HGHI Burke Climate and Health Fellowship

The application for the next cohort of HGHI Burke Climate and Health Fellows will open in January 2025.

In partnership with the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, the Harvard Global Health Institute is now offering a 2-year fellowship program for eligible research fellows, post-doctoral scholars, and early career faculty pursuing scholarly research at the intersection of climate change and global health. During their fellowship, HGHI Burke Climate and Health Fellows will work closely with a Harvard faculty mentor in any school or department on their proposed research project.

The HGHI Burke Climate and Health Fellowship is made possible through the generous support of Harvard alumna Katherine States Burke, AB’79, and her husband, T. Robert Burke, who established the Burke Fund to help launch and advance the careers of promising early career researchers in global health

The Award

The fellowship award includes a salary of $75,000 per year for a total of up to two years to support scholarship related to climate and health. During the fellowship period, Climate and Health Fellows will be an integral member of the Harvard Global Health Institute and Salata Institute and should expect to participate in cross-University engagements on climate change. All fellows will have physical space both at the Harvard Global Health Institute and at the Salata Institute to build a community of people focused on climate change and its effects. The Harvard Global Health Institute and the Salata Institute expect to support two Climate and Health Fellows to join the 2023 cohort.

Fellow Expectations

• Participate in relevant Harvard Global Health Institute and Salata Institute scheduled events.
• Participate in Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) bi-weekly fellow dinners and other HUCE scheduled activities throughout the year.
• Submit an annual progress report and a scholarly paper (e.g., peer-reviewed publication) to The Harvard Global Health Institute and Salata Institute.
• Present research findings and accomplishments achieved as a result of HGHI Burke funding to the global health community at the end of their fellowship.
• Serve as a Pathways to Global Health Speaker seminar series. This is a 1-hour, virtual seminar series for undergraduate students interested in careers in global health.
• Acknowledge HGHI Burke funding in all award letters and event communications, including invitation letters, websites, announcements, flyers, press releases, presentations, publications and publications, presentations, and reports.
• Serve as a reviewer for future applicants to the fellowship.

Basic Qualifications

• We welcome applicants from both domestic and foreign institutions. Non-US citizens, who are permitted to work within the US, are eligible to apply.
• Proposed research projects should have a clear climate and health focus and may include mitigation or adaptation actions that consider or directly evaluate interventions designed to improve health outcomes. Understudied populations, including residents of low- or middle-income countries or regions, children, people who are pregnant, migrant laborers, and racial or ethnic minoritized groups will be prioritized.
• Candidates with a doctoral degree or equivalent in a relevant field (e.g., medicine, public health, climate science, epidemiology, environmental health, economics etc.) are eligible.
• Ideal candidates are research fellows, post-doctoral fellows, or are within the first 5 years of a faculty position at their home institution.
• Candidates must secure a commitment from one Harvard faculty member to serve as a research mentor (see criteria on this requirement below).
• Candidates must commit at least 75% FTE effort to their research for the 2-year program.
• Candidates should demonstrate experience performing scholarly research (e.g., publications of peer reviewed manuscripts or policy briefs) as part of their application.

Criteria for Harvard Faculty Sponsoring Mentor

• Sponsoring mentor must have a PhD or MD and be a Harvard faculty member (Assistant, Associate or Full Professor)
• Sponsoring mentor must demonstrate expertise to support the applicant’s area of research.
• Sponsoring mentor must submit a letter of support (maximum of two pages) to the selection committee describing in detail the level of commitment to the research and the candidate. Applications without this letter of support will not be considered.
• The sponsoring mentors Harvard department must administratively credential and house their mentee.
• Applicants and the Faculty Sponsoring Mentor must obtain a letter from their academic department head acknowledging that indirect costs are not covered.
• Mentor must guarantee at least 75% of protected time for research for their mentee for the 2- year program.