Fellowships

Rowland Fellows Program

Applications for the Rowland Fellowship are now open!

The Rowland Institute at Harvard seeks outstanding early-career experimentalists in all fields of science and engineering. The Rowland Fellowship provides an opportunity to establish an independent program in the rich intellectual environment of Cambridge, Massachusetts. To qualify, applicants should currently be in the process of either completing their PhDs and/or have received their PhD after May 1, 2024. Fellows must have completed their doctoral degree prior to starting their Fellowship term. 

Edwin Land founded the Rowland Institute of Science in 1980 to foster high-risk, creative research. In 2002, we became the Rowland Institute at Harvard when we joined the University with the mission of advancing the early careers of experimental scientists and engineers. In 2024 we moved from our original building to main campus to be closer to collaborators and university resources. In our founder’s tradition, we are particularly interested in supporting scholars who have the potential to establish a ground-breaking research program in a field that bridges traditional disciplinary boundaries. Previous Rowland Fellows have gone on to extremely successful careers, mostly in academia, but also in industry and as founders of startup companies. 

The benefits of a Rowland Fellowship include:

• Fellows will have full principal investigator rights and will establish their labs in an interdisciplinary and interactive environment, in the rich intellectual environment of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
• Fellows will be provided with dedicated laboratory space, and ancillary spaces as needed (e.g. cell culture, magnet rooms etc); generous start-up funding for capital equipment, depending on the Fellow’s research program; a yearly budget starting at $225,000 for general operations (lab supplies, travel, etc.) and the hiring of personnel (postdoctoral fellows, postbacs, undergraduates); and, a salary that begins at $89,999 per year with full Harvard benefits. 
• Fellows will have the opportunity to teach undergraduates for at least one semester during their Fellowship, to enable contact with students (ideally in an active research setting, rather than in a classroom), both to help Fellows recruit talented students to their labs and to provide teaching experience that will help them in any career they choose.
• Staff scientists and engineers are available to work directly with Rowland Fellows to design and fabricate new experimental set-ups. Shared research equipment is available at facilities within the Institute and also throughout Harvard University (e.g. the Center for Nanoscale Systems, and the Bauer Life Science Core Facility). 
• Fellows will receive mentoring to develop a productive lab culture, support for scientific writing and budgeting, alongside ongoing support for career development throughout the Fellowship period, including leadership training and access to Harvard’s Core for Mentorship Excellence.

The Fellowship lasts up to five years, with a flexible start date; incoming 2026 Rowland Fellows will have start dates September-December 2026.

How to Apply

Only applications submitted through the Harvard website will be considered for the position. To apply the candidates must use the link below to submit their application: 

https://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/14923

Application Information

Applicants should upload the following materials: 

1. a 250 word “elevator pitch” to describe your research goals to a general audience,
2. a Statement of Research (three page limit including references), describing your research proposal and, if relevant, a summary of any recent work that supports the planned experiments
3. a curriculum vitae (CV), 
4. a Vision Statement (one page limit) to describe how your personal values and experiences in academia inform your plan for a productive and supportive culture within your group,
5. and, contact information for three or four references (automated emails will be sent requesting letters of recommendation direct to your references that includes their submission deadline.) 

Deadline

• 2026 Rowland Fellowships:
  • The deadline for applications is Friday, August 15, 2025 at 11:59PM EDT. 

Timeline for the Rowland Fellowship application process:

Some notes about applications:

• Your application need not be completed and submitted in one sitting; you can log back in at a later time to make additions and changes.
• When your application is completed and submitted, instructions will automatically be sent to these referees about submitting their letter of recommendation.
• Once completed and submitted, you cannot revise your materials. If you do need to submit a revised version after submittal but before the deadline, please email  rf@g.harvard.edu and we will reactivate your account so you can submit the revised version.
• Please declare use of AI tools in your application and describe their use. Importantly, their use should not replace your original thinking. The required materials seek to elicit responses that reflect your personal experience and unique motivations and should be written in your own voice. Hence, caution is advised against using AI-generated materials as-is: admissions committees can often sense AI-written materials because they lack personal nuance and can be rather vague in the details.

Eligibility

• To qualify for the 2026 cycle, applicants should currently be in the process of either completing their PhDs and/or have received their PhD after May 1, 2024. Fellows must have completed their doctoral degree prior to starting their Fellowship term.
• Your proposed research must be experimentally focused in any field of science or engineering – including physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, neuroscience, etc.
• The program accepts applications from such a broad range of fields that the research conducted by current and past Fellows can be used as a guide, but should not be considered restrictive! We choose Fellows based on the best proposed science at the time of submission. That said, we cannot support human subjects research or clinical research of any type, as our fellowship is designed to enable Fellows from multiple disciplines to share overlapping laboratory spaces.
• We encourage applicants from the broader scientific community; candidates can apply from any accredited academic institution whether in the United States or internationally.
• US Citizens and non-citizens are eligible for appointment as Rowland Fellows. The staff at the Rowland Institute and Harvard University can assist you in the visa process if needed.
• Please email rf@g.harvard.edu if you have questions regarding eligibility or the application.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Harvard is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.