Ray Goldberg Fellowship in Global Food Systems

Due date for applications: May 15, 2021 

The Sustainability Science Program in the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government accepts applications for the Ray Goldberg Fellowship in Global Food Systems.

Purpose: The purpose of the fellowship is to support Harvard students working in the context of global food systems, which may include work related to agricultural systems, food supply chains, farmer and farmworker well-being and equity, agricultural economics, food justice and sovereignty, agricultural processing and industry, food science and nutrition, hunger, or food policy. The fellowship is designed to enable students to expose themselves to a wide range of researchers and research approaches, and/or non-profit and private sector organizations, early on in their training before they make their ultimate choice of a research or career topic.

Award: Each academic year we plan to make two–three awards of $7,000 each. The award can be used for a variety of activities including support for an internship or collaboration with other researchers having limited or no funds to support the participation of an award recipient. Prior awards provided funds to conduct field work, attend conferences, learn a foreign language in a host country, or visit leading scholars, practitioners, and research institutions. Harvard currently restricts the use of university funds for travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we intend to return to supporting those types of activities as soon as the policy is eased. No tuition support or indirect costs may be covered by this award. For information on recipients of the award click here.

Eligibility: Applications will be accepted from students enrolled full time in any degree-granting program at Harvard University at any level: undergraduate, masters, and doctoral.

Expectations: Recipients will be required to submit a progress report on use of the funds and make a presentation about their work to the broader community at an event organized by the Fellowship Committee.

Application deadline: Applications must be received by May 15, 2021.

Application process: Applications for the fellowship are due May 15, 2021. Candidates should submit:

* An online application cover sheet, located here (form must be completed online).

* Students should submit, by email, an application that contains as a single pdf file:
* One-page cover letter summarizing why this opportunity will benefit them;
* A description of what they would do with the support, including a title and budget (2 pages maximum);
* Curriculum vitae; and
* Harvard transcript (unofficial version is acceptable).

The pdf file with your application should be labeled, with your lastname_firstname_Goldberg_Fellowship, e.g., Smith_Jane_Goldberg_Fellowship.

Applications should be sent via email to sustsci_grants@hks.harvard.edu and include, in the subject heading, “Ray Goldberg Fellowship application – [Your first and last name],” e.g., Ray Goldberg Fellowship application – Jane Smith.

Selection process: Selection will be made by a committee of Harvard faculty. The applicants will be assessed on the quality of their proposed research and the intellectual rigor and relevance to the student's previous work.

  • William C. Clark, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Noel Michele Holbrook, Professor of Biology and Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • Robert Paarlberg, Research Associate, Sustainability Science Program, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Forest Reinhardt, John D. Black Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Sponsorship: The fellowship was inaugurated by an anonymous gift from a Harvard Business School alumnus.

Ray Goldberg is George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School where he founded the Agribusiness Senior Management Seminars. He taught a course at the Kennedy School of Government on Food Policy and Agribusiness and a junior tutorial seminar at Harvard College on Climate and Its Impact on the Global Food System. He moderates The Private and Public, Scientific, Academic, and Consumer Food Policy Group (PAPSAC) which meets annually at the Harvard Kennedy School. PAPSAC is a university wide seminar to broaden communication among farmers, business leaders, scientists, public policy leaders, academics, not for profits, and consumer activists on topics of mutual concern to participants of the global food system and the society that it serves.