Katharine H. Putnam Fellowships in Plant Science
Katharine H. Putnam Fellowships in Plant Science support early-career scientists' independent research using the Arboretum's living woody plant collections to advance knowledge of the plant kingdom.
Funder: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Due Dates: January 11, 2027 (Application) | January 18, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET (Recommendation letters)
Funding Amounts: $83,000 annual salary plus up to $10,000 annually for professional expenses over two years
Summary: Supports early-career scientists conducting independent plant science research using the Arnold Arboretum’s living collections of woody plants.
Key Information: Fellows must be in full-time residence at the Arboretum in Boston during their two-year tenure.
Description
The Katharine H. Putnam Fellowships support original, independent basic and applied plant science research at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. The program aims to expand scientific use of the Arboretum’s living collections and stimulate their use across the wider research community. Past fellows have studied evolutionary biology, taxonomy and systematics, molecular and developmental biology, physiological ecology, propagation, and interactions between plants and insects or pathogens.
The Arboretum offers extensively documented collections of temperate woody plants, with the floras of China, Japan, and Korea particularly well represented. Fellows work as independent postdoctoral scholars with access to shared laboratories, equipment, office and research space, and the broader Harvard research community. Alongside their research, they contribute to institutional education and outreach.
