Application Process

How to Apply

  1. Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria listed below.
  2. Refer to the HBNU Application Requirements prior to submitting your application. You can also preview all of the application questions here.
  3. If you have questions or concerns about the eligibility requirements, application process, or just want to learn more, then visit our FAQ page or watch the recording of our most recent info session found on our events page.
  4. Complete the online application through the link/orange button above.

Before You Apply

1. Choose a research area. HBNU supports fellowships in research focus areas including but not limited to:

  1. Medium/high priority HIV/AIDS, as defined by NIH
  2. Maternal and child health and nutrition
  3. Noncommunicable disease
  4. Mental health
  5. HBNU will also consider research projects in other areas that align with NIH’s Institutes and Centers. Please contact the HBNU team if you would like to propose an additional research area.

2. Choose a research site and contact your mentors. HBNU partners with twenty-one training sites across fourteen countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Please note that your mentors should be affiliated with your selected research site. Select your research site based on the one best suited to your research project and based on the mentor(s) whose research areas of interest most closely align with your own.

Candidates must secure the support of at least two mentors: one US-based mentor from an HBNU-affiliated U.S. institution (Harvard University, Boston University, Northwestern University, University of New Mexico) and one LMIC site-based mentor. Identify and contact a US-based mentor with expertise in your research focus area from the consortium’s faculty list. Identify and contact a site-based mentor listed on the site’s webpage. Applicants must submit a letter of support from each mentor with their fellowship application.

Candidates are welcome to have additional mentors or form a multi-mentor team based on the specific needs of their research project. However, please be sure to indicate your two primary mentors (US-based and LMIC site mentor) on your application.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1.  U.S. Pre-Doctoral Candidate
a.    U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
b.    Enrolled in accredited doctoral level program (MD, PhD or equivalent) in public health, government, business, design, engineering, education, medicine, nutrition, law, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, or nursing.
c.    Health-professional students (e.g., MD, DDS, etc.) who wish to interrupt their studies for a year or more to engage in full-time research training before completing their formal training programs are also eligible. Health professional students must submit a letter of commitment to demonstrate their ability to interrupt their clinical studies for at least 1 year to engage full time in this program.
d.    Available to dedicate 40 hours per week to the research fellowship for 11-12 months at the international site, beginning in July.

2.  U.S. Post-Doctoral Candidate
a.    U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
b.    Received, as of the beginning date of the training period, a PhD, MD, DDS, or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited institution. Comparable doctoral degrees include, but are not limited to, the following: DMD, DC, DO, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, DPT, PharmD, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), DSW, PsyD, as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research.
c.    Available to dedicate 40 hours per week to the research fellowship for 11-12 months at the international site, beginning in July.

Note: U.S. applicants affiliated with universities that are not part of an FIC Global Health Program Consortium (HBNU, GloCal, GHES, UJMT, NPGH, ACHIEVE, INSIGHT) are welcome to apply through this consortium. Applicants who are affiliated with a university that is part of an FIC Global Health Program Consortium should apply through their university’s consortium.

3.  LMIC Post-Doctoral Candidate
a.    Citizen of one of HBNU’s collaborating LMICs. LMIC postdocs must be affiliated with the site of their proposed research project.
b.    Received, as of the beginning date of the training period, a PhD, MD, DDS, or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited institution. Comparable doctoral degrees include, but are not limited to, the following: DMD, DC, DO, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, DPT, PharmD, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), DSW, PsyD, as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research.
c.    Available to dedicate 40 hours per week to the research fellowship for 11-12 months at the international site, beginning in July.

Preference is given to any applicants with co-funding from their institution’s NIH T32, D43, MEPI or other grants.