Funding Your Degree

Living expenses and stipend

Ph.D. students in Human Evolutionary Biology receive full tuition and generous living support for five years. In the first two years and in the final write-up year, students receive their living support as stipends; in the third, fourth, and fifth years, as teaching or research fellowships. Students also receive summer research awards for the first four years. Dissertation completion support is available as soon as the student is prepared to finish the dissertation, ordinarily in the fifth or sixth year. Progress is reviewed annually, and financial awards are contingent upon students making satisfactory progress in the program. For additional information regarding funding for the Ph.D. program in Human Evolutionary Biology, please visit the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website.

Graduate students in HEB are encouraged to apply for external funding (e.g. National Science Foundation, L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation) as part of their training, but also have access to a wide array of funding sources at Harvard. Below are some funding opportunities that graduate students typically apply for.


Pre-Dissertation Awards
  |  Dissertation Research Awards  |  Dissertation Completion Awards


Pre-Dissertation Awards (Pilot Research)

Internal Awards:

Graduate Society Predissertation Summer Fellowships

GSAS offers Predissertation Summer Fellowships to graduate students in their first, second or third year.  This fellowship is for pilot research and not available to HEB graduate students that have had their prospectus approved.  The stipend is $3,000.  Please see www.gsas.harvard.edu for the application guidelines.

External Awards:

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) 

NSF-GRFP is available to admission applicants, incoming graduate students and HEB graduate students in their first or second year.  The application deadline is late October/early November.  This fellowship program offers three years of financial support.  Please see www.nsf.gov for the application guidelines.

Back to top

Dissertation Research Awards

Internal Awards: 

Kennedy, Knox, and Sheldon Traveling Fellowships

HEB graduate students can apply for Kennedy, Knox, and Sheldon Traveling Fellowships to support a full academic year (September-May) of research or study aboard.  Fellowship recipients are required to live at their research or study destination for the length of the academic year.  Currently the fellowship is $24,000.  Please see www.gsas.harvard.edu for the application guidelines. 

Graduate Society Research Merit/Term Research Awards

HEB graduate students may apply for Merit/Term Time Research Awards for outstanding work in natural sciences.  These fellowships are normally held in the fourth or fifth year of research allowing the students to devote a greater portion of their time to research, fieldwork and writing rather than teaching.  Currently the largest award is a single term cohort stipend of $12,630.  Please see www.gsas.harvard.edu for the application guidelines.

External Awards:

National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (NSF DDIG)

HEB graduate students typically apply for NSF DDIG after their prospectus has been approved.  These awards provide partial support for doctoral dissertation research for an existing project.  The maximum request for funding allowable is $20,000 in direct costs.  Please see www.nsf.gov for the application guidelines. 

Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grants

HEB graduate students can apply for Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grants after their prospectus has been approved.  Dissertation Fieldwork Grants are awarded to aid doctoral and thesis research.  The maximum amount of a Dissertation Fieldwork grant is $20,000.  Please see www.wennergren.org for the application guidelines.

The Leakey Foundation Research Grants

HEB graduate students can apply for Leakey Foundation Research Grants after their prospectus has been approved.  Leakey Foundation Research Grants funds research related specifically to human origins.  Award amounts range from $3,000 - $15,000.  Please see www.leakeyfoundation.org for the application guidelines.

Back to top

 

Dissertation Completion Awards

Internal Award: 

GSAS Dissertation Completion Fellowships

HEB graduate students can apply for Dissertation Completion Fellowships in their final year.  It is expected that the graduate student’s dissertation will be completed during the fellowship year. The award provides a stipend of $26,000, plus tuition and health fees for the academic year. Please see www.gsas.harvard.edu for the application guidelines.

External Award

The Cora DuBois Charitable Fellowships

HEB graduate students may apply for a Cora DuBois Charitable Trust Fellowship when they have completed all the requirements for a Ph.D., not including their dissertation. This fellowship in intended to provide sufficient financial support to award recipients so as to allow them to devote their full time to writing their dissertation and not undertake employment.  Applications are submitted to the Trustees of the Cora DuBois Charitable Trust.  An announcement for the fellowships will be made each spring.

Back to top