While obtaining fellowships is not generally necessary while being a graduate student at SEAS, many students may be interested to investigate fellowship opportunities in order to bolster their resumes and to gain more autonomy in their research goals and collaboration opportunities. In addition, a bonus is offered to SEAS students who win external fellowships that cover at least 50% of their total support (stipend and tuition). The details can be found in the SEAS Financial Aid Policies here:
http://www.seas.harvard.edu/academics/graduate/committee-on-higher-degrees
The GSAS Fellowships Office
(https://www.gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/fellowships_office.php)
is a good resource for information on open fellowships and for receiving feedback on fellowship proposals.
A fellowship from GSAS available to SEAS students post-Qualifying Exam is the Merit Time fellowship (https://www.gsas.harvard.edu/images/stories/pdfs/resmerit.pdf).
For external fellowships, Cornell University has an extensive database (https://gradschool.cornell.edu/fellowships).
The eligibility requirements for different fellowships vary. Some are restricted to citizens of a specific country. Often, fellowships are applicable only for students either pre-qualifier (e.g., first two years of graduate study) or post-qualifier. In addition, a research statement and letters of recommendation from several faculty members may be required.
