Internal Funding

Many funding opportunities are available to FAS faculty and researchers. 

Please see the FAS Office of Research Administraion website for more information on how to find funding from Harvard, private foundation, and federal sources. Some publication and professional development funds are highlighted below. Faculty may also wish to consult their department chairs or SEAS area deans, faculty colleagues, and divisional deans for advice on additional funding sources. Please also see the FAS Spending Policy for Faculty Start-Up and Other Faculty Support Funds.

Application for FAS Professional Development Funds

To support their professional development, the Edgerley Family Dean of the FAS will reimburse tenure-track faculty up to $1,000 for activities they undertake to advance their development as scholars and teachers. For example, faculty members may choose to convene a group of Harvard or external scholars to provide feedback on a book manuscript or grant proposal. This $1,000 grant is included in the start-up package for new faculty, starting on July 1, 2010. Faculty hired prior to this date should use this application form for the purpose of reimbursement.

Dean's Competitive Fund for Promising Scholarship

This is a targeted program that provides funding in the following three categories: 1) bridge funding, 2) seed funding, and 3) enabling subventions. This program is open to FAS and SEAS assistant, associate, and tenured faculty. Professors-in-Residence and Professors of the Practice are also eligible. Please click on the link above for full information.

Senior Vice Provost for Faculty (SVPF) Research Enabling Grant

This grant program is sponsored by Harvard's Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty: "Research enabling grants (REGs) are intended to provide financial assistance to eligible faculty facing work/life or personal/family challenges that threaten to impede their academic research and/or their progress at Harvard."

Provostial Fund for the Arts and Humanities

This fund is intended to support creative, innovative initiatives in the arts and humanities, for projects led by members of the faculty within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and/or other schools. Please note that the maximum amount per proposal has been capped at $5,000 for the Spring 2026 cycle. Additionally, while research proposals will still be accepted, the Committee will give priority to proposals that: 1) Have the greatest impact on the curriculum, and 2) Create the most meaningful opportunities for student engagement and experience. Applications for fall 2026 (and beyond) are due Friday, February 13, 2026. The submission link is located on page two of the guidelines

Tenure-Track Publication Fund

The FAS Tenure-Track Publication Fund is intended to provide assistant and associate professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with supplemental research funds to assist with costs related to scholarly publications, broadly defined. These needs might, for example, include research assistance, publication subsidies, copying, word processing, obtaining translations or illustrations, or creating footnotes or indices.

Tenured Publication Fund

This fund aids tenured FAS faculty members in bringing scholarly book projects to timely completion. All tenured faculty members in the FAS's Divisions of Arts and Humanities, Social Science, Science, and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are eligible to apply. The FAS will provide funds for 40 FAS faculty members to receive up to $5,000 apiece. These funds will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, to help defray eligible expenses. The Fund is meant to supplement other available means of support; faculty are expected to seek departmental, center-based, and external funds before applying to this Fund.