Schmidt Science Fellows

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Schmidt Science Fellows

Key people	Eric Schmidt Wendy Schmidt
Website	schmidtsciencefellows.org

Schmidt Science Fellows is a STEM postdoctoral fellowship awarded annually since 2018 by Schmidt Futures, in partnership with the Rhodes Trust.^[1] Former Google chairman and chief executive officer Eric Schmidt, and his wife Wendy Schmidt, fund the fellowship award.

Structure[]

Former Google chief executive office and chairman Eric Schmidt sponsors the program along with his wife Wendy Schmidt

The fellowship is supported by Schmidt Futures, the philanthropic initiative of Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt,^[2] who pledged $25 million for the first three years as part of a broader $100 million drive to fund scientific research.^[3] Twenty two fellowships were awarded in 2020, and this number is expected to grow to 40 fellowships per year with time. The Rhodes Trust acts as a central partner and coordinates the selection process, mediates with partner universities, and assists in the post-doctoral placements of fellows.^[4] The program has Dr. Megan Kenna as the executive director and Professor Sir Keith Burnett as the chair of the academic council.^[5]

The fellowship came about from a necessity to fund interdisciplinary research,^[6] which often lacks grant money. Spending 11 or more months outside their core areas of research is believed to give future scientific leaders more interdisciplinary skills.^[2]

Selection and placements[]

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The program invites a select group of the world's leading science and engineering institutions to nominate their "most exceptional" PhD students.^[7] Nominees then submit an application, consisting of a research proposal, a personal statement, current CV, and 4-7 recommendation letters.^[8] The stated selection criteria are extraordinary achievement, extraordinary degree of intelligence, scientific curiosity and innovation, collaborative spirit, leadership, and an ambition for social good.^[8] After academic screening by discipline-specific panels, a small number of finalists are invited to a final non-technical interview with leading figures from academia, business and society.

The program works with awardees to identify and secure a placement in a leading research institution that will best enable them to pursue their interdisciplinary science. Fellows receive a personal stipend of $100,000 per year. Over the course of one year, fellows undergo five weeks of convenings in scientific and technological centers, where they are provided training in leadership, management, ethics, finance, interdisciplinary science and social engagement. In the past, these convenings have been held at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Oxford; the University of Cambridge; and Imperial College London. Mentoring is provided by academic council members, who are experienced scientists with established expertise in leadership, management and team development. Upon the conclusion of the placement, senior Schmidt fellows continue to have access to these mentoring requests upon request.

See also[]

• Schmidt Family Foundation

References[]