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.
Deadline: August 15, 2025
- 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.