Sargent Award for Visiting Scholars
Sargent Award for Visiting Scholars supports visiting botanical researchers in using the Arnold Arboretum’s living, library, and herbarium collections to advance original research and scholarly exchange.
This grant was recently updated
The application window changed from November 5–February 1 to November 15–January 25; recommendation letters are now due by the application deadline rather than February 1. A single application covers multiple Arboretum awards; designate a primary award and tailor your research statement to its requirements.
Funder: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Due Dates: November 15, 2026 (Applications open) | January 25, 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to $7,000 for research and/or travel expenses
Summary: Supports visiting scholars conducting original botanical research using the Arnold Arboretum’s living, library, and/or herbarium collections.
Key Information: Proposed research must use the Arboretum’s collections.
Description
The Sargent Award for Visiting Scholars supports original research in the botanical sciences at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. The award connects visiting scholars with the Arboretum’s living, library, and herbarium collections, fostering collegial exchanges and partnerships while demonstrating the collections’ research value.
The Arboretum offers exceptional resources for woody plant research. Its living collection comprises approximately 15,000 plants and is among the world’s most thoroughly documented collections of temperate woody plants, with particularly strong representation from China, Japan, and Korea. Complementary resources include the Harvard Botanical Library’s 250,000 volumes and more than five million specimens in the Harvard University Herbaria.
