Fellowships and Awards


Current students should review the Harvard University Funding Portal to search and view available funding opportunities.

Another resource for students is the publication Scholarly Pursuits: A Practical Guide to Academe, which offers advice on all aspects of professional development in preparation for an academic career and for enhancing PhD career opportunities more generally. It also includes samples of winning fellowship proposals, as well as CVs and cover letters for job applications. This publication is available online.

The Fellowship Funding for BPH Students Guide has a list of frequently applied to fellowships along with current due dates and Harvard Chan Grant Application guidelines to help students with policies and practices at the school.


Applicants are encouraged to apply for support from extramural agencies such as the National Science Foundation, Ford Pre-Doctoral Fellowship for Minorities, and Howard Hughes Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Biological Sciences all for U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Funds to support international applicants are very limited. International applicants are urged to seek financial support from their national governments and fellowship agencies.

F31 Resources

NIH has recently posted F31 sample applications on their website:
F31 Sample 1

Resources and Programs for NIH Grant Applicants


Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Grants

Harvard Griffin GSAS Graduate Student Council Conference and Summer Research Grants
The Graduate Student Council offers grants for conference attendance and summer research on a competitive basis to Harvard Griffin GSAS students who are enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program.

Fundación México en Harvard, A.C.


Other Harvard resources:

Harvard Funding Portal:  https://harvard.communityforce.com/Funds/Search.aspx

Harvard University Pivot: https://pivot.proquest.com/

HSPH Office of Research and Development: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research-strategy-and-development/

HSPH Student Funding Finder: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/student-funding-finder/

Harvard Graduate Student Council: https://gsc.fas.harvard.edu/student-groups


Marianne Wessling-Resnick  Student Service Award
This award is given in memory of Professor Marianne Wessling-Resnick, devoted mentor, colleague, and former director of the PhD Program in the Biological Sciences in Public Health (BPH) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Presented annually in July to a current student or student team who has shown extraordinary commitment to the improvement of the program and experience of fellow students at Harvard. The award recipient(s) will also be recognized at the Harvard-Chan Convocation Ceremony in their year of graduation.

Edgar Haber Award
The Edgar Haber Award for outstanding achievement in the biological sciences is presented annually to one graduating Ph.D. or S.D. student in the Division of Biological Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  The award is given in recognition of outstanding, original and creative dissertation work that makes a fundamental contribution to our understanding of a biological problem of importance in public health.  Graduating students may be nominated by their dissertation adviser. The award is in honor of Edgar Haber, Blout Professor of Biological Sciences and former director of the Division of Biological Sciences Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.

The Albert Schweitzer Award
The Albert Schweitzer Award is given each year at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to one graduating student whose past work and activities during their academic program have been marked by a “reverence for life” and who has sought, as expressed by Schweitzer, to “make my life an argument.”

Herchel Smith Fellowship
Graduate student support funds have been made available to HILS – member programs from a PhD fellowship initiative, the Herchel Smith Graduate Fellowship Program. Derived from the Herchel Smith Endowment fund, these resources provide Harvard University and the University of Cambridge with new funds to promote and underwrite scientific inquiry by PhD students at the two universities. The Herchel Smith Graduate Fellowship Program provides ‘steady state’ support for 14 Harvard PhD students (7 new fellowships per year). These premier fellowships provide two years of full tuition and fees and a generous stipend at the NSF level.

Merit Research Awards
The Harvard Merit Research Awards are available to outstanding Harvard Griffin GSAS students in all fields, including Harvard Griffin GSAS departments in the natural sciences. These fellowships are normally to be held in the fourth or fifth year and are for the purpose of allowing the students to devote a greater portion of their time to research, fieldwork, and writing. Students must have passed Generals and have an approved dissertation prospectus at the time of nomination.

Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award
The Weintraub Award, managed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, seeks to recognize exceptional students who have made outstanding achievements during their graduate studies in the biological sciences. Nominated students should be advanced students nearing the completion of their studies (G3-G6’s).