CID's Visiting Researcher Program welcomes PhD and Postdoc researchers to pursue their research for a year in residence at Harvard Kennedy School  and join the tight-knit research community at CID. Fellows will have the opportunity to attend community events, seminars, and meetings, exchange best practices and ideas, discuss research, and network with the broader CID and Harvard communities.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES

CID Economic Development PhD Research Fellowships


This fellowship is for current PhD students who have finished their coursework. Fellows will have the opportunity to pursue their own economic development research, receiving guidance from a CID faculty affiliate. PhD Fellows will receive a stipend of up to $20,000 to be in residence at Harvard Kennedy School starting September 2025 for up to nine months. Successful applicants must come from a PhD institution in a UniCredit Foundation country (Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia), and their research can focus anywhere in the world. Given the high cost of living in Cambridge, MA, scholars are encouraged to seek additional funding from their home institutions. This opportunity is made possible by support from the UniCredit Foundation

  • Current PhD student who has completed their coursework in Economics or Public Policy, although additional fields such as Education, Politics, Computer Science or other pertinent fields may be considered.
  • From an institution located in a UniCredit Foundation country (Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia)
  • Working on economic development research anywhere in the world
  • Willing to relocate to Cambridge, MA, for the entirety of the fellowship
  • Strong English oral and written communication skills
  • Demonstrated academic excellence

Interested candidates can submit an application through this link. Applications must include:

  • Home country institution
  • A personal statement (max of 2 pages)
  • A research statement (max of 3 pages)
  • A current CV
  • Academic transcripts from all degrees received and in progress (unofficial copies are acceptable)
  • Two letters of recommendation from academic (preferred) or professional references (will be requested through the application process)

Applications will not be reviewed unless all pieces of the application have been received.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until March 7, 2025, at noon EST. Recommendation letters must be received within two weeks of the application submission.

Participants will be expected to deliver:

  • A presentation on your research at CID
  • Submission of two research progress reports
  • A blog summarizing your research and experience towards the end of the fellowship

Reimagining the Economy Industrial Policy Postdoctoral Fellowship - 2025-2026


The Reimagining the Economy Project (RtE) is an economics-centered, but multidisciplinary initiative. RTE is based at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, with links to the Center for International Development and the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. We use the theoretical and empirical tools of economics but are also informed and enriched by the thinking in other disciplines. Our ultimate goal is to go beyond the analysis of how our current economy works to piece together new structures, governance mechanisms, and forms of market economy and capitalism. We combine analyses of existing arrangements with an examination of alternative designs for market institutions. We undertake studies of economic transformation at all levels: local, regional, national, and global. And we attempt to bring together analyses of the range of public inputs that generate inclusive prosperity – from finance and firm support to workforce development. 

The Reimagining the Economy Project, in collaboration with the Center for International Development, is looking to hire 2 postdoctoral fellows for a one-year fellowship, to work on industrial policy in developing countries. We are interested in how different countries are using industrial policy to target specific sectors, job creation, and innovation, as well as the underlying institutional structures and state capacity to implement such policy. The fellow will join a tight-knit research community at CID. During the fellowship period, fellows will be expected to work on an academic paper (or book), write blogs, participate in workshops and study groups, and engage with the broader student and research community at Harvard.

Postdoctoral Fellows will receive a stipend of up to $78,000 to be in residence at Harvard Kennedy School starting September 2025 until August 2026. Alternative dates may be considered.

The CID Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowship is located at the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, MA. Fellows will have the opportunity to attend community events, seminars, and meetings, exchange best practices and ideas, discuss research, and network with the broader CID and HKS communities

  • Have received their PhD within five years of the fellowship’s start date (ideally in Economics or Public Policy), ideally from a developing country
  • Prior research or background in some of the questions we’re interested in
  • Be willing to relocate to Cambridge, MA, for the entirety of the fellowship
  • Have strong English oral and written communication skills
  • Have demonstrated academic excellence

Interested candidates can submit an application through this link. Applications must include your CV, a statement of interest, a writing sample, and 3 references.

Applications will not be reviewed unless all pieces of the application have been received.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until March 13, 2025.

Hear from CID's Visiting Researchers

Inaugural Fellows Share their Experience

Dilnovoz Abdurazzakova and Erick Baumgartner are the inaugural fellows sponsored by the Harvard Center for International Development's (CID) Visiting Researcher Program. Here, they reflect on their time at CID and the impact it has had on their research.