The Harvard Center for International Development (CID) is a research center working across the University and a global network of researchers and practitioners to build an international pool of talent, convene academic and practitioner networks, and deploy breakthrough research to address the world’s most pressing challenges. At CID, we believe that together we can design and implement policies that help everyone realize their full potential. CID is housed at Harvard Kennedy School.
Spotlight
CID is pleased to welcome a distinguished new cohort of fellows for the 2025 academic year. Fellows bring a wealth of global experience and diverse perspectives that strengthen CID’s research, teaching, and engagement with real-world development challenges.
"We’re doing it in a way that involves impacted communities from the start; we’re investing in world-class research and local expertise in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, all over the world...to co-create knowledge and design policy."
Attention Harvard students! Our non-credit CID Student Seminars are accepting applications. These seminars meet regularly during the semester to connect students with leading international development practitioners who navigate critical, cross-cutting topics within their fields.
We stand at an inflection point for both international development and U.S. higher education—one where the choices made now will shape global prosperity and knowledge for decades to come. Read how CID decisively pivoted during the 2024–2025 academic year to meet this new era.
Research Themes
Business, Firms, & Finance
Unlocking how inclusive business ecosystems and financial systems drive growth, innovation, and opportunity.
Climate & Energy
Exploring solutions to decouple growth from environmental harm and build resilient, low-carbon economies.
Conflict, Peace, & Security
Investigating the root causes of violence and pathways to peace, stability, and inclusive development.
Culture, Institutions, & History
Understanding how cultural norms, institutions, and historical legacies shape today’s development outcomes.
Education & Human Development
Advancing equitable, high-quality education and lifelong learning to unlock human potential around the world.
Gender & Inclusion
Generating insights into how identity-based inequalities form—and how policies can foster equity and representation.
Governance, Political Economy, & Public Management
Examining how political institutions, public policy, and civic engagement shape effective, accountable governance.
Health & Wellbeing
Designing evidence-based solutions to strengthen health systems and reduce global disparities in wellbeing.
Labor & Urban Economics
Analyzing labor markets, mobility, and urban growth to promote inclusive, equitable cities and employment systems.
Social Welfare & Public Finance
Studying how smart public spending, taxation, and welfare systems can reduce inequality and boost resilience.
Technology & Data Science
Harnessing AI, big data, and digital innovation to solve complex development challenges at scale.
Trade, Growth, & Regional Economics
Exploring how trade, regional integration, and globalization shape economic opportunity and inclusive progress.