Reimbursement Processes

Small Research and Conference Fellowships

Students receive set fellowships totaling $10,000 over the course of their student career which are intended for small research expenses and conference fellowships. The schedule of fellowship payments* is listed below. For incoming students, fellowships are processed on August 1. For all other students, fellowships are processed on July 1. Students must be in good standing to receive this funding.
G-Year 1: $1,500
G-Year 3: $3,000
G-Year 4: $5,500
These funds are meant to cover conference attendance, journal submissions and small research expenses (such as software not licensed through RCS and small data purchases).


Students who are approved for 6th-year funding will have the opportunity to apply for additional limited fellowships for their final year of study.

Contact Finley with any questions about your conference fellowships.

Reimbursement Process

Doctoral Research Fellowships must be used by the end of the fiscal year in which they are approved, unless otherwise specified by the Doctoral Programs Office (Fiscal Years at HBS run from July 1 – June 30). Applications may be submitted at any time during the year, after a student has received approval from the Doctoral Programs Office through the Research Fellowship Application. 

To receive reimbursement, students must submit the Research Fellowship Reimbursement Form and upload receipts no later than 60 days following completion of the trip, or from the date of purchase in the case of a single expense (such as data for research). Any expenses submitted after the 60 day actual purchase date may not be accepted.

Students will not be reimbursed for any travel until after the trip has been concluded. Research expenses may be paid out of pocket; however, students may also submit vendor invoices to the Doctoral Program Office for direct payment from their budget. Finally, students should not engage in hiring RAs without first contacting the Doctoral Office as personnel must be hired by the University. 

Each reimbursement requires proper receipts and/or accompanying documentation. Students are subject to the University reimbursements policies as indicated here; in addition, students must submit a receipt for ALL expenses and adhere to specific Doctoral Programs Office policies as indicated below. It is the student’s responsibility to provide currency exchange on each receipt. Students may use www.oanda.com/currency/converter. 

By submitting the reimbursement form, the student signifies that the information provided is accurate and that their faculty advisor is fully aware and approves the activities and/or travel conducted by the student. The Doctoral Programs Office may share reimbursement information with faculty advisors.

Reimbursable expenses that do not require an application:

  • Students should contact Research Computing Services (research@hbs.edu) in order to obtain common research software (e.g. sas, stata, matlab, spss, Nvivo). A Doctoral Programs Office fund will be charged directly, students will not be charged.

Non-reimbursable expenses are not eligible for reimbursement under any HBS Doctoral Programs policies:

  • Books

  • Magazines

  • Journal subscriptions

  • Association membership fees

  • Computer equipment/hardware

  • Expenses for local research sites (e.g. Boston metropolitan area)

Zelle Reimbursements for Fellowships

Students can receive reimbursement via Zelle bank transfer for conference/research fellowships by following the steps below.

  • Visit the Zelle Getting Started page.

  • If you have previously submitted reimbursements and are not registered in Buy 2 Pay: Email Finley to receive an invitation to register in the vendor portal.

  • If you have registered in Buy 2 Pay previously, but want to change your settings: re-access the Buy 2 Pay portal to set Zelle as your preferred method of payment.

  • If you have not previously received a reimbursement: you will automatically receive an invitation to register in Buy 2 Pay after submitting your first reimbursement request.

  • In your supplier profile: go to the Payment Information section of the registration and select "Zelle" as the preferred payment method. Read and certify the terms listed and provide the email address associated with your bank account.

  • Once you receive the payment notification email: Register to accept payment at the bottom of the email.