The deadline for the 2024 – 2025 Fellowship has now passed. We are no longer accepting applications for this cycle.
TIMELINE
- Applications due May 30
- Decisions June 30
- Fellowship begins Sept 1, 2024
CRITERIA FOR FELLOW SECTION INCLUDE:
- Applicant’s work aligns with the Center’s guiding values and approaches: youth-centered, equity-focused, and/or embodies critical optimism about tech
- Areas of expertise and interests complement and extend beyond those of the Center’s current research and resources (see digitalthriving.gse.harvard.edu).
- Engaged with emerging topics of relevance for thriving in a tech-filled world (e.g., generative AI, violent content exposure, social comparison, grief, play, joy, belonging, connection, agency)
- Fellows’ individual identities enrich diversity of perspectives at the Center and/or represent identities beyond those of the Center’s core team
REQUIREMENTS
- A current resume or C.V.
- A personal statement that responds to the following three questions. Your statement can take the form of a written statement OR a short video. Regardless of format, responses to each question should be approximately 200-500 (text or spoken) words; the personal statement should not exceed 2000 words total.
- Describe your professional background and expertise. Tell us about how your personal background and identities inform your work.
- Describe the project you propose to carry out during a fellowship year.
- Outline the approach you will take or methods you will use to complete the proposed project.
- Explain who your work serves or will serve.
- Describe your hoped-for impact and what success might look like.
- Why is the Center for Digital Thriving the right place for you to do this work? Please share thoughts on how your work connects with the Center for Digital Thriving’s mission, guiding values, and/or approaches.
- Please attach 1 – 3 work samples that are relevant to the proposed project and demonstrate your strengths, values, and the essence of your work. Samples might include written work (e.g., articles, op-eds), a podcast, a public presentation, art work, resource or tool.
frequently asked questions
We appreciate the many questions that have rolled in regarding our Digital Thriving Fellows Program. We created this FAQ to respond to common questions.
First, it’s important to note that we are a very new Center and that this is a brand new Fellows program! We expect to learn a lot across our inaugural year. There’s definitely a spirit of building the ship as we sail it and leaning into learning. We anticipate that the Fellows program scope and eligibility criteria will evolve in new directions after this inaugural year. Thank you for your patience as we learn and grow.
Without further ado, here are our current responses to frequently asked questions:
Fellows Cohort
How large will the Fellows cohort be?
We expect that our inaugural cohort will include up to 3 – 4 Fellows (including 2 – 3 funded Fellows and 1 – 2 additional Fellows who bring their own funding).
Eligibility
Are students eligible to apply?
Individuals who are current, full-time students at the undergraduate or graduate levels are not eligible to apply at this time. Part-time students may be eligible, depending on the circumstances; please reach out for more information.
Can individuals based outside the U.S. participate?
We have aspirations to expand the program in the future but, at this time, the program is limited to U.S. residents and projects based in the U.S.
Does the fellowship support projects done outside of the U.S.? (I will be based in the U.S. but would like to work internationally.)
At this time, the program is limited to projects being carried out in the U.S.
Will eligibility for the program be expanded to those outside of the U.S. in the future?
Expansion of the program to those outside the U.S. is definitely an aspiration. At this time, we cannot be definitive about if or when this aspiration will be realized.
Does the fellowship program fill the “working” requirement for Optional Practical Training (OPT)? I have an F-1 visa extension for one year; am I eligible for the fellowship?
The program as it is currently conceived would not fulfill the working requirement for an OPT.
If I’m not currently eligible, how can I connect with the Center for Digital Thriving?
We host Open Lab meetings several times a semester where we invite people to engage directly and talk more about our active projects – you can sign-up here for our newsletter where we share Open Lab dates and times.
Our team is conducting listening sessions right now to learn more about how people think about digital thriving in their own lives and work, as well as how we can support it. These sessions are part of an active research project, so we’d love to invite your perspective if it’s of interest. These sessions are not designed to start collaborations or to share more about the Center specifically. You can learn more about the listening tour on our website, or sign up here.
We periodically post opportunities for regular staff positions with the Center. We post these opportunities on the Harvard employment site and spread the word via our LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter/X accounts.
