Berkman Klein Center Fellowship at Harvard: Historical Guide to the Closed 2026 and 2026–2027 Call

Berkman Klein Center Fellowship at Harvard: Historical Guide to the Closed 2026 and 2026–2027 Call

The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University brings academics and practitioners from different fields together to work on questions involving technology and the public interest. Its fellowship program has two routes: an annual open call and periodic calls for project-specific fellowships. In the last annual call covered here, a fully funded fellow could receive up to $6,250 per month, capped at $75,000 for a twelve-month appointment. Funding was limited and competitive; externally funded appointments were also possible.

Status: the annual open call for the January–August 2026 period and the 2026–2027 academic year is closed. The deadline was Friday, December 5, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The Center says it is no longer accepting applications. Its fellowship program page continues to describe annual open calls and periodic project-specific calls, but the official pages checked for this guide do not announce the next annual round or give a future deadline. This is a historical reference to the completed call, not an active application.

BKC has announced its 2026–2027 fellows, but that announcement does not open another application round. Anyone considering a future annual call should treat the previous cycle’s dates, themes, stipend ceiling, and document requirements as examples only. The Center directs readers to its newsletter for new opportunities. Project-specific calls may appear at other points in the year and can have terms different from the annual fellowship.

Key details

What the fellowship actually funds

BKC fellowships are not open-ended sabbaticals. The call is explicit that a fellow is expected to produce at least one significant public output that impacts and/or informs the scholarly, public, and/or policy debates. The Center names several acceptable forms: technical prototypes, open-source tools, writing, and workshops. That breadth is the point. A well-argued law review article and a released evaluation harness are both legible deliverables here, which is unusual among research fellowships that quietly expect only papers.

The second expectation is community engagement. Fellows are asked to work with faculty, staff, students, and other members of the BKC and wider Harvard communities, and to partner closely with specific topical workstreams rather than orbiting the Center at a distance. The FAQ says fellows “work with specific topical workstreams and partner closely with other fellows, faculty, and staff.” Applicants who show excitement about working with and mentoring students are viewed favorably.

This shapes what a good project proposal looks like. A project that could equally well be done alone at your home institution is a weak fit. A project that gets materially better because you are next to a computer scientist, a platform-governance researcher, and a clinical law program is a strong one.

The five research priorities in the last call

The closed call named five thematic priorities. They describe that cycle’s AI research agenda, not a promise that the next call will reuse the same list. Read them as substantive topics rather than keywords to insert into an unrelated proposal:

1. Agentic AI — governance of autonomous AI agents that operate across systems without human mediation at each step.
2. Language model interpretability — understanding how and why language models function.
3. Benchmarking AI systems beyond measures of intelligence — evaluating dimensions such as agency and metacognition rather than capability alone.
4. AI and the human experience — effects on relationships, cognition, spirituality, and social-emotional development.
5. Bridging the AI triad — building dialogue among accelerationists, safetyists, and skeptics.

Two things stand out. First, three of the five are technical or partly technical, which is why the Center now runs an explicit technical track (below). Second, priorities four and five are unapologetically humanistic and deliberative — they are asking for people who can write and convene, not only measure. If your work sits at either pole, do not assume the other pole is what they really want.

Note that these were the priorities for the closed round. Treat them as a strong prior for the next call, not a guarantee; confirm against the new call text when it is posted.

Who fits, and who does not

The completed open call sought established and rising scholars and practitioners with a demonstrated record of contributing to public or scholarly conversations and taking action in policy, technology, academia, or civil society. It welcomed a wide range of disciplines, including technology, law, policy, applied and social sciences, arts, and humanities. Applicants were expected to have experience doing the kind of work they proposed. The call described these groups:

• Faculty, anywhere from assistant through full professor.
• Post-doctoral scholars who have recently completed a terminal degree.
• Practitioners from industry, government, and civil society — this is a genuine pathway, not a courtesy mention.
• International applicants. BKC said it works with Harvard’s International Office to sponsor visa paperwork for eligible international fellows. Applicants based in the United States who are neither citizens nor lawful permanent residents also needed immigration status that allows receipt of a fellowship stipend.

Interdisciplinary backgrounds are explicitly encouraged. Concurrent fellowships elsewhere at Harvard are permitted where there is enough flexibility to meet both commitments.

