Ph.D. TRAINING

 

Fellowship awards

Please note that the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy is open only to Harvard Ph.D. students—students already enrolled in a Harvard Ph.D. program—who apply to at the end of their first or second year of graduate study. Prospective applicants to Harvard who are seeking admission to a Ph.D. program in this area may wish to investigate the Harvard Ph.D. Program in Social Policy, which confers a Ph.D. in Government & Social Policy or a Ph.D. in Sociology & Social Policy.

CATEGORIES OF FELLOWSHIPS

The Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy anticipates selecting 8 full-funded Inequality Doctoral Fellows and 2-4 partially-funded participants, designated here as Inequality Scholars.

Funding for these fellowships comes from both the National Science Foundation and various University sources, which means that the fellowship amounts will differ somewhat depending on the exact fellowship awarded, as detailed below. All applicants will be automatically considered in turn for larger fellowships first.

Given that the program is now supported form a combination of NSF and other funding sources, both U.S. and international students in Harvard’s Ph.D. programs are now fully eligible for most of the full fellowship awards. It is only the few specifically-designated NSF awards that are restricted to US citizens and permanent residents.

Among the University-funded full awards, we are pleased to announce the renewal of a named fellowship introduced last year—a designated Doctoral Fellow in Inequality and Criminal Justice, made possible through the generous support of the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. This fellowship is designed to foster innovative multidisciplinary research on issues of crime, criminal justice policy, and inequality.

Please note that the selection committee may take into account financial need in making the final award determinations, particularly for students who already hold extensive external fellowship resources—i.e., full tuition and stipend extending over five or more years of graduate school. In these circumstances, the program would likely confer an honorary award consisting of either a half-year stipend or a more flexible research fund in lieu of a stipend, similar to the Inequality Scholar package described below.

The resources provided in each of the award categories are:

1. INEQUALITY DOCTORAL FELLOWS (full funding)

Over the course of the program, those named as Doctoral Fellows will generally receive:

• A dissertation stipend of either $24,000 (standard package), $27,500 (Inequality & Criminal Justice Fellow), or $30,000 (NSF-funded fellows). In all cases, the stipend is reserved for use at the dissertation stage (generally G-4 year) so that fellows may focus intensively on dissertation research and writing.

• Individual research funds ($2,500), designed to be used for field research expenses, data purchases, transcription, undergraduate RAs for routine data coding, conference presentations, and the like.

• (NSF-funded fellows only) European Network on Inequality research placement and stipend designed to cover full travel and living expenses for approximately two months.

• Access to well-equipped computer facilities designed to facilitate empirical work. In some cases, shared office space may be available.

 

2. INEQUALITY SCHOLARS (partial funding)

Students selected instead as Inequality Scholars will receive:

• Partial dissertation stipend (~ $6,000-$12,000), reserved for use at the dissertation stage (generally G-4 year).

• Access to well-equipped computer facilities designed to facilitate empirical work. In some cases, shared office space may be available.

 

Key program requirements summarized

The terms of participation are the same for Inequality Fellows and Inequality Scholars. Fellows and Scholars must: • Enroll in three-term Proseminar course sequence • Attend weekly Inequality seminar series • Participate in special events and conferences organized by the Inequality program • (NSF-funded fellows only) Engage in a two-month research placement in a European Network on Inequality institution.

 

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