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Funding for MD Student Projects

The Office of Scholarly Engagement (OSE) is a primary source of funding for MD students:

OSE Funding

Community Engagement Funding

Community Engagement Funding

Two funding options are available to students:

  1. Student stipend - $1250/month stipend for full-time community engagement work in a fifth year  (up to $15,000/year) or for summer (8 weeks); no matching funding is available. Students must have an on-site mentor who will supervise their daily work AND a Harvard faculty mentor who will be available to advise them over the course of the project

  2. Materials reimbursement - Up to $500 reimbursement for materials for community service or engagement events organized by HMS students and community agencies 

Conference Funding

Conference Funding

HMS MD students may apply for up to $500 for travel/registration fees to present an abstract, poster, or oral presentation at academic or professional conferences outside of Harvard University.

Fellowships

Students work with the OSE to apply for these external and Harvard fellowships:

Fifth Year Research Funding

Fifth Year Research Funding

Typically, MD students take a fifth year for research between their third year and fourth year. Students may apply to OSE for $1250/month for full time research up to 12 months. Students should secure matching funding from their mentors or external funding sources. No credit is awarded for taking a fifth year for research.

 

Publication Funding

Publication Funding

The OSE  has limited funding up to $750 to defray publication fees when:

  • The HMS MD student is first author
  • The mentor/senior author contributes some funding towards the publication fees

 

Summer Funding

Summer Funding

HMS MD students may apply to OSE for $1250 /month for full time summer research projects (minimum of 8 weeks). Students cannot be enrolled in HMS courses during this time frame. Mentors are asked to match the funding that OSE can provide. 

  • London Society students will work through their society to prepare their applications for OSE funding.
  • Pathways students should follow the procedures described on the Summer Funding site.

Travel Supplements

HMS MD students can apply for an OSE stipend to defray some travel expenses to selected clinical elective exchange sites, research abroad, and research outside of New England.

International Travel Supplements

  • Long-term Scholarly Project/Research Abroad: Stipends will help defray modest airfare, housing, food, immunization costs and up to $50 for phone/data for travel lasting seven weeks or more
  • Short-term Research Abroad: Stipends will help defray costs for modest airfare, immunization costs needed for the project and up to $50 for phone/data for travel lasting at least three weeks and up to seven weeks
  • HMS-Sponsored Clinical Electives Abroad: Stipends will help defray modest airfare, immunization costs needed for clinical rotation(s) and up to $50 for phone/data for travel to OSE exchange sites lasting four weeks or longer. Airfare reimbursement rates for clinical electives abroad vary based on length of travel: 75% reimbursement for rotations lasting at least four weeks and less than eight weeks OR 100% for rotations that last 8 weeks or longer. 

US Travel Supplements

  • Short-term US Travel: Modest airfare, and limited ground transportation, housing, and food costs for scholarly project-related travel outside of New England and not near your home (minimum of three weeks and no more than eight weeks).
  • Indian Health Service Clinical Electives: Up to $1000 towards modest airfare, ground transportation and housing costs.

External Funding Opportunities

Students are encouraged to apply for funding from external sources for research or travel. In most cases, students apply directly to the funding sources.

Fellowships

The Office of Scholarly Engagement (OSE) provides information about external funding fellowship opportunities. Students are encouraged to apply for funding from the many excellent national and professional society fellowships available for MD students. 

  • Year-long or year-off fellowships
  • Summer fellowships
  • Fellowships for study or research abroad; clinical electives abroad (including some Harvard traveling fellowships); for study in the UK, see also the http://www.britishcouncil.us

Scholarships

The Financial Aid Office maintains a list of available scholarships which can be found on the Financial Aid Office Types of Funding page (from the funding page: navigate to Scholarships/Fellowships > External > Outside Scholarship Opportunities).

Preparing Your Application for External Funding

Important Deadline: At least three weeks prior to your submission date
 

When you prepare an application for external funding, find out if the funds must be awarded to HMS. Information on how the funds are disbursed may be found on the funder’s website; if not, contact the funder to ask how the funds are disbursed.  

If the funds must be awarded to HMS, reach out to the Finance Office in the Program for Medical Education at least 3 weeks prior to the submission date of your application.  The PME Finance administrator will work with you to have your application reviewed and approved by the HMS Office of Research Administration. 

HMS sponsored proposals require institutional review and authorization prior to submission. See the strict HMS submission policy.