THE SOCIETY OF FELLOWS
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Junior Fellowships
The purpose of the Society is to give men and women at an early stage of their scholarly careers an opportunity to pursue their studies in any department of the University, free from formal requirements. They must be persons of exceptional ability, originality, and resourcefulness. These Junior Fellows are selected by the Senior Fellows, who with the President of the University and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, ex officio, administer the Society. Those elected receive three year fellowships.
To be eligible for a Junior Fellowship, a candidate must be at an early stage of his or her career. Men and women interested in any field of study are accepted. They are ordinarily college graduates. Although prospective Junior Fellows need not be working towards advanced degrees, most have recently received or are candidates for the Ph.D.
The number of Junior Fellows at any one time is limited normally to thirty, and usually ten are chosen each year. The term of appointment is three years, and no extensions are granted. Junior Fellows are required to be in residence in Cambridge or neighboring communities during the academic year and to attend the weekly lunches and dinners. Junior Fellows are not subject to examination, are not required to make reports, receive no credit for courses, and may not be candidates for any degree other than the Ph.D. Those who are still pursuing the Ph.D. should have completed their routine training for advanced work and should be well along in the writing of their theses before becoming Fellows. They may complete the writing of their theses and proceed to such final or special examinations as the universities of their candidacies may require, and may be granted the degree of Ph.D. A Junior Fellow who is a candidate for the Ph.D. at Harvard may count two full academic years as Junior Fellow towards the minimum residence requirements, provided the Chair of the Society of Fellows and the Chair of the division, department, or committee concerned approve.
Junior Fellows are selected for their resourcefulness, initiative, and intellectual curiosity, and because their work holds exceptional promise. They are free to devote their entire time to productive scholarship. They may undertake sustained projects of research or other original work, or they may devote their time to the acquisition of accessory disciplines, so as to prepare themselves for the investigation of problems lying between conventional fields. Because of this complete freedom of choice and action, it is important that candidates should have demonstrated their capacity for independent work.
During 2006/2007 the stipend for Junior Fellows in their first year will be $57,000. The facilities of all branches of the University, both for instruction and for research, are open to Junior Fellows without charge. Candidates whose research requires substantial laboratory space or extensive equipment should explore arrangements with the appropriate members of the faculty at Harvard for the necessary support. If there is any problem in this regard candidates should inform the Chair.
Candidates are nominated for Junior Fellowships, generally by those under whom they have studied. Applications are not accepted from the candidates themselves. A letter of nomination should include an assessment of the candidates's work and promise, the address of the candidate, and the names and addresses of three people who have agreed to write additional letters of recommendation by the end of September.
Upon receipt of the nomination, the Society will request letters of recommendation and ask the candidate to submit a sample of written work (i.e. dissertation chapters, articles, papers) along with a one or two-page proposal describing the studies he or she would like to pursue while a Junior Fellow. The candidate is also requested to provide official transcripts of both undergraduate and graduate records. On the basis of the materials submitted, the Senior Fellows select a certain number of candidates for interview. It is from this number that the final selection is made. (The Society pays the traveling expenses of those candidates
interviewed.)
NOMINATION PROCEDURE
Candidates are nominated for Junior Fellowships, generally by those under whom they have studied. Applications are not accepted from the candidates themselves. A letter of nomination should include an assessment of the candidates's work and promise, the address of the candidate, and the names and addresses of three people who agree to write additional letters of recommendation by the end of September at the latest.
Upon receipt of the nomination, the Society will request letters of recommendation and ask the candidate to submit a sample of written work (i.e. dissertation chapters, articles, papers) along with a one or two-page proposal describing the studies he or she would like to pursue while a Junior Fellow. The candidate is also requested to provide official transcripts of both undergraduate and graduate records. On the basis of the materials submitted, the Senior Fellows select a certain number of candidates for interview. It is from this number that the final selection is made. (The Society pays the traveling expenses of those candidates
interviewed.)
The deadline for receiving nominations for Junior Fellowships which begin July 1, 2007 is Friday, September 8, 2006. No nomination will be accepted with a postmark past the deadline. All letters should be sent to:
The Society of Fellows
Harvard University
78 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
(Nominations are not accepted by email nor on-line, and no nomination will be accepted with a postmark past the September 8 deadline.)
Website: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~socfell/
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