Students were not eligible through the annual open call. The FAQ pointed students toward other opportunities announced through The Buzz; it did not say that students could apply through this fellowship call. Similarly, faculty associate and affiliate roles are appointed by invitation only — there is no independent application form for them, although the Center may consider an open-call applicant for one of those designations based on the same materials.

The technical research and engineering track

For technical roles, the call sets out a sharper profile: ideally a Ph.D. in computer science or a related technical field, with demonstrated expertise in Python and modern AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX, plus peer-reviewed publications or substantial technical contributions. Research engineer candidates are asked to meet at least three of six listed qualifications, covering areas including infrastructure and agent-framework experience.

If you are applying on this track, your work samples should be code and artifacts, not only PDFs. A maintained repository with real users, an evaluation suite others have adopted, or a prototype that demonstrably works will do more than a fourth workshop paper.

Residency, remote work, and the honest calculation

BKC strongly encourages fellows to be in residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts for the majority of their appointment. Non-residential arrangements are considered individually, and the FAQ is candid that remote fellows are possible but discouraged; the Center asks applicants to detail their residence plans in the application itself.

Do that arithmetic before you write anything. A stipend of up to $75,000 for twelve months is a substantial amount, but Cambridge is an expensive place to live. The open-call fellowships are intended to be non-employee roles, and the call does not promise employee benefits. Harvard health-insurance eligibility should be checked separately. Fellows on leave from a salaried post, fellows combining BKC support with sabbatical pay or an external grant, and fellows early in their careers with modest fixed costs are all in reasonable positions. A mid-career practitioner relocating a household on the stipend alone should model it carefully rather than optimistically.

The Center also notes that offers are extended based on a number of factors including funding requirements, and asks applicants to communicate their funding needs clearly. This is an invitation to be specific rather than modest. Stating that you have partial external support, or that you need the full amount to make the year possible, is useful information for the committee — not a mark against you.

Required materials

The closed call asked applicants to complete a short personal and work-related questionnaire and provide the following documents. Each upload had to be a PDF no larger than 5 MB. These are the requirements of the 2026/2026–2027 call; a future application may differ.

• CV.
• Cover letter, 1–2 pages, explaining background, motivations, goals, fit with BKC, and what the applicant would contribute to its work and community.
• Project proposal, 2–3 pages, describing the problem, research methods, intended audiences for the outputs, and alignment with one or more priorities.
• Work samples, one to three public-facing assets, submitted together as a single PDF. The FAQ gives examples such as articles, op-eds, or events; the call says samples should connect to the proposal or show that it is feasible.
• Two professional references, providing names and contact information. BKC said it might contact references for recommendation letters or calls if the applicant became a finalist; letters were not listed as a required upload at initial submission.

For that call, applicants first registered an account in BKC’s Application Tracker, completed the general-information fields, then answered the prompts under “Additional Information” and attached the documents under “Job Application Materials.” After checking the form and uploads, they submitted through the portal and received a confirmation email. The official tracker instructions now say the call is closed. These steps explain the archived process; they are not a way to apply today.

The proposal is the load-bearing document. Two to three pages is short enough that a vague framing has nowhere to hide. A workable structure: the question and why it is unresolved; what you will actually make during the appointment; what makes BKC the right place rather than a nice place; what the public output will be and who it is for; and what you will do in the first sixty days. Reviewers can tell the difference between a plan and an aspiration.

The cover letter should carry the parts of your story the CV cannot — why now, what changed in your work, what you want to be different about your practice afterward.

How selection worked in the closed call

Senior staff and faculty directors reviewed applications and made final appointment decisions; they could consult other BKC community members about applications in their area of expertise. The Center looked for novel and unique approaches, relevant ambitions and achievements, collegiality, curiosity, intellectual rigor, adaptability, and commitment to the public interest. Its FAQ encouraged applicants to explain their interest in the program, what they would do with the opportunity, and how the work aligned with their own goals and BKC’s workstreams.

Collegiality and adaptability appearing on a selection list is not decoration. This is a cohort program where fellows are placed alongside people trained very differently from them; someone who cannot productively disagree with an economist or take a technologist’s objection seriously will have a poor year and drag on everyone else’s. The Center’s stated criteria for technical fellows make the same point from the other direction — independent research leadership aligned with BKC’s AI agenda, interdisciplinary communication skills, student mentoring, and dedication to public-interest, open-source research.

