2026 Schmidt Science Fellows

Program description

The Schmidt Science Fellows program provides the world’s best emerging scientists with new skills and perspectives to develop novel solutions to society’s challenges, become scientific and societal thought leaders, and accelerate ground-breaking discoveries. The Fellowship enables the world’s best-emerging scientists to pivot from their PhD discipline and pursue their goals through bold interdisciplinary research.

Fellows pursue a postdoctoral placement at a world-class research environment that provides optimal support to develop their interdisciplinary science. They join the vibrant, lifelong community at the heart of Schmidt Science Fellows. Fellows benefit from one-to-one mentoring with the experienced and internationally accomplished senior interdisciplinary scientists, and accelerate their personal and professional development through the Science Leadership Program. Fellows will build the skills, experience, and networks necessary to become interdisciplinary science leaders. Schmidt Sciences is committed to equality of opportunity for all candidates.

As Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine can collectively nominate 7 students for this competition, we are having an internal competition for prospective candidates. Please see details below.

Key Dates and Deadlines

• Internal Cornell competition deadline: Friday, 03/21/2025, submitted here: https://weillcornell.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_77n0GqIkeWHptsi 

Evaluation Criteria

The Schmidt Science Fellows program is looking for:

• Brilliant minds in natural sciences, math, engineering, and computing with a commitment to interdisciplinary science.
• Curious and creative scientists who are interested in broadening their horizons by pivoting away from their PhD research area and pursuing a challenging and rewarding period of study in an alternative research discipline with world-leading scientists.
• Academically excellent, risk-positive, early-career researchers who can demonstrate a commitment to ambitious, high-impact science.
• Future leaders with the potential and character to lead teams and unlock transformative discoveries in the future.
• Talented individuals from a wide range of scientific disciplines who are motivated to increase the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration.

About the Disciplinary Pivot

• *The Interdisciplinary Pivot** The shift in research focus or interdisciplinary pivot is central to the program's mission. The pivot should enable a Fellow to achieve a scientific goal that is not possible while continuing their current course, allowing them to overcome a scientific challenge using different approaches or perspectives. Schmidt is not interested in funding an extension of current or previous work, or incremental steps from graduate research.

  • Proposals requiring candidates to immerse themselves fully in a new discipline from their current expertise and to address different or broader questions than those posed during their PhD are aligned most closely with our Program and will be valued most highly.
  • Proposals with less ambitious changes in discipline and application are valued less.
  • Proposals in sub-disciplines closely related to the PhD are not acceptable, even if there is a large change in the application area.
  • We do not allow proposals that represent an incremental or logical progression from your PhD or those which attempt to cover multiple disciplines where only a superficial understanding of each new area is likely to be gained.
  • Proposed pivots must be to the natural sciences (Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Sciences), Engineering, Mathematics, or Computing or any sub-disciplines of these subjects.
  • Pivots to the Social Sciences are outside the scope of the Schmidt Science Fellowship. Applications proposing a pivot into the Social Sciences are not eligible.
  • Visit the program resources webpage here for additional guidance.