Fellowship•USA · Cambridge

Rowland Fellows Program

Funding

Salary · Grant

Program dates

Jul 1, 2027

The Rowland Fellows Program, run by the Rowland Institute at Harvard (part of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences), supports outstanding early-career experimentalists across all fields of science and engineering. Founded on the legacy of Polaroid inventor Edwin H. Land and relocated to Harvard’s main campus in Cambridge in 2024, the program lets new principal investigators establish a fully independent research program — with their own lab space, budget, and staff — in an interdisciplinary, collaborative environment. Fellows hold full principal-investigator rights for up to five years.

Benefits & funding

  • Salary starting at $89,999 per year, with full Harvard benefits.
  • A yearly operating budget starting at $225,000 for general lab operations (supplies, travel, personnel).
  • Dedicated laboratory space and startup equipment funding.
  • Access to staff scientists and engineers, plus shared university research facilities.
  • Mentoring, scientific-writing support, and leadership/professional-development training.
  • Appointment of up to five years, with a flexible start date between July and December 2027.

Eligibility

  • Open to applicants who are either in the process of completing their PhD or who received their PhD after 1 May 2025 (early-career).
  • Research must be experimentally focused in science or engineering (e.g. physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, neuroscience); human-subjects and clinical research are not supported.
  • Both US citizens and non-citizens are eligible.
  • Candidates may apply from any accredited academic institution, in the United States or internationally.
  • No age, work-experience, or nationality restriction is stated.

Application process

  1. 1
    Prepare the required materials: a 250-word research pitch, a three-page Statement of Research, a CV, a one-page Vision Statement, and three to four references.
  2. 2
    Submit the application through Harvard’s online portal (Harvard Careers posting) by the deadline.
  3. 3
    Arrange for reference letters to be submitted by the letter deadline.
  4. 4
    Shortlisted candidates take part in first-round interviews, then final interviews, before decisions are announced.

Program timeline

  1. Application deadline (11:59 PM EDT)

    Aug 1, 2026

  2. Reference-letter deadline

    Aug 15, 2026

  3. First-round interviews

    2026-10

  4. Final interviews

    2026-11

  5. Decisions announced

    2026-12

  6. Flexible fellowship start window

    2027-07 to 2027-12