Michael Kremer

Resources for Fellowships and Grants relevant to students of development economics

August 2006

This information is not guaranteed to be accurate and may be out of date. We’d appreciate any corrections or update information. Please send information on updates or additional funding sources that you find to Jeanne Winner jwinner@fas.harvard.edu.

Undergraduate

How to write a good proposal? The Center for European Studies has prepared a guide for undergraduates on summer travel grants for senior thesis research, which can be downloaded at http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/grants/docs/Good_Proposal2005.pdf

Harvard-affiliated programs that offer grants and fellowships:

The Institute for Quantitative Social Science offers undergraduates with strong quantitative skills an opportunity to participate in its undergraduate research scholars program, both during the semester and over the summer. For more information about the fellowships and application modalities, visit http://www.iq.harvard.edu/Funding/Undergrads/

The Center for International Development at the Kennedy School of Government has an Undergraduate Associates Program for undergrads from all concentrations. Undergraduate associates receive priority for their summer research grants and their thesis price: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidstudents/undergrad.html

On the website for Harvard College Funding Sources at http://www.funding.fas.harvard.edu/search.cgi you can search for a large number of locally available grants for undergraduates by topic.

The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs has several funding sources available, both for graduate and undergraduate students. See http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/rsrchFundType.asp?type=S&nav=srf&title=Student+Research+Funding

James R. and Isabel D. Hammond Thesis Prize The Hammond Prize is awarded by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) for the best Harvard undergraduate senior honors thesis related to Spanish-speaking Latin America. http://drclas.fas.harvard.edu/index.pl/thesis_prizes http://drclas.fas.harvard.edu/index.pl/thesis_prizes

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies awards grants to Harvard students for research requiring travel to Latin America or the Caribbean and research sites within the United States, as well as study abroad and a thesis price: http://drclas.fas.harvard.edu/index.pl/intranet/grants_test

Davis Center for Russian Studies promotes the study of Russia and Eurasia. There is availability of funded internships in Russia, Eastern Europe, or Central Asia, research travel grants to students writing senior theses, an Undergraduate Colloquium on Russian and Eurasian Studies and ad hoc assistance to undergraduates seeking internships in or pertaining to Russia, Eastern Europe, or Central Asia. http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/student_programs/undergrad_support.html

The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies offers summer research travel grants for undergraduate students doing research on Europe, as well as a series of workshops geared towards all students preparing a thesis, not just those who are doing research on Europe, on topics such as “How to Choose a Topic”, “Getting your Research Funded: How to Write a Good Proposal”, “Conducting Research Abroad” : http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/grants/ , click on undergraduates.

Non-Harvard affiliated programs

The Organization of American States has some scholarships for students from its member states. Application goes through the country of origin. Contact persons for each country of origin and more information about the scholarships are available on their website http://www.educoas.org/portal/en/becas/acerca.aspx?culture=en&navid=44

Fulbright offers a variety of funding opportunities for American citizens, including a full year of research or study overseas; Travel grants to Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan or the United Kingdom; funding for research enhance the knowledge and understanding of Islam and Islamic history and culture: http://www.bu.edu/bufellow/graduate/fulbright.htm

Graduate

Harvard-affiliated programs that offer grants and fellowships:

The Institute for Quantitative Social Science offers the possibility for graduate students to become Graduate Student Associates, with the subsequent possibility to apply for research and travel grants. http://www.iq.harvard.edu/Funding/GradStudents/ Among others, they have a program on demography, on survey research and one on political economy.

At the Center for International Development at the Kennedy School of Government graduate students enrolled in any doctoral program at Harvard are eligible to apply for up to $3,500 in funding to support their dissertation research on international development. Awards may be used for modest travel and lodging expenses, as well as costs associated with data collection, translation, and other project expenses: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidstudents/gradstudents.html

The Harvard Graduate School of Education Fellowship Office has a list of outside funding sources designed primarily for students of education, but many of the funding sources have a more general scope, such as to support research in social sciences and humanities, understanding violence, gender issues, etc. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~finaid/pdf/International/AllCountries.pdf http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~finaid/pdf/International/AllCountries.pdf

For general advice on fellowships, the GSAS Fellowships Office offers services including individual counseling: http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/academic/fellowships/index.html. Their Graduate Guide to Grants is a searchable database available to GSAS students, and can be found at: http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/grants/ggg.cgi

On the website for Harvard College Funding Sources at http://www.funding.fas.harvard.edu/search.cgi you can also search for a large number of locally available grants by topic. The website is designed mainly for undergrads, but there is a certain number of funding opportunities for which graduate students are eligible as well.

The Harvard Graduate Student Council has offers grants for conference attendance and summer research on a competitive basis. Conference grants are equal to 60% (but not more than $700) of accountable expenses incurred for attendance at a scholarly conference. The summer research grant is up to $1000. Application deadlines for conference grants are several times a year, summer research grants deadline is in May. http://hcs.harvard.edu/gsc/grants/

The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies offers summer internship grants as well as summer and term-time research and conference travel grants for graduate students http://drclas.fas.harvard.edu/index.pl/resources/students/graduates

The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies runs the Saltonstall Population Innovation Fund, which supports students undertaking innovative graduate work in the field of population studies. The positions are designed to facilitate that work and to strengthen individuals' skills, knowledge, and leadership capacity. http://www.globalhealth.harvard.edu/hcpds/saltonstall.html

The Davis Center for Russian Studies promotes the study of Russia and Eurasia at all levels. It supports graduate students at Harvard through the Merle Fainsod Prize for top incoming students, Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships, research travel grants, and dissertation completion fellowships. Graduate Student Associates enjoy benefits like fax, photocopy, and mail service, assistance with research travel, and invitations to Center events. Graduate Student Associates may also apply for office space. Limited visa support is also available to recipients of research travel grants. http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/student_programs/grd_stdnt_spprt.html

The Fairbank Center for East Asian Research’s Shum Fellowship is a 20,000 dollar grant that enables two Harvard graduate students to spend a year studying in China http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~fairbank/fellowships/shum.html

The Hauser Center Fellowship for Doctoral Studies in the Nonprofit Sector supports full-time research and dissertation writing on a nonprofit sector/civil society topic http://www.ksghauser.harvard.edu/education/doc_fellow_guide.htm

The Korea Institute offers a limited number of travel grants for summer research and/or fieldwork in Korea, as well as dissertation finishing grants. http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~korea/programs/fellowships.html#minsummer

The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies offers dissertation research and writing fellowships, travel and conference grants for graduate students: http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/grants/

Non-Harvard affiliated programs

The Social Science Research Council is offering a range of fellowships on a variety of frequently changing topics such as HIV/AIDS and Public Health Policy Research in Africa, The non-profit Sector, International Migration, International Collaboration, etc. http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/

Fulbright offers a variety of funding opportunities for American citizens, including a full year of research or study overseas; Travel grants to Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan or the United Kingdom; funding for research enhance the knowledge and understanding of Islam and Islamic history and culture; and the Fulbright/NCAER grants, for up to 4 PhD candidates in economics with research projects having particular emphasis on the Indian economy. http://www.bu.edu/bufellow/graduate/fulbright.htm

Resources for the Future awards the Joseph-L-Fisher-Doctoral-Dissertation-Fellowship, which supports doctoral dissertation research on issues related to the environment, natural resources, or energy. http://www.rff.org/rff/About/Fellowships_and_Internships/Fisher/Joseph-L-Fisher-Doctoral-Dissertation-Fellowships.cfm

Send comments or questions to Jeanne Winner