Partnering in Education Research Program accepting applications for fellowships

The Partnering in Education Research (PIER) program is now accepting fellowship applications from first- and second-year doctoral candidates at Harvard University interested in conducting quantitative education research in partnership with school districts and state education agencies.

PIER, an interdisciplinary predoctoral program hosted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University, is funded by a $4 million, five-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. This unique fellowship is open to doctoral candidates from HGSE, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), and the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) in their first or second year of graduate study. The program plan to admit 8–10 students per year beginning their second or third year of study this fall.

“All doctoral candidates studying issues related to education — whether taking a lens that draws heavily on economics, sociology, or political science, for example — would benefit from training that focuses on conducting education research in partnership with districts and agencies,” said HGSE Professor Nonie Lesaux, who is a member of the PIER Governing Committee. “Irrespective of the career path and research strategy ultimately taken, training on how to conduct research that is partnership-based and  benefits field-facing organizations with respect to question formulation, working with large, internal datasets, and brokering the findings for action are crucial skills for the next generation of researchers focused on issues of education.