HBNU Eligibility & Application Process

• Must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• Must be enrolled in an accredited doctoral-level program (MD, PhD, or equivalent) in public health, government, business, design, engineering, education, medicine, nutrition, law, pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, or nursing.
  
  Health-professional students (e.g., MD, DDS, etc.) who wish to interrupt their studies for a year or more to engage in full-time research training before completing their formal training programs are also eligible. Health professional students must submit a letter of commitment to demonstrate their ability to interrupt their clinical studies for at least 1 year to engage full time in this program.
• Must be available to dedicate 40 hours per week to the research fellowship for 11-12 months at the international site, beginning in July. Note that you must be able to train in the LMIC for 11 to 12 consecutive months during the fellowship. If you have a unique situation that makes that impossible, please discuss with the HBNU administrative team before applying to the program.
  
  Note: U.S. applicants affiliated with universities that are not part of an FIC Global Health Program Consortium (HBNU, GloCal, GHES, UJMT, NPGH, ACHIEVE, INSIGHT) are welcome to apply through this consortium. Applicants who are affiliated with a university that is part of an FIC Global Health Program Consortium should apply through their university’s consortium.

• Must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• Must have received, as of the beginning date of the training period, a PhD, MD, DDS, or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited institution. Comparable doctoral degrees include, but are not limited to, the following: DMD, DC, DO, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, DPT, PharmD, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), DSW, PsyD, as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research.
• Must be available to dedicate 40 hours per week to the research fellowship for 11-12 months at the international site, beginning in July.
  
  Note: U.S. applicants affiliated with universities that are not part of an FIC Global Health Program Consortium (HBNU, GloCal, GHES, UJMT, NPGH, ACHIEVE, INSIGHT) are welcome to apply through this consortium. Applicants who are affiliated with a university that is part of an FIC Global Health Program Consortium should apply through their university’s consortium.

• Must be citizens or permanent residents of one of HBNU’s collaborating LMICs. LMIC postdocs must also be affiliated with the site of their proposed research project. At this time, only citizens/permanent residents of HBNU’s collaborating LMICs are eligible to apply. You must apply through and train in your home country or the LMIC site at which you are already affiliated; you cannot train in a different LMIC country.  If your country is not one of the LMICs listed on HBNU’s website, we encourage you to explore the sites that are affiliated with one of the other FIC LAUNCH Consortia.
• Must have received, as of the beginning date of the training period, a PhD, MD, DDS, or comparable doctoral degree from an accredited institution. Comparable doctoral degrees include, but are not limited to, the following: DMD, DC, DO, DVM, OD, DPM, ScD, EngD, DrPH, DNSc, DPT, PharmD, ND (Doctor of Naturopathy), DSW, PsyD, as well as a doctoral degree in nursing research. Note that you must have received the degree by the start of the training period; we cannot accept international students who are in the midst of PhD programs, even if they are enrolled in PhD programs at one of the U.S. consortium universities.
• Available to dedicate 40 hours per week to the research fellowship for 11-12 months at the international site, beginning in July.
• Available to commit to 1-2 months of training at an HBNU-affiliated site in the U.S. (Harvard University, Boston University, Northwestern University, or University of New Mexico.)  If you have a unique situation that makes that impossible, please discuss with the HBNU administrative team before applying to the program.

Note: If you are from a low-income country (per World Bank classification) that is not one of our collaborating LMICs, but you are living/working in a country that is one of our collaborating LMICs and you have an appointment/are employed by one of our collaborating LMIC sites, then you may be eligible to apply. For more information, please contact the HBNU Administrative Team. 

Prospective LMIC candidates are required to apply through and train in their home country/at the LMIC site with which they are already affiliated. At this time, the HBNU program does not have the ability to support appointments and travel between our collaborating LMIC institutions.

Prospective LMIC applicants are expected to conduct between 9-11 months of research in their home country. International/LMIC applicants are also required to spend between 1-3 months at their HBNU-affiliated U.S. institution undertaking short-term training – your HBNU U.S. mentor is an ideal resource for helping to identify worthwhile training opportunities and activities during your visit to the U.S. and you should work closely with them to develop a detailed training plan.

HBNU supports fellowships in research focus areas including but not limited to:

• Medium/high priority HIV/AIDS, as defined by NIH
• Maternal and child health and nutrition
• Noncommunicable disease
• Mental health
• HBNU will also consider research projects in other areas that align with NIH’s Institutes and Centers. A wide range of research areas are supported by HBNU.

All HBNU fellows are expected to work on their research project for 40 hours protected time per week for 12 months.

If you intend to maintain affiliation with your current employer, please ensure you submit a Letter of Commitment from your department chair or equivalent in your application materials. This letter should describe how your current workload will be reduced to provide the protected time needed to complete the program

Prospective applicants are expected to design their own research projects, but the project can be incorporated/nested within a research study that is already taking place. It is important to propose a project that will be feasible to complete with the allocated budget ($15,000) and timeline (12 months).

HBNU supports a wide range of research projects. Even if your research area is not within HIV/AIDS, Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, Noncommunicable diseases, or Mental Health, we encourage you to explore the various NIH Institutes and Centers to see if your research aligns well with their mission and research priorities.

All HBNU fellows are expected to work on their research project full-time, which is typically defined as 40 hours of protected time per week for 12 months.

HBNU partners with 21 training sites across fourteen countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. Please note that your mentors should be affiliated with your selected research site. Select your research site based on the one best suited to your research project and based on the mentor(s) whose research areas of interest most closely align with your own.

Candidates must secure the support of at least two mentors: one U.S.-based mentor from an HBNU-affiliated U.S. institution (Harvard University, Boston University, Northwestern University, University of New Mexico) and one LMIC site-based mentor.

Identify and contact a U.S.-based mentor with expertise in your research focus area from the consortium’s faculty list. Identify and contact a site mentor from our list of international training sites above. Applicants must submit a letter of support from each mentor with their fellowship application.

Candidates are welcome to have additional mentors or form a multi-mentor team based on the specific needs of their research project. However, please be sure to indicate your two primary mentors (U.S.-based and LMIC site mentor) on your application.

Please note that when reaching out to potential mentors, candidates should ensure that they provide as much detail as possible about themselves and their proposed research project (such as including their CV/NIH Biosketch and a brief overview of the research proposal).

Work with your mentors to prepare your application materials.

You can refer to the HBNU Application Requirements Document when preparing your application materials.

Check back in July 2025 for the 2026-2027 application deadline.

To apply for the program:

• Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria.
• Refer to the HBNU Application Requirements when preparing your application materials.
• If you have questions or concerns about the eligibility requirements, application process, or just want to learn more, then we encourage you to review the recording of our Info Session that was held on June 3, 2024. 
• Complete the online application.

Note: Candidates must select one FIC LAUNCH consortium to apply through. We encourage candidates to review the affiliated sites and research priorities of each consortium and to select the best program for your research interests.