Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice

The Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice send midcareer health policy professionals to the United States for up to a year of internationally comparative work. They are run by The Commonwealth Fund, a health care foundation in New York, which started the programme in 1925 as a reverse Rhodes Scholarship; it is the foundation’s longest-running initiative. Each round is open to established residents of nine countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Fund staff match every fellow with a US mentor and a host institution — a university, think tank, health care organisation or government agency — where the fellow carries out a self-proposed project in the Fund’s areas of interest: health insurance coverage, access to care, the quality and efficiency of care delivery, and health equity. Alongside the research, fellows attend seminars on US federal and state health policy, communications and leadership, join biweekly virtual meetings with their cohort, and present their findings at a final reporting meeting.

Benefits & funding

An award of up to 130,000 USD covering the fellowship year.
A fixed monthly living stipend of about 8,500 USD.
Roundtrip airfare to the United States, plus setup and shipping allowances for the move.
Dedicated research funding: project-related travel, case studies, conferences and research expenses, and project support in the home country where applicable.
Travel to the programme’s seminars — orientation, the international symposium, the Washington briefing, final reporting, and the AcademyHealth meeting.
An institutional allowance paid towards the US mentor placement.
Health insurance while in the United States, and payment of US federal and state withholding taxes.
A family supplement of roughly 60,000 USD for a partner and children under 18, covering their airfare, living allowance and health insurance.
Fellows may instead arrange paid leave from their home institution to keep their existing income; where an employer covers only part of the salary, the Fund can add a monthly supplement.

Eligibility

Established residents of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore or the United Kingdom.
Eligible to receive a J-1 Research Scholar visa.
Midcareer professionals with demonstrated expertise in health policy and a track record of informing it through research, policy analysis, care delivery or clinical leadership.
Significant promise as a policy-oriented health care leader. Fellows come from government and policy, health services research, clinical practice, health care management and journalism, among other backgrounds.
A proposed research project relevant to both the United States and the applicant’s own country, focused on creating policy or system-level change, with education and work experience suited to it.
Committed to continuing their career in the country they apply from.
No age requirement or age limit applies.
The fellowship cannot be undertaken alongside another programme and cannot support study towards an academic degree.

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Australia · Canada · France · Germany · Netherlands · New Zealand · Norway · Singapore · UK

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Application process

1
Register on the Harkness application portal and open an application for the round; the 2027–28 application opened on 1 June 2026.
2
Prepare a statement of professional objectives and a curriculum vitae.
3
Write a preliminary project proposal of up to five pages, excluding references.
4
Arrange three letters of reference: one institutional or organisational reference and two professional references.
5
Select three examples of work product — journal articles, reports or writing samples.
6
Submit the application by 1 November 2026.
7
Commonwealth Fund staff and country-specific expert panels review applications and draw up a shortlist based on qualifications, leadership potential, commitment to improving health care, the quality and policy relevance of the project, and the strength of the reference letters.
8
Shortlisted applicants are interviewed, either virtually or in person in the city designated for their country.
9
Selected fellows arrive in the United States in mid-to-late August or early September 2027 and stay between 10 and 12 months.

Program timeline

1 June 2026
applications open for the 2027–28 fellowship
application deadline
1 November 2026
After the deadline
review by Commonwealth Fund staff and country expert panels, then interviews for shortlisted applicants
fellows arrive in the United States
Mid-to-late August or early September 2027
10 to 12 months after arrival
the fellowship ends, following the final reporting seminar