HMS Office of Scholarly Engagement (OSE) offers partial funding to MD students who seek to present their work at academic or professional conferences. If the conference occurs during class or clerkship time, your instructor(s) must approve the absence.

Funding Overview

Effective for the 2025-26 academic year:

Students may apply for up to $300 to defray conference registration fees over their time at HMS.

Students must apply at least one month prior to the start of their conference(s). Students may submit a single request for $300 or multiple requests that total up to $300.

Purchases should be made up front and in the student’s name. Save original registration receipt(s) for reimbursement. Funding is provided after you return and submit required documentation following the instruction provided below.

Eligibility

Your presentation must be related to work you have done while at HMS and you must be officially accepted to present a talk, abstract, or poster at the conference.

Graduating students cannot apply for funding for conferences occurring after May 5th of their graduating year.

Funding is not available for academic or professional conferences hosted at Harvard University.

Application & Deadline

Deadline: At least one month prior to the conference start date, the following items must be submitted to ose@hms.harvard.edu:

  • Online application for OSE conference funding
  • Official confirmation of acceptance of your paper, poster, or talk.
  • The registration fee amount and proof that other funding sources you have secured or plan to secure will not cover that registration fee. You must note the names and amounts of other travel grants you were awarded or still expect to receive.
  • Your mentor’s endorsement of your OSE funding application, which should include a short description of their involvement and supervision of the project you are working on.

Retroactive funding requests will not be considered.

Once Approved

Submit the following to ose@hms.harvard.edu within 30 days of the conference end date:

  • Your presentation as a PDF.
  • Proof of attendance: Either a photo of you in front of your conference presentation and/or the conference sign or a photo of your conference name tag.
  • Original and/or electronic receipt for the conference registration fee. The receipt must show the date of purchase, amount paid, what was purchased, and method of payment. If you are unable to locate a qualifying receipt, send a copy of your purchase history and/or bank statement showing your name, date, last four digits of the account number, and the conference-related purchase.

Required : You must disclose other funding sources you have secured or plan to secure for this conference. If you receive other funding, report the source, award amount, and what the other funding is paying for. OSE will consider this when finalizing your stipend.

Stipends will be paid approximately 60 days after receipt of all requested documentation. The stipend is considered taxable income; some foreign students may have US taxes withheld.