Schmidt Science Fellows

Schmidt Science Fellows
Name	Schmidt Science Fellows
Formation	2017
Type	Fellowship
Headquarters	London
Founder	Eric Schmidt; Wendy Schmidt

Schmidt Science Fellows are an international postdoctoral fellowship program established in 2017 to support early-career researchers transitioning into interdisciplinary roles. The program seeks to accelerate scientific leadership by funding global researchers for one- to two-year fellowships that combine mentored research placements, leadership training, and networking across academic, industrial, and policy institutions. The Fellows program is associated with a broad ecosystem of universities, laboratories, and philanthropic organizations.

Background and Foundation

The program was announced after a collaboration involving philanthropists Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt, institutions such as the Innovative Research Universities and organizations linked to the Schmidt Family Foundation, with consultative input from scholars at Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Oxford University. Early advocacy and planning engaged administrators from Harvard University, Cambridge University, University of California, Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, Max Planck Society, ETH Zurich, University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore, University of Melbourne, and University of Toronto. Launch announcements referenced partnerships with research funders like the Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and policy bodies including United Nations-linked research initiatives.

Fellowship Program and Objectives

The fellowship emphasizes interdisciplinary transition, leadership development, and global research mobility connecting scholars to host institutions such as Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins University, Karolinska Institutet, EPFL, Seoul National University, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Australian National University, McGill University, Duke University, Cornell University, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, Uppsala University, Sorbonne University, Sciences Po, Fudan University, and KAIST. Program objectives align with career acceleration initiatives similar to schemes from Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Newton Fund, and national fellowships like the Fulbright Program and Rhodes Scholarship while fostering ties with innovation-focused entities such as Google, DeepMind, IBM Research, Microsoft Research, Amazon Web Services, Bayer, Roche, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, BASF, Shell, and Toyota Research Institute.

Selection Process and Eligibility

Candidates typically include recent PhD graduates and early postdoctoral researchers nominated by universities including University of Oxford, University College London, King's College London, University of Edinburgh, University of Warwick, University of Manchester, University of British Columbia, Monash University, University of Sydney, Indian Institute of Science, IIT Bombay, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Sejong University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Zhejiang University, Utrecht University, Leiden University, KU Leuven, and Ghent University. The selection process involves peer review panels drawing from faculty of Princeton University, Harvard Medical School, MIT Media Lab, Yale School of Medicine, Stanford School of Engineering, California Institute of Technology, John Innes Centre, Sainsbury Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, CERN, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and industry advisors from Alphabet Inc., Samsung Research, BASF SE, BP, Accenture Labs, and Novo Nordisk. Eligibility criteria parallel standards from awards such as the European Research Council grants and fellowship programs like the Newton International Fellowships and Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Activities and Research Placements

Fellows undertake placements at research environments including Bell Labs, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Salk Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Riken, RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Rothamsted Research, The Francis Crick Institute, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Broad Institute, Allen Institute for Brain Science, National Institutes of Health, Max Delbrück Center, Institut Pasteur, CNRS, CERN, European Space Agency, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Fraunhofer Society, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Osaka University, Tohoku University, and corporate labs. Program activities include research, mentorship by principal investigators from Nobel Laureates-associated labs, leadership workshops run by executives from McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Goldman Sachs, and policy briefings with think tanks such as Chatham House, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Council on Foreign Relations, and RAND Corporation.

Governance, Funding, and Partnerships

Governance structures involve boards and advisory councils including figures from Google DeepMind, Schmidt Ocean Institute, Schmidt Futures, Schmidt Family Foundation, academic representatives from University of Cambridge, Oxford University, Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University, and industry partners such as Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corporation, IBM, Amazon.com, Inc., Apple Inc., Toyota Motor Corporation, and Siemens AG. Funding stems from philanthropic commitments akin to endowments like the MacArthur Foundation and collaborations with governmental research councils including the UK Research and Innovation, National Science Foundation, European Commission, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Australian Research Council, and national ministries of science. Partnerships include research alliances with Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, and technology consortiums like OpenAI and Partnership on AI.

Notable Fellows and Impact

Alumni have gone on to positions at institutions including Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University, Yale University, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Broad Institute, Scripps Research, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Roche Research Center, Google Research, DeepMind, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, NASA, European Space Agency, World Health Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and startups funded by accelerators such as Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Startups, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Accel Partners, and Benchmark. The program highlights influence on cross-disciplinary projects involving collaborations with labs that produced laureates like Tomas Lindahl, Paul Nurse, Frances Arnold, Jennifer Doudna, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Katalin Karikó, Peter Higgs, Roger Penrose, John Goodenough, and initiatives linked to major discoveries in fields intersecting with institutions such as CERN and Human Genome Project partners.

Criticism and Controversy

Critiques of the program echo debates seen around philanthropic funding in science linked to organizations like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and MacArthur Foundation, raising questions similar to controversies involving Google's corporate influence, Facebook governance debates, and scrutiny faced by large philanthropic initiatives in universities such as Harvard University and Princeton University. Concerns discussed in public fora involve equity, selection transparency, and concentration of influence among elite institutions including Ivy League universities, Oxbridge, École Normale Supérieure, Sciences Po, LMU Munich, Heidelberg University, and leading research centers, echoing critiques leveled at major donors and corporate-academic partnerships in science policy debates involving United Nations advisory panels and national research funding agencies.

Category:Fellowships