Funding Overview

HMS medical students may apply to several funding sources for research or community engagement projects carried out in the summer between year one and year two.

Funding may come from external sources or through the Office of Scholarly Engagement (OSE) for Pathways students and the London Society for Health Sciences and Technology (HST) students.

External Funding

Students should visit the External Funding page for information and are encouraged to apply for outside funding sources like professional societies and national funders. In most cases, students can apply directly to the funding sources.

Internal Funding (by curricular track)

Pathways Students

HMS Pathways medical students can apply to OSE and the student’s mentor for funding for summer projects that are a minimum of 8 weeks full-time. Students participate in a rigorous application and review process outlined below to be eligible for OSE funding.

If awarded, OSE provides a stipend of $1250/month. Mentors are expected to match the funding that OSE can provide.

Matching Funding Expectation: Mentors should acknowledge their funding contribution in the Mentor Agreement Form. Mentors pay their funding contribution directly to the student.

HST Students

HMS HST medical students work through the London Society to prepare your application for summer research funding.

Pathways Application Process

Apply

Pathways Students

Identify an eight week full-time summer health-related project. You may join a faculty member’s ongoing research (most common) or propose a unique project with faculty mentoring. Your project may be based in the US and abroad, and while your primary mentor may be from any institution, a Harvard advisor is required if your mentor is not from Harvard. Follow the procedures below to submit your funding proposal in the spring.

Visit Finding a Project & Mentor for advice. 

Global Health Projects

  1. By January 21, students with global health projects should complete the Application for Summer Funding.
  2. In January and February, students will meet with the chairperson of the Faculty Committee on Global Health.
  3. In Spring 2025, students will also participate in a seminar series on carrying out global health work abroad.
  4. By March 1,  your mentor must complete the Mentor Agreement Form
  5. By March 1, email to ose@hms.harvard.edu  your Project Proposal (Follow the Summer Funding Proposal Instructions)

United States-Based Projects 
Due by March 31:

  1. Students will submit their proposal in the Application for Summer Funding (Follow the Summer Funding Proposal Instructions)  
  2. Your mentor must complete the Mentor Agreement Form

Your proposal will be reviewed by OSE faculty. The OSE will notify you if you need to make revisions to your proposal. We aim to have all proposals reviewed by May 1st. 

No late applications will be accepted.

After Approval

Once your proposal is approved, OSE will you send a formal award letter with a payment schedule for your funding. Funding is disbursed in two installments over the summer. 

Make sure that your mailing address in my.harvard is up to date throughout the summer and fall.  Your first stipend payment will be mailed to you and you will be invited to set up direct deposit for future payments.

OSE awards are not transferable.  If your project significantly changes (i.e. scope, mentor, location, duration, etc.) , you need to seek OSE’s approval to continue funding.  If there are any changes to your project and you do not inform us, your award may be rescinded. 

Whenever appropriate, cite your HMS funding with this wording, “Supported in part by the Office of Scholarly Engagement, Program in Medical Education, Harvard Medical School.”

Post-Summer Reflection & Abstract Requirements

All students who receive OSE funding must submit:

  1. By August 15, complete the Summer Funding Reflection form.
  2. By January 31, submit an abstract on their funded project for the annual Soma Weiss Student Research Day. Abstract submission forms are sent in the fall. Your mentor must review and approve this abstract.

Abstract

Students who received OSE funding must submit a scholarly abstract on their funded project by January 31 using the abstract submission form. Information on abstract writing is on the internal Soma Weiss Student Research Day site. All medical and dental students who carried out research or service projects while at HMS are invited to submit a scholarly abstract.

If you have any questions, contact the staff at ose@hms.harvard.edu.

An Option: Summer Research to Scholarly Project

Your summer research is intended to be a time of inquiry and discovery. You are not required to make your summer project the basis of your scholarly project. You will have time in the post-PCE years to identify and carry out a scholarly project.

Nevertheless, if you want to make your summer project your scholarly project, you can declare that formally at any time in year 1 or 2 by submitting an updated proposal to scholarsinmedicine@hms.harvard.edu. Using track changes, note in your proposal if there are any changes such as mentor, aims, methods, or deliverables. Update the timeline of when you will be working on the scholarly project. Make sure your IRB approval covers you during the extended timeline you propose.

In rare cases, students who carried out an OSE-funded summer research project might have a manuscript accepted or published by their PCE year or post-PCE year. That manuscript or publication can become part of the student’s scholarly report. In these circumstances, we encourage you to submit your scholarly report early and not wait until your graduation year. Scholarly report writing instructions