John K. F. Irving AB ’83, MBA ’89 and Anne Irving Oxley established the John E. Irving Dean’s Innovation Fund in 2013 to honor the legacy of their father, John E. (Jack) Irving, and support the tradition of outstanding teaching and innovation at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

2024-2025 Overview

The Irving Innovation Fellowship offers students graduating with GSD master’s degrees an opportunity to extend their research and discovery in design, architecture, urban planning and design, and landscape architecture and continue contributing to the school’s pedagogy and dialogue.

Number of Fellowships: 1

Theme: Material Investigations

Description: Continuing a two-year thematic focus that began in 2023, the 2024-2025 Irving Innovation Fellowship is again dedicated to Material Investigations. The topic is conceived broadly to encompass a wide field of inquiry and concerns. The fellow will work with faculty advisors to advance exploration and discourse on materials across disciplines, practices, and programs. The current Irving Innovation Fellow, Amelia Gan MDes ‘23, has built a strong relationship with Loeb Library’s Materials Collection and is convening materials researchers at the GSD in the spring of 2024. While continued work with the Materials Collection is desirable, current efforts do not dictate or restrict research opportunities for 2024-2025.

Applicants should explain how they would engage with a selection or combination of the below areas for investigation. We encourage a range of experimental and analytical studies that produce tangible and non-tangible outcomes. This might involve hands-on work in the FabLab, the Library’s Materials Collection, archival research, or collaboration with the rich ecosystem of materials science at Harvard.

Material Investigations

Performance and Lifecycle of Materials

How can we investigate and minimize the full environmental impacts of materials by making sustainable design choices across the lifecycle, from extraction to reuse and adaptation? How can we address growing material uncertainties by pushing the development of renewables, biomaterials, and novel processes?

Smart and Augmented Materials

How can we leverage smart and augmented materials in understanding and improving the functionality and performance of designs—across the senses, scales, design fields, and products?

Culture and History of Materials

How do the use, value, choice, and perception of materials differ across cultures and time? How can the culture and history of materials be thoughtfully incorporated to create more meaningful designs?

Expression and Aesthetics of Materials

How can we qualify and/or quantify the expressive and aesthetic attributes of materials and their impact on experience and place?

Details

Eligibility

GSD master’s degree students graduating during the 2023/2024 academic year are invited to apply. Candidates must be authorized to work in the US and are responsible for securing a work authorization (e.g., OPT) if applicable. The GSD is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

Duration

September ‘24 through May ‘25 (9 months)

Salary and Funding

$5,258/month for 30 hours per week for AY2024-2025, plus benefits. The fellow will be paid on the monthly faculty payroll. In addition, the fellow will be provided a $2,000 research fund for fellowship-related expenses.

Residence

The fellow is expected to reside within commuting distance from the GSD campus in Cambridge, MA, for the duration of the fellowship and be a part of the GSD’s in-person academic community. The position is eligible for remote work as arranged with the fellow’s supervisor/s.

Title and Appointment

The fellow will be internally appointed as a Research Associate (non-faculty academic appointment), and their official title will be “Irving Innovation Fellow and Materials Research Associate.”

Supervision/Mentoring

The fellow receives mentorship and meets regularly with members of the Fellowship Committee and other collaborators from the GSD and across Harvard University.

Outputs/Deliverables

Deliverables such as models, reports, presentations, exhibitions, public talk, etc. are at the discretion of the fellow’s supervisor/s and in consultation with the department chairs and the dean. Additionally, the fellow is required to provide information to the Communications department for a news feature on the GSD website.

Workspace

The fellow will be given desk space either in the studio areas (trays/485 Broadway) or in a shared office.

Applications

Process

Applications are accepted via online submission. The Fellowship Committee reviews all applications, interviews finalists, and recommends candidates to the Dean before an offer is extended.

Applications for the 2024-2025 Fellowship will open on CREATE on Tuesday, February 27.

Timeline

  • Submission due date: March 25, 2024
  • Interviews: mid-April 2024
  • Offer: late April/early May 2024

Materials

  • Letter of interest (include name, degree program, GSD and permanent email addresses) with a brief overview of your background and explanation of why you would be a good fit for next year’s fellowship theme (up to 2 pages)
  • Current curriculum vitae
  • Digital portfolio of relevant work (up to 10 pages)
  • Contact information for three references who will be contacted after the initial review of application materials.

Basic Qualifications

  • Demonstrated interest, initiative, and experience related to materials in design
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate with sensitivity and respect among diverse constituencies
  • Initiative and independence: ability to prioritize and execute multiple tasks and meet deadlines
  • Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, time management, and project management skills
  • Solid communication skills, both verbal and visual
  • Ability to handle sensitive, complex, confidential information with discretion
  • Strong skills in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Current & Past Irving Innovation Fellows

AY2024: Amelia Gan

AY2023: Laier-Rayshon Smith

AY2022: Alia Bader, Alex Yueyan Li, Sheng Zhao; Irving Instructional Technology Fellows are Jon Gregurick, Esesua Ikpefan, Kevin Liu, and Blake Mitchell

AY2021: Sarah Fayad, Isabella Frontado, Gia Jung, Ian Miley

AY2020: Inés Benítez Gómez, Mark Heller, Evan Shieh, John Wagner

AY2019: Ernest Haines, Hyojin Kwon, Enrique Aureng Silva, Youngjin Song (extended from AY2018)

AY2018: Xun Liu, Zahra Safaverdi, Caroline Smith, Youngjin Song

AY2017: Iman Fayyad and Alex Timmer