Senior Thesis Grants
This section provides information about the myriad grants available at Harvard to support undergraduate summer and term-time research for senior thesis.
Please also check the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (URAF) for information about research opportunities and research funding.
To apply online for Harvard grants, please visit Harvard's Centralized Application for Research and Travel (CARAT)
See the History Dept's guidelines on requesting letters of recommendation,
Center for American Political Studies
For research on any aspect of contemporary American politics.
Deadline: Friday, Feb. 14, 2025
Charles Warren Center
For research on any topic in American History.
Deadline: Friday, February 14, 2025
Carol K. Pforzheimer Student Fellowships
To provide funding to Harvard undergraduates to conduct research in the Schlesinger Library’s collections.
Deadline: February 22, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
For thesis research on international affairs.
Deadline: February 13, 2026
Asia Center Grants
Visit the Asia Center's website for info. about their undergraduate summer research and travel grants and other funding resources.
Fairbank Center Undergraduate Student Grants
The Fairbank Center, in cooperation with the other Asia related area centers at Harvard, offers a number of grants and fellowships to students and student groups interested in China and Taiwan.
The Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
Awards summer research travel grants for Harvard undergraduates in the humanities or social sciences for research and/or fieldwork in Japan, relating directly to a senior honors thesis in an area of Japanese studies.
Korea Institute Summer Research Travel Grant
Korea Institute Undergraduate Summer Travel Grants are awarded to Harvard undergraduates in the humanities or social sciences to use in Korea for research and/or field work relating to a senior honors thesis in an area of Korean studies. Typically, the amount of the award is limited to the cost of travel in the research project. Undergraduate applicants must have at least two years of Korean language training or equivalent proficiency in the language.
Patterson Traveling Fellowship
For summer research, study, travel or work in Italy.
Deadline: March 5, 2025 - 11:59pm
Center for European Studies
CES offers summer research travel grants for senior thesis writers to explore topics on political, historical, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual trends in modern or contemporary Europe.
Deadline: February 3, 2025
Goldman Undergraduate Research Travel Grant (Davis Center for Russian Studies
Goldman Undergraduate Research Travel Grants of up to $6,000 are available to offset travel and living expenses for students carrying out independent research on topics in Russian and Eurasian studies.
Deadline: Feb. 10, 2026, 11:59 p.m. EST
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
For support to conduct research projects in Ukraine.
Deadline: TBA
Harvard-Cambridge Summer Fellowship
The Harvard-Cambridge Scholarship Committee offers summer scholarships to undergraduates for supervised research or study at Cambridge University.
The specific research of study proposed by the applicant must be conducted under the supervision of an advisor who is an instructor, fellow or researcher associated with Cambridge University or one of its colleges, or a research facility associated with the University. Applicants are responsible for identifying, contacting and securing the agreement in writing of the advisor to supervise the proposed research or study. (Trinity College customarily sends URAF a list of associated faculty members that have projects for which they are seeking research assistance. This list is made available in January to applicants through URAF.) The Committee also awards one summer scholarship on the recommendation of the A.R.T. for an internship in the theater arts at the Gate Theatre in London.
Angeliki E. Laiou Undergraduate Research Fund - download the pdf
This fund was established in honor of Angeliki Laiou (1941-2008), Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine History and an internationally celebrated scholar, colleague, statesman, mentor, and friend. During the nearly four decades that she spent at Harvard, her passionate, charismatic teaching instilled in countless students the importance of studying the past. Reflecting her staunch commitment to undergraduate teaching and research, the fund supports undergraduates at Harvard College who are conducting research on topics relating to Byzantine, medieval European, and medieval Mediterranean history. The grants may be up to $1,000 and may be used to cover a variety of research-related expenses, including travel, securing digital scans from libraries and archives, and translations. Senior thesis writers are especially encouraged to apply, but grants can be made for non-thesis research as well. Students planning to conduct summer thesis research are encouraged to apply before March 1, but applications may be submitted at any point during the academic year. To apply, submit a completed copy of this form to the History Undergraduate Office, along with a 300-500 word description of your project and a tentative budget. For more information, contact Professor Daniel Smail (smail@fas.harvard.edu).
Name: ________________________________________
Class: _____________
Concentration: ______________________________
Phone: ___________________
Email: _____________________________________
Amount Requested: ___________
Date Submitted: _____________________________
Other Fields
Center for African Studies
The Center for African Studies offers funding to Harvard undergraduate students traveling to Africa for thesis research, internships, volunteer work or study abroad. Grants require a minimum stay of eight weeks in Africa. Our grant awards are limited and intended to cover round-trip travel and a modest stipend.
Deadline:
Undergraduate Research Scholarships in Australian Studies:
To support research and/or field work related to an area of Australian studies.
The Canada Program Undergraduate Thesis Research Grants
The Center will award undergraduate thesis research grants of up to $5,000 each for summer field research in Canada. Recipients of the grants will be named Undergraduate Associates of the Weatherhead Center and are expected to present their thesis research at a conference in the spring semester before their theses are due.
Deadline: February 2026
Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights (EMR)
The Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights (EMR) awards summer grants to assist Harvard juniors with research for a senior honors thesis. The department(s) in which the thesis will be written is open so long as research addresses one or more areas of ethnicity, race, im/migration, Indigeneity, and human rights.
Deadline:
The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability
Summer Research Fund provides financial support for student research projects related to the environment.
Deadline:
Center for Jewish Studies
To support qualified Harvard undergraduates with summer research or study in Jewish studies. For more info., click here.
Deadline:
Center for Middle Eastern Studies
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies offers fellowships and travel grants to Harvard undergraduates during wintersession and summer for Arabic language study, and research/fieldwork in Israel.
Deadline: March 1, 2026 - 11:59pm
Center for the Study of World Religions
The Harvard Divinity School awards an undergraduate award for summer senior thesis-related research. For theses that significantly address an interreligious, cross-cultural, or comparative theme. The research may be ethnographic or archival, and a portion of the award may be used for the purchase of books.
Deadline: April 1, 2026
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Supports undergraduate students conducting thesis research related to Latin America and the Caribbean. Research proposals are accepted from all disciplines, but must be directly related to the region.
Deadline: Early February 2026
Department of Romance Languages Dressler Family Traveling Grant
For travel and study in the Romance language countries (e.g. France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, and Latin America). Students must have completed at least one course in Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard. Financial need is a requirement for application.
Deadline:
Harvard College Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (URAF)
The Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships administers more than 30 fellowship competitions annually, for both prestigious national fellowships and scholarships as well as Harvard fellowships, which are open to Harvard College undergraduates.
Yun Family Research Fellows Fund for Revolutionary Thinking
The Yun Family Research Fellows Fund for Revolutionary Thinking is designed to support undergraduate scholars of talent and promise who want to explore the theory and practice of tackling the world’s problems through bold, innovative, and novel research projects of their own design. The award promotes creative and unconventional approaches that display a high degree of originality and intellectual depth. All disciplines are eligible for consideration, and projects may encompass inter- and multi-disciplinary permutations. Projects also may serve as the foundation for undergraduate thesis submission, as approved by academic departments.
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 2, 2025, 11:59PM ET
The Robert P. Ulin Fund for Excellence in History
For summer thesis research or language study.
Apply on CARAT
Deadline: Monday, March 23, 2026