Participate in regular seminars with their cohort and others at the Center.

Engage actively with the Center's broader programming, which includes public lectures, themed seminars and reading groups, conferences, workshops, and lunch discussions.

Advance their individual research projects, with the support of the Center's research team as needed/available.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT

This is a residential fellowship. Fellows are expected to live in the Boston area and be present at the Center at least three days per week, with at least four working days per week in the area overall. Occasional travel for conferences and other professional commitments is permitted, but Fellows should discuss their plans with the R&DS's Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives before making a commitment.

STIPEND

The stipend for post-doctoral fellows will be $7,000/month for the 2027-28 academic year, which runs from the start of September to the end of June. We also provide a research allowance of up to $3,000 per academic year for approved expenses directly related to your work, such as travel, books, and research assistance.

Basic Qualifications

Applicants must have completed a doctoral degree no more than three years before the start of the Fellowship year.

Applicants from any discipline or professional field will be considered. Those who have previously held a yearlong residential Fellowship at the Center are not eligible; this limitation does not apply to former Undergraduate Fellows or former Graduate Fellows. The Research & Design Studio works over the course of the academic year, and is open to all applicants who meet the above criteria, regardless of citizenship.

Please note that advanced language skills in both written and spoken English are required for Fellows at the Center. Fellows are expected to discuss and/or present their work in English and are encouraged to participate in informal discussions with faculty and students with related interests. Application materials, including writing samples, should be in English. If offered a fellowship, non-native English speakers who cannot demonstrate their proficiency through (1) completion of a degree from an English-speaking institution of higher education or (2) satisfactory TOEFL or IELTS scores will be contacted by the Center staff to arrange for further evaluation as needed.

Special Instructions

To apply, interested candidates must complete an online form and upload several documents through Harvard's ARIeS portal. Requested information and documents will include:

• Brief cover letter stating your background and interest in the Ethics & Civics Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Curriculum Vitae
• Research proposal (up to 1,000 words), to include:
• A description of the central project you hope to pursue during your fellowship year. Please include its goals, methods, and potential impact
• Discussion of how your work connects to the themes of the Research & Design Studio. What specific outputs or contributions (e.g., research, teaching tools, public engagement projects) you anticipate producing by the end of your fellowship
• How you envision engaging with other fellows and contributing to the collaborative cohort environment
• A lesson plan or example of a teaching activity you've used while teaching a course (or that you might like to use) that integrates ethics, civics, and/or civil discourse principles in the classroom or other educational setting.
• Recent writing sample representative of your work
• Unofficial transcript for graduate work
• Names and contact information for 3 references (Please note: no letters will be accepted at this stage. Please prepare your references for the possibility that we will reach out to them for their assessment of your work. In that case, they will be asked to submit a letter and complete a form within a short turn-around period.)

The deadline to submit an application is November 15, 2026, with decisions likely to be announced in March 2027. Please note that the application form will be saved automatically while in progress, but no edits or alterations will be allowed once you have submitted the application.

Please direct questions regarding this application process to ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu.

Contact Information

Claire Femano
124 Mount Auburn Street Suite 520N
Cambridge, MA 02138

Contact Email: ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu

Salary Range

The stipend for post-doctoral fellows will be $7,000/month for the 2027-28 academic year, which runs from the start of September to the end of June. We also provide a research allowance of up to $3,000 per academic year for approved expenses directly related to your work, such as travel, books, and research assistance.

Minimum Number of References Required: 3

Maximum Number of References Allowed: 3

Keywords

ethics, civics, disagreement, civil discourse, fellowship, pedagogy, discourse

Participate in regular seminars with their cohort and others at the Center.

Engage actively with the Center's broader programming, which includes public lectures, themed seminars and reading groups, conferences, workshops, and lunch discussions.

Advance their individual research projects, with the support of the Center's research team as needed/available.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT

This is a residential fellowship. Fellows are expected to live in the Boston area and be present at the Center at least three days per week, with at least four working days per week in the area overall. Occasional travel for conferences and other professional commitments is permitted, but Fellows should discuss their plans with the R&DS's Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives before making a commitment.

STIPEND

The stipend for post-doctoral fellows will be $7,000/month for the 2027-28 academic year, which runs from the start of September to the end of June. We also provide a research allowance of up to $3,000 per academic year for approved expenses directly related to your work, such as travel, books, and research assistance.

Basic Qualifications

Applicants must have completed a doctoral degree no more than three years before the start of the Fellowship year.

Applicants from any discipline or professional field will be considered. Those who have previously held a yearlong residential Fellowship at the Center are not eligible; this limitation does not apply to former Undergraduate Fellows or former Graduate Fellows. The Research & Design Studio works over the course of the academic year, and is open to all applicants who meet the above criteria, regardless of citizenship.

Please note that advanced language skills in both written and spoken English are required for Fellows at the Center. Fellows are expected to discuss and/or present their work in English and are encouraged to participate in informal discussions with faculty and students with related interests. Application materials, including writing samples, should be in English. If offered a fellowship, non-native English speakers who cannot demonstrate their proficiency through (1) completion of a degree from an English-speaking institution of higher education or (2) satisfactory TOEFL or IELTS scores will be contacted by the Center staff to arrange for further evaluation as needed.

Special Instructions

To apply, interested candidates must complete an online form and upload several documents through Harvard's ARIeS portal. Requested information and documents will include:

• Brief cover letter stating your background and interest in the Ethics & Civics Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Curriculum Vitae
• Research proposal (up to 1,000 words), to include:
• A description of the central project you hope to pursue during your fellowship year. Please include its goals, methods, and potential impact
• Discussion of how your work connects to the themes of the Research & Design Studio. What specific outputs or contributions (e.g., research, teaching tools, public engagement projects) you anticipate producing by the end of your fellowship
• How you envision engaging with other fellows and contributing to the collaborative cohort environment
• A lesson plan or example of a teaching activity you've used while teaching a course (or that you might like to use) that integrates ethics, civics, and/or civil discourse principles in the classroom or other educational setting.
• Recent writing sample representative of your work
• Unofficial transcript for graduate work
• Names and contact information for 3 references (Please note: no letters will be accepted at this stage. Please prepare your references for the possibility that we will reach out to them for their assessment of your work. In that case, they will be asked to submit a letter and complete a form within a short turn-around period.)

The deadline to submit an application is November 15, 2026, with decisions likely to be announced in March 2027. Please note that the application form will be saved automatically while in progress, but no edits or alterations will be allowed once you have submitted the application.

Please direct questions regarding this application process to ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu.

Contact Information

Claire Femano
124 Mount Auburn Street Suite 520N
Cambridge, MA 02138

Contact Email: ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu

Salary Range

The stipend for post-doctoral fellows will be $7,000/month for the 2027-28 academic year, which runs from the start of September to the end of June. We also provide a research allowance of up to $3,000 per academic year for approved expenses directly related to your work, such as travel, books, and research assistance.

Minimum Number of References Required: 3

Maximum Number of References Allowed: 3

Keywords

ethics, civics, disagreement, civil discourse, fellowship, pedagogy, discourse