Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program (MMUF) of Harvard College selects a small cohort of sophomores to join a tightly-knit research community to conduct independent research in collaboration with a faculty mentor. They also engage in development workshops and seminars related to pursuing doctoral degrees, research, and life in academia during their junior and senior years.

The program is committed to supporting a diverse professoriate and to amplifying voices, perspectives, and contributions that have been marginalized within the scholarly record and that further the realization of a more socially just world. All students who met the program's mission and criteria are encouraged to apply.   See more information on the MMUF website here: https://www.mellon.org/mmuf

 The program hosted at Harvard since 1989. Its name symbolically connects the mission to the stellar achievements of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, educator, college president, and civil rights activist. Since the early 2000s, the MMUF program at Harvard has been jointly supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and by funds from Harvard College. This co-funding by Harvard has enabled more talented students (Harvard-funded/Associate Fellows of MMUF) to participate in activities of this program.

Harvard funded fellows and Mellon funded fellows have the same expectations and requirements; where the program differs mostly is in the postgraduate benefits for Mellon funded fellows.

All undergraduate fellows receive:

• Mentoring
• Guidance on mentors and mentoring relationships, building research skills, applying to graduate school and more
• Access to a cohort of scholars doing research in humanities and social sciences
• Opportunities to network and present research at the regional MMUF conferences
• Financial award: term-time stipend (for two academic years) and summer research support (for two summers), contingent upon satisfactory program participation and serious commitment to doing scholarly research while a fellow

Fellows Must

• Conduct independent research in the humanities and social sciences, under the guidance of a Harvard faculty member
• Participate enthusiastically in weekly cohort meetings (Wednesdays, 5:30pm – 7:00pm, unless otherwise noted), on topics such as: faculty research, research communication, graduate school admissions, the life of a graduate student and professor and more.
• Attend and participate one Northeast MMUF conference per fellowship year
• Meet with campus program coordinator each semester, for a check-in advising meeting
• Submit program deliverables: research progress reports, draft statements of purpose, research abstracts and final capstone papers/theses.
• Present their research, as seniors, at the annual Harvard MMUF Research Symposium

The Mellon Mays Fellowship Program is part of the Higher Learning program of the Mellon Foundation which aims to “amplify the perspectives and contributions that have been marginalized within the scholarly record, and that promote the realization of a more socially just world.”

Eligible to apply are Harvard College sophomores, who:

• Are concentrating in fields in the humanities and social sciences and who are committed to conducting an independent research project* with their concentrations with guidance from Harvard faculty
• Are seriously considering in graduate school, specifically, doctoral (PhD) studies in fields of the humanities and humanistic social sciences (reference: https://www.mmuf.org/about/eligible-fields-study)
• Are U.S. Citizens, permanent residents, recipients of DACA, and undocumented students. International students may apply though are not eligible for Mellon-grant funded benefits.
• Demonstrate commitment to the goals furthering a diverse academy and to the mission of the MMUF.

*Independent research projects proposed by applicants should ideally align with the following research themes which reflect Mellon's goal toward "elevating the knowledge that informs more complete and accurate narratives of the human experience and lays the foundation for more just and equitable futures." Some research themes that fulfill this goal, may include, but are not limited to, the following: historical and contemporary treatments of race, racialization, and racial formation; intersectional experience and analysis; gender and sexuality; indigenous history and culture; questions about diaspora; coloniality and decolonization; the carceral state; migration and immigration; urban inequalities; social movements and mass mobilizations; the transatlantic slave trade; settler colonial societies; and literary accounts of agency, subjectivity, and community. While it is not required that applicants work within the above or related themes, preference may be given to applicants who do.

All students who met the above criteria are eligible to apply. Applications are particularly encouraged from students of color, students from marginalized backgrounds, students with demonstrated commitment to furthering the goal of a diverse academy.

The fellowship is not intended for students who wish to pursue law school, medical school or other professional education.​​​​​

The 2024 APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE END OF NOVEMBER 2023.

Student applications and letters of recommendations are due:
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2024  at 11:59PM ET on CARAT

Download URAF Applications

What if my concentration is not one listed in the Mellon approved field of study?

Undergraduate concentrations do not need to be in the Mellon approved list. However, if you plan to continue for a PhD and receive funding from the Mellon Foundation, you must be in a Mellon approved field.

Can I apply as a junior?

No. Students are selected during their sophomore year with the idea that each student participates in the Fellowship for two academic years.

What if I don’t have a faculty mentor by the time of application?

If you don’t have a mentor at the time of the application, that is fine. When you apply, we do ask for a list of three potential faculty mentors; know that this list is NOT a commitment; the mentor list you provide is only a suggestion list. There is no need to formally contact the faculty ahead of your application, as your research interests and the direction of a project may change. On the application, applicants must explain why the list of potential mentors may be good mentors for the applicants plan of research, study and intellectual goals.

We understand that your research ideas and topics of interests are evolving and will evolve over time. While we DO NOT match students with mentors, we will help fellows think through options for mentorship and identify resources within concentrations to seek advice and guidance on the thesis mentoring process. We will require admitted fellows to have a faculty mentor by the time they need to formally prepare for their thesis (end of junior year).

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:    mmuf@fas.harvard.edu 

The Harvard Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) program has published the MMUF Journal annually since 1995. For more information, as well as electronic copies of the journal, please visit the MMUF Journal webpage.