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The Harvard Center for International Development (CID) supports students at all levels of their academic careers to deepen their knowledge of international development and work to build a thriving world for all.
All Harvard students have the opportunity to engage directly with experts in international development, from CID's faculty affiliates, to visiting practitioners and government leaders. Students can participate in seminars, research projects, internships, hands-on programs, and special events offered by CID.
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Research and Funding Opportunities
CID awards modest travel stipends on a competitive basis to Harvard students who travel over J-Term for research related to a larger capstone in international development. The travel stipends can be used to cover related expenses, including but not limited to: transportation, lodging, food, and travel documents. All applicants’ proposals must follow . All awardees must complete all pre-departure requirements noted on the . The Center reserves the right to revoke funding if travel is no longer permitted to your requested country due to health and safety concerns. Because of this, we encourage all awardees to purchase travel insurance or a ticket through an airline with flexible cancellation policies, especially when travelling to countries with elevated .
Criteria and Eligibility
Funding is open to any Harvard student
Travel must be related to international development and preference for projects related to GEM topics (climate, gender, and AI).
Stipends will be awarded up to $2,500 each
While there is no minimum travel duration requirement, preference is given to applicants who can provide a well-organized itinerary/schedule that demonstrates how their travel is necessary to complete components of their research
Application Deadline
Applications are now closed for J-Term 2025
Additional Requirements
Funding recipients will be expected to:
Submit to CID 1 blog entry highlighting the experience. Blogs should be approximately 1,000 words.
Submit to CID 5-8 high-quality photos or short videos documenting their fieldwork
Be available to speak to other students about their experience
Be willing to attend GEM25 in Spring 2025 to share their experience and research if related to AI
Please reach out to Eve Margolis if you have any questions.
The Harvard CID Student Research Scholar Program matches undergraduate and graduate Harvard students with research projects led by CID’s faculty and PhD student affiliates. It is an excellent opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience working on a research project in international development and make connections with faculty across the University. The program is designed to allow students to apply their existing skillset to a real-world project but will not provide training in the required skills.
How does the program work?
Students join the CID student research scholar database by completing an application with their skills and interests. CID will reference this database to match CID faculty and PhD affiliate research project work with students who possess interest in the given area/region and the requisite skills for the project. An initial match usually leads to an interview between the student and the project lead, who makes the final employment decision.
Hired Student Research Scholar positions are paid. Positions require a 5-20 hour/week commitment based on requirements from the project lead. Matches will not be made immediately and will occur on a rolling basis. Not all students will be matched.
CID Faculty and PhD Students are looking for Research Scholars with the following skills:
- Survey design
- Econometrics (RCTs and/or quasi-experimental methods)
- Literature review writing
- Programming languages such as R, C/C++, or Python
- Statistical survey software such as Stata or Qualtrics
- Technical writing
You can if you are interested in becoming an RA.
The Harvard Center for International Development provides funding for student organizations, small groups, and individual students to pursue activities that are in line with the center’s mission and research agenda.
Eligibility:
- Harvard University undergraduate, graduate, or PhD students
- Harvard student group or organization/PICs
- Harvard CID affiliated fellows
Funding is to be used for:
- Hosting expenses related to workshops and conferences (at Harvard)
- Conference registration fees (at Harvard or outside Harvard)
- Travel expenses for relevant conferences or events
The maximum amount of funding that the center provides per year to an individual student or student group is $1,000. The average amount granted per funding request ranges between $250-$1,000. Preference will be given to applicants whose conferences or travel are related to international development work in Africa and Asia.
Decisions are made based on relevance to CID’s mission, research agenda, and the availability of funds. Priority will be given to students traveling to present at conferences rather than just attend. We encourage students to submit this request form as far in advance as possible. Allow at least two weeks for review and response from the funding committee. CID cannot reimburse for expenses that have already been incurred.
Sustainability: CID is proud to support the Harvard Kennedy School (vlog) sustainability mission to encourage and support a greener campus at vlog and across the university. We are committed to promoting the use of reusable and compostable products and encourage everyone to take advantage of the measures that the vlog Sustainability Committee has laid out for composting throughout the campus. All conferences that we support should follow the sustainability guidelines. That includes:
- Catering: Ensure all food and sourcing is compostable when placing orders. Cut back on the number of cups to encourage people to bring their own reusable cups/bottles.
- Communications: Consider sample language below in advertising events via email, newsletters, etc. Encourage “bring your own (BYO)” mugs and water bottles, including when people register for events. Consider including a line on the registration page such as: “Will you bring a reusable mug/bottle to this event?”
- Set-Up: Display Composting posters in multiple areas by food and disposal bins to encourage attendees to compost.
- Opting for digital over physical materials when possible. QR codes are also a great tool to have paperless events!
- Choose more sustainable products: Make a shift from plastic lanyards/name tags to paper stock which can be reused or recycled at the end of events.
Please note: Applicants will need to register for the university’s Buy2Pay payment system to receive funds. The registration and approval process can take 1-2 weeks and processing payment can take an additional 1-2 weeks, so please plan and leave enough time in advance of the event or travel. In some instances, CID may choose to pay for a portion of conference-related costs directly when events are taking place at Harvard (e.g., catering).
To apply for funding, please fill out CID's
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