Postgraduate Traveling Fellowship
Application deadline: February 9, 2026
Postgraduate Traveling Fellowships provide funds to support 9-12 months of living expenses, cultural immersion, and personal or intellectual project work or activities in a foreign country in the year after graduation. The fellowships provide recently graduated students with an opportunity to “reflect on their undergraduate life in the context of a wider horizon” and to “supplement their formal education by broadening and cultivating influence which comes from acquaintance with other countries.” Fellows create and propose their own activities and goals for the fellowship year.
There are four separate named fellowships, but candidates will submit their application to the group of fellowships, not to any one particular fellowship.
- George Peabody Gardner Fellowship
- Henry Russel Shaw Fellowship (Europe only)
- Frederick Sheldon Fellowship
- Benjamin A. Trustman Fellowship
Graduating Harvard College seniors of any citizenship/residency status may apply
This award carries an approximately $30,000 stipend.
Applications for this opportunity are assessed on the following metrics:
- Travel logistics: feasibility and match of time, place, activity
- Proposed project: Meaningful, and impactful experience; potential benefits to applicant; well-defined and logical
- Cultural exploration: Ethical and competent cultural exploration evidenced in proposed activities, proposed activities in line with geographic and geopolitical area, cultural exploration is appropriate and feasible for candidate’s background
- Background and preparation: requisite skills for success in country and with proposed activities
This is a very competitive application process. Typically, about 10% of applications are successful. Applications are read by staff and faculty selection committee. In early March, approximately 24 finalists are selected to interview. Interviews are conducted in mid- to late-March. Awards are announced shortly thereafter.
Each of the application components is described below. You will use the Harvard University Fellowships Portal to submit your proposal materials and to solicit the statement of support from your mentor.
The elements of the application are:
- Resume: Indicate significant activities, achievements, and experiences in college that demonstrate your values and interest. Include your extracurricular interests and hobbies. Do not exceed one page.
- Unofficial transcript: Download your unofficial transcript from my.harvard.edu, it should include your fall course grades and spring course registration.
- Proposal: Explain your reasons for seeking this fellowship and how it may aid in your personal growth. Include a description of how you will commit to and benefit from a sustained cultural immersion experience. (max 1000 words)
One letter of recommendation: This letter should comment on the suitability of your plans for the fellowship year as well as on any relevant personal attributes. It need not be from a faculty member; indeed, another individual may be better positioned to comment on these matters. The letter should be addressed to The Postgraduate Traveling Fellowship Selection Committee. Request a letter upload directly from your recommender here. Letters are due at the same time as all other application components.
Read reports from previous fellows to get an idea of what “purposeful travel” and “personal or intellectual project work or activities” looks like. Heavily research the logistics of your proposed activities in country. Do not propose travel to several countries, as this defeats the purpose of cultural immersion and is less feasible given the limited monetary award. Do not propose language study as a main activity, as it’s often a lesser convincing proposal since the cultural immersion will require language learning anyway. Applications involving travel for fewer than 9 months will not be considered.
Information Session
URAF staff are available for drop-in advising and for one-on-one appointments after students have watched the information session and joined us for one drop-in session.