Outside Fellowships & Activities

Outside Fellowships

It is the student’s responsibility to keep the Doctoral Programs office informed about any additional awards, grants, or funds a student is awarded, or any non-Harvard employment in which they are engaged. All students receiving outside fellowships are required to provide documentation to the Programs office describing the terms and conditions of the fellowship. Failure to report outside funding may result in a student’s HBS stipend being retroactively reduced.

HBS student stipend payments will not be impacted by outside awards and fellowships not considered to be "full support" scholarships. For example, if a student receives a $5,000 grant from a private foundation to facilitate their research, they will be allowed to take the full grant, plus 100% of their HBS stipend.

In the case of outside awards and fellowships intended to provide "full support," i.e. intended to cover living expenses, housing costs, tuition, and/or health fees, of which the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is the most common example, HBS does not provide a full HBS stipend in addition to the award. In cases of “full support” fellowships, the HBS stipend will be reduced by an amount equal to 60% of the outside funding. For example, if a student receives an outside full support grant of $20,000, the HBS stipend will be reduced by 60% of the $20,000, or $12,000.

Outside Activities

Outside activities refer to any work that a student undertakes outside of the doctoral program, including without limitation: paid work; start-up ventures that may or may not be paid; and unpaid work. Outside activities can present a conflict of commitment as they create an impediment to timely completion of the HBS doctoral program, which is designed as a full-time residency program. Some outside activities also may present a conflict of interest with the student’s research. For these reasons, outside activities are reviewed carefully by the program. This policy will discuss three types of outside activities: outside employment, teaching activities, and research assistantships.

Doctoral students who receive funding from HBS are required to file an Outside Activity Approval Form and receive approval for all outside activities prior to commencing any such activity.

Students not complying with this policy will receive a letter outlining the violation and may be subject to disciplinary consequences up to an including withdrawal from the program. At a minimum, students who are out of compliance with this policy will be considered not in good academic standing and will have to address the violation in order to regain good academic standing. 

Outside Employment

Outside employment includes any employment, paid or unpaid, including for start-up ventures, that takes place during the academic year or the summer and is not directly related to the student’s teaching and research. Such employment may make demands on a student’s time and mental labor that impede the timely completion of the program and/or may jeopardize the independence of a student’s research. In most circumstances, students are not permitted to take on outside employment.

Exception: Outside activities that are helpful to the student's research

The program recognizes, however, that certain outside activities may be helpful to a student's scholarly research. Students who believe their activities fall within this category must request approval from the program using the Outside Activity Approval Form (pdf) and may not accept employment unless they have received the program’s approval.

Once a student has approval, the student must check with the Doctoral Programs Office to determine if the outside work will violate the terms of their fellowship. Failure to report outside funding may result in a student’s HBS stipend being retroactively reduced. If a student is receiving payment from an outside employer that is greater than their total monthly stipend from HBS, then HBS may pause stipend payment during the time of their employment. For example, if a student works full time at a financial services firm for 10 weeks in the summer and is paid as a summer intern, then the student will not receive a stipend during the months of June, July and August. In some cases, students may conduct work and maintain eligibility for a stipend. For example, if a student is hired as an hourly employee at a government office for research purposes and is working a few hours a week, then the student may be able to keep both their stipend and compensation. Final decisions regarding how a student’s outside employment may affect the student’s stipend will be made by the Doctoral Programs Office

Exception: Outside employment that is short term or requires limited hours

In limited circumstances, students may be permitted to take on outside employment; examples include a short-term editing or programming project, fitness instruction, or other hourly employment that requires very few hours per week. When the work does not present a potential conflict of interest or commitment and is limited in nature and duration, generally requiring less than 5 hours per week or less than 2 weeks total, then students may not need to seek approval from the Doctoral Programs Office, but should check with the Doctoral Programs Office to confirm.

Teaching Activities, including Grading and Tutoring

Teaching activities are defined as the following:

  • Teaching, where the student is the primary instructor

  • Teaching Assistant, where the student is supporting a faculty instructor

  • Grading, where the student is grading course papers or exams only

  • Tutoring, where the student is hired by an individual or a department to provide individual or group support to other students

While HBS doctoral students must teach or assist with teaching in a formally offered course for one full academic term, they must file the Outside Activity Approval Form (pdf) and receive approval from the program if they wish to engage in teaching activities in an additional term. Students should refer to the program requirements for complete details regarding the teaching requirement. Students should receive pay for teaching activities, unless the student is receiving MBA course credits as part of the work.

Students may teach with advisor and Doctoral Office permission. While teaching, like other outside employment activities, can be an impediment to timely completion of the program, students in good standing typically will be approved for additional teaching activities.

Research Assistantships (RA)

Doctoral students are required to conduct research in order to meet program requirements, including but not limited to dissertations. In some fields, students will co-author papers with faculty to meet some program requirements and to develop a pipeline of research papers for their future academic careers.

In rare circumstances, students may be employed as an RA at Harvard, but only when a student is employed by a faculty member, team, or lab to conduct research that will not lead either to the student’s obtaining co-authorship on a paper; or to the student’s accomplishment of a program requirement.

Students should discuss RA opportunities with their advisor, faculty chair/coordinator, and/or the Doctoral Programs Office before accepting employment. Students must complete an Outside Activity Approval Form (pdf) and must obtain approval from the Doctoral Programs Office prior to starting any work. Students are strongly encouraged not to take on RA work without due diligence, as RA work can be a significant impediment to the timely completion of the program.