The Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

OFFICE FOR DIVERSITY INCLUSION AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP (DICP)

By shaping pioneering initiatives that promote diversity and excellence in medicine and biomedical research, HMS strives to provide a wide spectrum of career access points, from programs that introduce school-children to opportunities in science and medicine, to high-level professional advancement programs. Directed by the Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership, Dr. Joan Reede, the DICP nurtures a broad group of individuals who more closely reflect the general U.S. population, creating exceptional opportunities in which every individual can reach his or her highest potential.

The Fellowship is administered through Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership whose mission is to advance diversity inclusion in the health, biomedical, behavioral, and STEM fields that builds individual and institutional capacity to achieve excellence, foster innovation, and ensure equity in health locally, nationally, and globally.
 

THE FELLOWSHIP

The Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (DPF) is a two-year research fellowship that was established in 2012 to nurture, advance, and retain a diverse scientific workforce who will continue to contribute to diversity through their ongoing academic and research scholarship. The fellowship program prepares scientists from groups historically underrepresented in the basic and social sciences for careers in academia and other sectors. Fellows benefit from a highly innovative and creative research environment that emphasizes scientific rigor, collaboration, and the pursuit of excellence in science.

Learn about our fellows and their research.

BENEFITS

The two-year fellowship provides funding in the amount of $50,000/year, and DPF fellows are eligible for Harvard’s generous benefits package. They receive additional opportunities for career enhancement, mentorship, seminars, workshops, and conferences, along with a robust support network, through the Scholars in Translational and Academic Research (STARs) program.

ELIGIBILITY

• Have completed an MD, MD/PhD, PhD, ScD, or equivalent in the basic or social sciences.   
• Be a United States citizen or permanent resident (“green card”).
• Be from a group that is historically underrepresented in the basic and social sciences.
• Have no more than two years of postdoctoral experience.

ELIGIBLE DEPARTMENTS

DPF Fellows can choose to conduct research with faculty within the basic and social science departments in research programs or faculty labs. For more information, click on the department of interest below. Candidates are encouraged to reach out to faculty members with whom they are interested in working to discuss their interests

APPLICATION PROCESS

Candidates must complete the online application form and submit it with the following documents. A reference copy of the application is available here.

Applications are currently accepted on a rolling basis. We recommend that you submit your application at least four months prior to your anticipated start date.

To facilitate completing your application, please prepare the following information:

• Cover letter.
   
• Your preference(s) for department, faculty, and/or laboratory.
   
• Requested start date for the Fellowship.
   
• Responses to the each of  following prompts:
• Describe your research interests and how they might be addressed through this fellowship
• Describe your career goals and how this fellowship will be valuable to your professional development as a researcher and scholar.Address the specific factors leading to your decision to apply.
• Describe your career goals and how those goals might contribute to enhancement of diversity and inclusion in science.
• Identify which single publication best represents your work.
• Describe any academic or career challenges you may have experienced.

• Curriculum vitae
   
• Name and e-mail contact information for three individuals who will be asked to complete an online recommendation form. Entering the names of your references will generate an email that gives them access to the recommendation form.
• Name and e-mail contact information for three individuals who will be asked to complete an online recommendation form. Entering the names of your references will generate an email that gives them access to the recommendation form only after you have submitted your application. To allow references to have sufficient time to prepare their responses, we encourage candidates to provide their writers with the list of questions on the form ahead of time.
• One of your references should be from your thesis advisor. If you’ve had a postdoctoral position, your second reference must be from your most recent postdoc advisor.
• Click here for the list of questions your referees will be asked to address.

SELECTION

Candidates will be reviewed by a committee comprised of Harvard Medical School faculty and administrators.  Fellows are selected on the basis of their demonstrated academic achievement, scholarly promise, commitment to research, potential to add to the diversity of the Harvard Medical School community, and the likelihood that the individual may become an independent scientist and societal leader upon the completion of the fellowship who will continue to contribute to diversity through their ongoing academic and research scholarship

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 

1. What is the application deadline? Applications are currently accepted on a rolling basis. We recommend that you submit your application at least four months prior to your anticipated start date.
    
2. I’m interested in the postdoc program at HMS, but I don’t know any of the faculty. Can I still apply? While it is not necessary to know a member of the faculty in order to apply, it is important to review the information provided on the departmental website to identify researchers whose current work and/or research interests complement yours. Introduce yourself to the person via email, letting them know that you are planning to apply for the Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School and briefly outline your reasons for wanting to do a postdoc position with them. The Fellowship office can also assist in this process. If you have any questions or need additional support, please contact Lyn Fulton-John, program manager for the DPF.
    
3. I am in the process of applying for permanent residency and hope to receive it by the time I want to start my postdoc. Am I eligible to apply? The Fellowship is open to candidates who are US citizens or permanent residents at the time of application. If you are in the process of applying for permanent residency status, you will need to wait until it is received before submitting an application.
    
4. At the time of application, I will only have three years of postdoctoral experience. However, I will have completed  a fourth year just prior to the date I anticipate starting my postdoc at Harvard. Does this affect my eligibility? Candidates who have four or more years of postdoctoral experience prior to the start of their postdoc at HMS are not eligible to apply.
    
5. Where is the form that I need to give to my reference writers?  Entering the names of your references will generate an email that gives them access to the recommendation form only after you have submitted your application. To allow references to have sufficient time to prepare their responses, we encourage candidates to provide their writers with the list of questions on the form ahead of time. For a list of questions your referees will be asked to address, please click here.
    
6. Where can I find out more information about being a postdoc at Harvard Medical School? To learn about the range of programming, support and resources available to postdoctoral students at HMS, visit the Office for Postdoctoral Fellows website.

For more information:

Lyn Fulton-John, Program Manager
Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership
164 Longwood Avenue, 2nd. Floor
Boston, MA 02115

Tel: 617-432-9051  Fax: 617-432-3834
Email: Lyn_Fulton-John@hms.harvard.edu

Photos by Jeff Thiebauth unless otherwise noted.