Cohort size is not fixed. The FAQ says the Center determines it each year based on applicant characteristics, its capacity to support fellows, and the Center’s needs. Do not try to reverse-engineer an acceptance rate; there is not a stable one to find.

Common mistakes

• Writing a proposal that ignores the named priorities. You do not have to sit dead-center in one of the five themes, but you should be able to say in one sentence how your work touches BKC’s current agenda.
• Treating the public-output requirement as boilerplate. Name the artifact. “A policy brief and an accompanying open dataset released by month nine” beats “I will disseminate my findings.”
• Being vague about residency. The application asks about it directly. An unaddressed plan to be mostly elsewhere reads worse than a clearly reasoned one.
• Applying as a student. The open call does not cover students, and an ineligible application is simply lost effort.
• Ignoring the file constraints. PDFs only, 5 MB per file. Every cycle, strong candidates scramble at the deadline because a work-sample PDF is oversized.
• Waiting for the call to ask for references. Two professional references with contact details are required at submission. Ask in advance.

How to follow future opportunities

The annual open call is one of two routes BKC describes. It also makes periodic calls for project-specific fellowships and roles connected with Center priorities. These may appear at any point in the year; some are funded employee fellowships, while others are non-employee positions. Read each announcement for its own conditions instead of assuming the annual call’s terms apply.

For someone preparing for a future opening, practical steps include:

1. Subscribe to The Buzz, the newsletter BKC recommends for announcements of new opportunities. Recheck the fellowship program page before acting on an old deadline or application link.
2. Develop a project proposal. The previous call allowed 2–3 pages, so practice stating the question, method, intended audience, and connection to BKC’s work clearly and concisely. Wait for a new call before treating any past theme as current.
3. Choose public work samples. The prior FAQ asked for one to three assets combined in a PDF. Select material that helps a reader assess the proposed work and its feasibility.
4. Ask potential references in advance. The previous application requested two references’ contact details, and BKC might contact them for a letter or call if the candidate became a finalist. Confirm expectations in any new instructions.
5. Read the call closely when it appears. Appointment length, research priorities, funding routes, eligibility details, and file requirements can be cycle-specific. The old application portal is closed, so do not submit documents through its archived link.

Frequently asked questions

Is the fellowship open right now? No. The annual call for appointments in January–August 2026 and the 2026–2027 academic year closed on December 5, 2025. BKC says applications are no longer being accepted, and its official fellowship pages do not announce a next annual call or deadline.

When will the next call open? No opening date or deadline for the next annual call is published on the official pages checked for this guide. The previous deadline is not evidence of when another call will open.

Is the stipend guaranteed at $75,000? No. That is the ceiling for a twelve-month appointment, at up to $6,250 per month. Amounts are determined case by case, and some appointments are externally funded.

Can I hold another position at the same time? Concurrent fellowships elsewhere at Harvard are permitted if there is sufficient flexibility to meet both sets of obligations. For outside commitments, raise it explicitly in your application rather than after an offer.

Do I need to move to Cambridge? For the closed call, residency for most of the appointment was strongly encouraged. Non-residential arrangements were considered individually, and applicants were asked to explain their plans in the application.

Can international applicants apply? Yes, and visa sponsorship is available.

Are there other ways to become affiliated with BKC? Faculty associate and affiliate roles are appointed by invitation; there is no separate application. Project-specific fellowship calls are posted periodically and are a genuine alternative route.

Official links and contact

• Fellowship program overview: https://cyber.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships
• Fellowship program FAQ: https://cyber.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/faq
• Most recent open call (closed; historical reference for its materials and priorities): https://cyber.harvard.edu/page/open-call-fellowship-applications-2026-and-2026-2027
• BKC announcement welcoming its 2026–2027 fellows: https://cyber.harvard.edu/story/2026-08/incoming-2026-27-bkc-fellows
• Application Tracker instructions for that call (closed): https://cyber.harvard.edu/getinvolved/fellowships/apptracker-instruction-page
• Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, 1557 Massachusetts Avenue, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138
• Phone: (617) 495-7547 — Email: [email protected]

The figures, dates, priorities, and requirements above describe the closed 2026/2026–2027 call. If BKC publishes another annual call, use its own announcement and linked instructions as the authority. This page preserves the prior cycle’s actual deadline and application terms for reference.