Is the program only eligible to individuals, or can my colleagues and I apply as a team?
The Fellowship program is designed for individuals and not teams. If you plan to carry out a project with support from one or more colleagues, one application should be submitted and, if accepted, one person on your team would need to represent the project as the Fellow.
Expectations of Fellows
What is the expected time commitment for Fellows?
We expect that Fellows will allocate meaningful time to their projects across the fellowship year. We won’t be setting a specific expectation in terms of hours per week. We recommend that Fellows think about this as part-time work that could be balanced with another role (e.g., part-time employee at an organization).
In terms of meeting expectations, we expect Fellows to:
- Participate in remote meetings with the Center team and Fellows cohort at least once a month.
- Travel to Cambridge 1 – 2 times during their fellowship term for in-person convenings (2-3 days in length). We expect that the first convening will be in the fall of 2024 (likely October).
What are the expectations for deliverables?
Fellows are expected to:
- Make their work-in-progress visible to others via at least one public presentation to a key audience at a relevant venue (e.g., K-12 school, university, professional conference, tech company) during their fellowship term.
- Develop at least one translational, public-facing resource or “product” (e.g., publishable report/paper, curriculum/course, publication, podcast, campaign, design framework, app, convening, curriculum/course module, youth-centered program) based on their project.
- Share progress reports roughly at the midpoint and conclusion of their fellowship, as well as one year later.
About the Selection Criteria & Application
How will you assess applications?
Four criteria will guide our initial review of applications:
- Work is *youth-centered, equity-focused, and/or embodies critical optimism about tech
- Addresses emerging topics of relevance for digital thriving (e.g., generative AI, violent content exposure, social comparison, grief, play, joy, belonging, connection, agency)
- Fellows’ identities enrich Center diversity
- Topics complement & extend the *current work being carried out at the Center for Digital Thriving
*See further details below.
What do you mean by youth-centered work?
By youth-centered, we mean that the proposed project has relevance for and/or is aimed at supporting young people. (This plays out in our work as we partner with young people on an ongoing basis in our research and co-design activities.)
What age range do you have in mind for what constitutes youth?
From birth through young adulthood (ages 0 – 20s).
What do you mean by equity-focused work?
Work that is carried out with and for groups that have been historically underrepresented or systematically ignored. (This plays out in our own work as we carry out our research and co-design activities with youth from different contexts, backgrounds, and identities — paying special attention to the perspectives of youth with distinct strengths and vulnerabilities, including histories of marginalization.)
What do you mean by critical optimism?
This term reflects the belief that:
- There are benefits as well as harms associated with a tech-filled world that require critical attention on the part of researchers, educators, policymakers, tech designers, and others.
- We see power in solutions-minded, future-oriented, & genuinely hopeful approaches to technology and youth well-being.
What is the current work underway at the Center for Digital Thriving?
Our current work includes both research and resource development activities.
On the research side, we are conducting a listening tour about digital thriving and a study about adolescents’ perspectives on “grinds,” burnout, & protective practices. We are also directly supporting research being led by colleagues, including a) a study of the impacts for youth well-being of new state legislation restricting social media access and b) a randomized controlled trial of the impact of digital well-being resources. We have a project on youth and generative AI in its beginning stages, too.
On the resource development side, our team is developing an educator professional development course, designing new Digital Well-Being resources for parents and for schools (with Common Sense Education), and co-developing a Youth Co-Interpretation Methods Playbook (in collaboration with Hope Lab and Character Lab). Across our core work, we collaborate with youth, educators, clinical psychologists, and other practitioners whose work is relevant to the mission of thriving in a tech-filled world.
Do you have a preference on the stage of a project or product (e.g., early/idea stage vs. building on an existing project/product) that a Fellowship would support?
We don’t have a preference at this point!
Can the application be hybrid video-written, i.e., some of the answers written and others answers in video?
Yes.
Will the selection process involve an interview?
Depending on the pool of finalists, we may conduct interviews in order to support our final decisions. If we do so, this will likely happen the week of June 17.
Could I attach Letters of Support to the Digital Thriving Fellowship application?
Yes.
Who should I contact with more specific questions about my eligibility or application?
Please email us with more specific questions at digitalthriving@gse.harvard.edu.
