The Emirates Leadership Initiative Research Fellowship is run by the Middle East Initiative at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School. It brings junior and mid-career policy scholars to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a full academic year to complete an independent research project. Four themes set the agenda: optimizing governance, increasing economic dynamism, strengthening human capital, and improving public policy design and delivery. Fellows must be physically present at Harvard for the whole term and finish a concrete deliverable such as a book manuscript, journal article, working paper or policy brief. The Middle East Initiative, established in 1998, is Harvard’s main platform for policy research and teaching on the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. All nationalities may apply, and the program is particularly interested in scholars who come from the UAE, the Gulf and the Arab world and plan to return there.
Benefits & funding
- Ten-month stipend of USD 55,000 for predoctoral fellows and for mid-career practitioners who hold no PhD.
- USD 65,000 for fellows whose doctorate was awarded less than five years before the fellowship start date.
- USD 75,000 for fellows whose doctorate was awarded more than five years before the fellowship start date.
- A full academic year of affiliation with the Middle East Initiative, including the chance to take part in its public events.
- Visa sponsorship for international fellows.
- Harvard University health benefits reach only fellows who received a doctoral degree within five years of the fellowship start; other fellows are not eligible.
- No relocation, housing or travel allowance is published.
Eligibility
- Junior and mid-career policy-oriented scholars and faculty.
- Open to all nationalities, with no residency requirement. Scholars who are from the UAE, the Gulf and the Arab world and intend to return there are a stated interest of the program, not a bar to anyone else.
- Three routes in: predoctoral candidates, postdoctoral scholars, and mid-career practitioners who hold no PhD. No minimum degree level is published for the practitioner route.
- Predoctoral applicants must have passed their general examinations and made significant progress on the dissertation. A D.Phil. counts as a PhD equivalent.
- Fellows stay in residence at Harvard for the full term and give at least four-fifths of their time to Center research and writing.
- A full leave of absence or sabbatical from the primary employer is generally required.
- No age limit and no minimum years of experience are published.
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Application process
- 1Wait for the cycle to open. Applications for the 2027–2028 academic year open on 1 October 2026 through the Belfer Center fellowships portal.
- 2Prepare a CV or resume showing the dates of every degree.
- 3Write a research proposal of three to five pages covering the key questions, a work timeline, two or three Harvard faculty who could collaborate, and any other funding being sought.
- 4Applicants without a PhD attach an unofficial transcript.
- 5Give contact details for three recommenders, whose letters are due two weeks after the application deadline.
- 6Attach a writing sample in English under 50 pages, with an abstract of at most 300 words.
- 7Submit by the 1 December deadline. Every applicant is notified of the result by mid-February.
Program timeline
Applications open for the 2027–2028 academic year
Oct 1, 2026
Application deadline
Dec 1, 2026
Recommendation letters due
Dec 15, 2026
2027-02
Decisions announced, by mid-February
Fellowship begins
Sep 1, 2027
Fellowship ends
Jun 30, 2028