achievement, are critical factors in the selection process. Here, you need to provide evidence that you are indeed working with your host on your project.
- Further important considerations are the host faculty member’s enthusiasm for the proposed project and fellow, the host’s ability to mentor the fellow, and their ability to provide office space and a productive work environment.
So you see, a lot of your acceptance into this program leans on the acceptance and involvement of your host. Now you’re probably wondering;
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How To Get A Host;
Yes, you need to get one as it is important to start early to identify and establish a relationship with a Harvard faculty member to host their research.
Because your host will be a mentor to the fellow and will provide office space and basic administrative support.
To get a host, most times Harvard faculty members are approached by many would-be applicants.
Sometimes, some faculty members conduct their selection process to identify one or two applicants for recommendation to the selection committee.
Listed on HUCE’s web page, you can find a directory of many potential hosts, organized both by academic areas topic. Any faculty member from any discipline may potentially serve as a host, regardless of whether the host has had prior experience with environmental research or HUCE.
However, for current Harvard applicants, you should not propose to continue to work with the same professors or lab groups with whom they are currently associated. Harvard candidates should not propose to continue to work with the same professors or groups with whom they are currently associated, nor should their proposal be an extenuation of their current work.
In agreeing to be a host, the faculty member is making a significant commitment.
I believe I have cleared the air and helped you understand more about this scholarship by explaining the dynamics, so let’s go on.
Harvard University Environmental Awards Fellows Program Requirements:
- This program is majorly for PhD holders. But, applicants without a PhD may apply if they have studied in fields where the PhD is not the normal terminal degree.
- Applicants for this scholarship should have received their terminal degree between May 2018 and August 2022. (Fellows must have filed their dissertation before starting their appointment in September 2022.)
- All successful applicants must be able to demonstrate experience performing scholarly research.
- Applicants with a doctorate or equivalent in any field are eligible, and they may propose research projects in any discipline.
- Also, Candidates who received terminal degrees from Harvard, and post-docs currently working at Harvard are eligible for the fellowship provided their research and host arrangements take them in new directions that are significantly different from their PhD research and develop new relations within the University.
- International students are eligible for fellowships, though studying at Harvard generally requires proficiency in English, but should be aware that this fellowship requires residency in the Cambridge area and any fieldwork trip must be scheduled for the summer or January recess.
- Applicants may have received their degrees at any university in the world.
- All the applicants must secure a commitment from one or more Harvard faculty members to serve as a mentor and to provide office or lab space for the two-year fellowship as a Host to the Fellow.
- Successful applicants should be prepared to commit to work at Harvard for the full two years of the fellowship.
- No candidate should propose to work extensively with their thesis advisor.
Selection Of The Fellows Criteria:
Harvard is committed to promoting the improvement of talented scholars with an interest in environmental research. And to get into this program, the below are factors that will be considered before a fellow is accepted;
- The recipients and hosts of the Fellows program may include people with degrees in the sciences, economics, law, government, public policy, public health, medicine, design, and the full array of humanities. Although this scholarship does not exactly stipulate the accepted departments, the above can also apply and your research topics will be equally diversified and related to environmental research.
- Your previous academic and professional success and their potential contribution to scholarship or practise, humanitarian services and community work would be an added bonus for you.
- The project proposals are carefully evaluated by a committee of HUCE faculty. The selection committee will select a group of fellows in 2022 who will complement those selected last year, creating a group of approximately a dozen scholars with a diverse set of academic interests, skills, and backgrounds that would work in accordance with HUCE goals.
- If you make it into the last selection phase, you may be demanded to further discuss their proposal over video with the selection committee.
- For current Harvard candidates, that is those receiving terminal degrees from Harvard and post-docs currently working at Harvard are eligible for the fellowship provided their research and host arrangements take them in new directions that are significantly distinct from their PhD research
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Value of Harvard University Environmental Awards Fellows Program:
This scholarship is to be granted to six applicants and the Environmental Fellows Program is open to anyone with a doctorate or comparable terminal degree awarded between May 2018 and August 2022.
The benefits of the fellowship include a salary of $80,000 per year, employee health insurance eligibility, up to $2,500 reimbursement for relocation expenses and a $2,500 annual allowance for travel and other professional expenses.
All fellows join in biweekly dinners along with Harvard faculty and a speaker from amongst the Harvard faculty.
Application deadline;
Applications for the 2022 cohort are due by January 10, 2022, at 5:00pm EST.
Recommendation letters from Hosts are due by January 20, 2022, at 5:00pm EST (10 days after the application deadline).
Conclusion:
Good luck!
