Rowland Fellowship

The Rowland Institute at Harvard seeks outstanding early-career experimentalists in all fields of science and engineering to establish fully independent research groups in the rich intellectual environment of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Rowland Fellowship provides an interdisciplinary and interactive environment, fostering the pursuit of innovative research. To qualify, applicants should currently be in the process of either completing their PhDs and/or have received their PhD after May 1, 2023. Fellows must have completed their doctoral degree prior to starting their Fellowship term. 

Edwin Land founded the Rowland Institute of Science in 1982 to foster high-risk, creative research. In 2002, we became the Rowland Institute at Harvard when we joined the University with the mission of advancing the early careers of experimental scientists and engineers. In 2024 we moved from our original building to Harvard’s main campus to be closer to collaborators and university resources. In our founder’s tradition, we are particularly interested in supporting future principal investigators who have the potential to establish a ground-breaking research program in their chosen field. Previous Rowland Fellows have gone on to extremely successful careers, mostly in academia, but also in industry and as founders of start-up companies.  

As a group leader at the Rowland Institute, you will have full principal investigator rights. You will also be provided with dedicated laboratory space; generous start-up funding for capital equipment, depending on the Fellow’s research program; a yearly budget starting at $225,000 for general operations (lab supplies, travel, etc.) and the hiring of personnel (postdoctoral fellows, postbacs, undergraduates); and, a salary that begins at $89,999 per year. Staff scientists and engineers are available to work directly with Rowland Fellows to design and fabricate new experimental set-ups. Shared research equipment is available at facilities within the Institute and throughout Harvard University (e.g. the Center for Nanoscale Systems, and the Bauer Life Science Core Facility). You will receive mentoring to develop a productive lab culture, support for scientific writing and budgeting, alongside ongoing support for career development throughout the Fellowship period. 

The Fellowship lasts up to five years, with a flexible start date; our incoming 2025 Rowland Fellows will have start dates September-December 2025.  

Deadline for applications is Friday, August 16, 2024 at 11:59PM EDT.