Applications are now open for the 2025/26 Berkman Klein Fellowship at Harvard University in USA (Stipends up to $75,000)

0 1 3 minutes read

Closing Date: 30 April 2025

Applications are now open for the 2025/26 Berkman Klein Fellowship at Harvard University in USA (Stipends up to $75,000)

Overview

Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society welcomes applications for its 2025-2026 fellowships. Fellows will work in Cambridge, Massachusetts to conduct independent work as part of one of the Center’s topical workstreams, in collaboration with BKC faculty, staff, students, and the broader BKC community.

Through this Berkman Klein Fellowship call, the Center will accept candidates across three tracks:

Academic fellowships for full-time faculty members
Post-doc fellowships for scholars who have recently completed their PhDs or equivalent
Non-academic fellowships for accomplished practitioners from outside the academy

About the BKC Fellowship Program

Over the course of its 25+ year history, BKC has taken a unique approach to developing and delivering innovation in modes beyond the confines of a traditional university. This is due in large part to the unusual model the center has adopted and honed for fellowships. While traditional university programs emphasize and rely on academic credentials as a gate to fellowships, the BKC Fellowship program instead considers the whole person – their path, values, and contributions – in the spirit of the Internet itself.

This has led to an active alumni network of 500+ BKC fellows, with participants going on to advance their careers in academia or work in government, tech, social impact, and the arts. Early projects like Creative Commons and the Digital Public Libraries of America – as well as newly incubated initiatives such as the Integrity Institute and Data Nutrition Project – have demonstrated the crucible of bringing together new and non-esoteric ideas to make progress in the digital space.

Time and location commitments

The Berkman Klein Fellowship will run for the full academic year, from September 1, 2025 to August 31, 2026. Fellows are expected to be free of the majority of their regular commitments so that they may fully devote themselves to their fellowship and Center workstream. BKC recognizes that fellows who bring their own funding might have specific commitments due to their funding arrangements.

Fellows are required to be in residence in Cambridge, MA from September 2025 through May 2026. During the time spent in residence, they will work from the Berkman Klein Center’s offices on the Harvard Law School campus.

Who Should Apply?

The Berkman Klein Center seeks to be a space for both established and rising scholars and non-academics. Qualifications for these tracks are below, and BKC ask that candidates specify which track for which they are applying for in their application form.

BKC Academic Fellowship track welcomes applications from faculty…

for whom serving as a professor is their full-time commitment, including assistant, associate, and full professors or equivalent roles in countries outside of the U.S.;
from any discipline whose scholarship deeply engages with ideas related to either AI or social media and networked communication;
who have a clear vision of a potential project and a clear sense of the problem(s) their work is addressing;
who are eager to engage in a cohort setting and work in collaboration with other workstream participants to develop a shared plan, projects, and events to advance the topic as a group;
who have prior published work in this space and a demonstrated record of contributing to public and scholarly conversations.

BKC Post-Doctoral Fellowship track welcomes applications from scholars…

from any discipline whose scholarship deeply engages with ideas related to either AI or social media and networked communication;
who have a clear vision of a potential project and a clear sense of the problem(s) their work is addressing;
who are eager to engage in a cohort setting and work in collaboration with other workstream participants to develop a shared plan, projects, and events to advance the topic as a group; who have prior or upcoming published work in this space and a demonstrated record of contributing to public and scholarly conversations.
Note: Post-doctoral fellows must have recently received a doctoral degree or other terminal degree, or will by the start of the appointment in September 2025. Individuals who will be enrolled in a degree program in the Fall of 2025 are not eligible for this position.

BKC Non-Academic Fellowship track welcomes applications from experts…

from any professional background whose expertise deeply engages with ideas related to either AI or social media and networked communication;
who have a clear vision of a potential project and a clear sense of the problem(s) their work is addressing;
who are eager to engage in a cohort setting and work in collaboration with other workstream participants to develop a shared plan, projects, and events to advance the topic as a group;
who have prior published work in this space and a demonstrated record of contributing to public and scholarly conversations.

International applicants: BKC works with the Harvard International Office (HIO) to sponsor visa paperwork for its eligible international fellows. All participants must be eligible to receive a stipend.