Professional Development & Publishing Funding for PhDs

Term-Time Professional Development

The Literary Careers Program invites PhD candidates in the Harvard English Department to apply for funding to support your professional development during the academic year. For one semester and on an application-only basis, the Literary Careers Program will fund up to the equivalent of one section (“one fifth”) for select PhD students who have secured term-time professional development opportunities. Recipients of this funding will embark on inspiring career development, beyond the university classroom. These students will bring their experiences and creative energy back into the classroom and our departmental community, serving as role models for their students and proof for their peers that a degree in English can support a variety of rewarding, attainable, financially viable careers.

 

Eligibility

To be eligible for this funding, an applicant must:

  • Be a PhD candidate in the Harvard English Department.
  • Have taught for one semester, passed their Field Exam (G-3), and/or completed their prospectus (G-4). 
  • G-4+ students must be in compliance with the department's dissertation completion timeline (submitting one chapter draft per year).
  • Not be on Dissertation Completion Fellowship in the semester that they receive this funding.
  • Apply for and secure their professional development opportunity.

  • Guarantee that their professional development work will involve a strong mentorship component.

     

Additional Notes:

  • We anticipate that G-4, G-5, and post-DCF students will be the most common recipients of this funding. 
  • We can only offer a full "one fifth" of funding to applicants who plan to teach only one section in the semester that they accept this funding. This funding will, in effect, replace the salary that the applicant would otherwise make teaching a full "two fifths," or two sections.
  • For applicants on a term-time fellowship, teaching a junior tutorial, or electing to teach two sections, we can only award a maximum of $3500. 
  • Applicants are not permitted to receive both this funding and the Harvard Review Editorial Fellowship in the same semester. If you are applying to both opportunties for the same semester, please note this in both applications and indicate which you would prefer, if offered the choice.

We hope that this funding will support students who are not guaranteed teaching, who have been assigned “split fifths,” or who are eager to dedicate a significant portion of time and energy to professional development that they would otherwise spend on their TFing assignment.

 

What is a “Professional Development Opportunity”?

Our definition of a “professional development opportunity” is intended to ensure that students are prepared to use this funding and their reprieve from one section of teaching to make real progress towards their career goals. For the purposes of this funding, a “professional development opportunity” can be:

  • An internship that an applicant has already secured.
  • A volunteer position with an organization that will support the applicant’s career goals in a related field or within that organization.
  • An independent project with clear deliverables, deadlines, and a strong mentorship component. The applicant must have already made progress on this project before applying for funding.

The “independent project” option is intended to support creative writers and artists in completing work that they have already begun and that are not being supported through any other university class or funding. To this end, LC will not fund academic projects, for which there are many other funding opportunities already available. Examples of eligible independent projects include:

  • Finishing a novel (not a dissertation project) that the applicant has been working on with a faculty mentor.
  • Getting a book-length non-academic manuscript published with the supervision of a faculty mentor.
  • Writing and publishing 10 public-facing articles (not in academic journals) with the supervision of a faculty mentor.

Beginning in Spring 2023 and perhaps as early as Fall 2022, Literary Careers will announce a series of pre-planned internships in partnership with organizations around Harvard. Stay tuned for forthcoming information about these opportunities, which will have a slightly different application process.

 

Application Timeline

There are two opportunities to apply for this funding each academic year. 

  • Applications for Fall 2025 funding are due by May 20, 2025. If you are assigned "split fifths" or are not offered "two fifths" of teaching in July, you are welcome to apply for this funding as late as August 15.
  • Applications for the Spring 2026 funding will be due on November 1, 2025.

Recipients of Fall 2025 will be notified of their awards in June. 

Application Components

Please email the following components of your application to Gwen Urdang-Brown (urdangbr@fas.harvard.edu), copying Stephanie Balakrishnan (sbalakrishnan@fas.harvard.edu). You should include all of these components in one PDF file, with the exception of your optional letter.

  • A short essay (500 words) describing the internship, work, or project you wish to pursue. Please explain how this opportunity will contribute to your long-term career goals or the process of exploring different career fields. Successful applications will also identify aspects of this professional development opportunity which you anticipate will expand the ways of thinking, subject-area expertise, and skills that you have developed in the Harvard English Department.
  • A cover page identifying your name, Harvard ID number, class year, departmental affiliations, dissertation supervisor[s], title of approved prospectus (G4), dissertation title, classes taught, number of completed dissertation chapters (required of G5+ applicants), and a one-sentence description of your internship.
  • Evidence of your professional development opportunity. This could be proof of your acceptance to your internship or volunteer opportunity. Alternatively, if project is self-guided, please offer a description of the steps that you have already taken towards it + a timeline of deadlines and deliverables + a letter of support from your mentor on this project. 
  • A report of any salary or other funding that you are receiving to support your work.
  • A budget, stating the amount of money that you are requesting (max $3500), how many hours a week you intend to dedicate to your project, and how you intend to use the funding: only if you are on a term-time fellowship, teaching two sections, or teaching a junior tutorial. This budget can be brief (1 paragraph or a bullet-pointed list).

  • Optional: one additional letter of recommendation from a faculty member or professional mentor who can speak to the ways in which this opportunity will build upon your intellectual passions.

     

Departmental Community & Recipient Responsibilities

In the fall, award recipients will serve as Professional Development Mentors for their peers. In this role, students will share their internship experiences with the department at the annual Literary Careers Professional Development Symposium. You will also meet with the department Chair and Literary Careers team, to report which events and resources you feel would be most helpful to aid your and your peers’ professional development within your field of interest. The Literary Careers Program will consider your experiences when designing new career support resources for the department.

Award recipients must also write a short (1000 word) personal essay, which will be published on the department website. Undergraduate students will work with a graduate student mentor to edit this essay.

Finally, all recipients will fill out a short survey, telling us about how your training in English prepared you for your summer work. This survey will invite you to tell us about the skills and classes that our department might have offered to prepare you for the summer work you undertook.