Natural Science Fellowship Opportunities
Early Career Opportunity
| Institution Name | Fellowship Name | Information on Fellowship | Deadline |
| Fulbright | Fulbright Doctoral Awards | Postdoctoral Awards provide recently graduated scholars an opportunity to conduct research and receive professional training abroad. Awards may involve limited teaching. Postdoctoral Awards are open to scholars who will have received a doctoral degree (Ph.D., J.D., M.D., Ed.D., etc.) within five to seven years of the fellowship start date, as noted in the award description. Degree conferment before the start of the award is mandatory. Institutional affiliation in the United States is not required. | September |
| Brain and Behavior Research Foundation | Young Investigator Grant | The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation is the largest non-governmental organization funding psychiatric brain and behavior disorder research. Its Young Investigator Grant (YI) program offers up to $35,000 per year for up to two years to support promising researchers in extending their fellowship training or starting independent academic careers. The program encourages innovative research relevant to understanding, treating, and preventing serious psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, mood and anxiety disorders, and early onset brain and behavior disorders. | March |
Research Resource
| Institution Name | Fellowship Name | Information on Fellowship | Deadline |
| Library of Congress | Kluge Fellowships | The Kluge Center encourages humanistic and social science research that makes use of the Library’s large and varied collections. Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural research is particularly welcome in the Kluge Fellowship program. The fellowship is open to scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and professional fields such as architecture or law. | September |
| Smithsonian Institution | Museums, Research Institutes, Centers, and Office’s Fellowship Programs | The Smithsonian Institution heads up many museums, research programs, centers, etc. Many of these entities have field-specific fellowship opportunities. The comprehensive list of these unique opportunities can be found at the link. Most include residency in DC at a given institution and require that the proposed project benefit from that institution’s resources. | varies |
| Folger Shakespeare Library | Folger Institute Long Term Fellowships | Folger Institute fellowships support individual scholarly and artistic research focused on enriching our understanding of the early modern world. The Institute values research that tackles complex historical questions and engages with primary sources to produce diverse histories. Additionally, it promotes equitable access to research funding by offering various fellowship modules and removing barriers to participation. | April |
| The Newberry | Newberry Long-Term Fellowships | Researchers with long-term fellowships spend four to nine months immersed in the Newberry collection and in our community of learning. While pursuing significant works of scholarship, they make discoveries, present works in progress, and take their projects to the next level. | November |
| Folger Shakespeare Library | Folger Institute Short Term Fellowships | Short-term fellowships at the Folger Institute support scholars needing significant primary research for one to three months, offering a monthly stipend of $4,000. These fellowships facilitate concentrated, full-time work on research projects utilizing the Folger’s collections and programs. They can be conducted on-site, virtually, or in a hybrid format, allowing researchers to engage in collections-based research within an interdisciplinary community and receive regular feedback on their work. | January |
| National Academies | NRC Research Associateship Programs | The NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP) are prestigious postdoctoral and senior research awards designed to provide promising scientists and engineers with high-quality research opportunities at federal laboratories and affiliated institutions. These programs offer a comprehensive experience, including mentorship, access to state-of-the-art facilities, and opportunities to influence government policy, all geared toward enhancing the research career development of the Research Associates. | Febuary, May, August, and November |
| Hoover Institution | Scholar Research Support | The Hoover Institution Library & Archives Scholar Research Support grant provides an award of up to $10,000 to support research based on our collections. Grant recipients are expected to spend a minimum of ten days at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives directly accessing collection materials in the reading room, and complete their research and post-visit summary report within the one year of the cohort. | April |
| Smithsonian Institution | Smithsonian Institution Fellloship Program | The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program offers opportunities for independent research or study related to Smithsonian collections, facilities, and/or research interests of the Institution and its staff. Fellowships are offered to graduate students, predoctoral students, and postdoctoral and senior researchers to conduct independent research and to utilize the resources of the Institution with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff serving as advisors and hosts. | October |
Sabbatical & Project Funding
| Institution Name | Fellowship Name | Information on Fellowship | Deadline |
| National Endowment for the Arts | Division of Research Programs Fellowships | NEH Fellowships are competitive awards for individual scholars engaged in exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applicants must articulate their project’s value to both humanities scholars and general audiences. The fellowships provide recipients with time to conduct research or produce various scholarly works, including books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, digital materials, annotated translations, or critical editions. Projects can be at any stage of development. | April |
| John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | Guggenheim Fellowship | Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for mid-career individuals who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts and exhibit great promise for their future endeavors | September |
| Carnegie Corporation of New York | Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program | Since 2015, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has supported high-caliber scholarship and research in the social sciences and humanities that address important and enduring issues confronting our society. For at least the next three years, the fellows will aim to help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what can be done to strengthen American democracy. ***Requires a nomination from the University President (1 junior and 1 senior faculty per cycle) | November |
| Alfred. P. Sloan Foundation | Sloan Research Fellowships | Sloan Research Fellowships support fundamental research conducted by early-career scientists. The two-year $75,000 fellowships are awarded annually to early-career researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders. |
July |
| Microsoft | Microsoft Research AI & Society Fellows | The Microsoft Research AI & Society fellows program is designed to foster research collaboration between Microsoft Research and leading scholars across various disciplines focused on the intersection of AI and its societal impact. Microsoft aims to connect academia, industry, policy, and regulatory sectors to promote interdisciplinary collaboration that leads to meaningful real-world outcomes. | November |
Travel & Residency
| Institution Name | Fellowship Name | Information on Fellowship | Deadline |
| Robert Wood Foundation | Health Policy Fellows | The RWJF Fellowship is comprised of two unique experiences: an immersive orientation period and a hands-on placement working as a senior advisor to an elected or appointed federal government official. Starting with an intensive three-and-a-half-month orientation arranged by the NAM, fellows have the opportunity to meet with national leaders well-versed in health, health care policy, health equity, social determinants of health, and structural racism; think tanks and interest groups; key executive branch officials; and members of Congress and their staffs. | August |
| Council of American Overseas Research Centers | Multi-County Research Fellowship | The Multi-Country Research Fellowship supports U.S. scholars conducting trans-regional and comparative research in countries affiliated with Overseas Research Centers and beyond. It is aimed at advanced research in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural sciences for U.S. doctoral candidates who are “all but dissertation” and scholars with a PhD or terminal degree. Preference is given to comparative and cross-regional studies. Applicants can apply individually or in teams, with twelve awards of $12,600 each available, funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. | March |
| The Rockefeller Foundation | Bellagio Center Residency Program | For over 60 years, the Bellagio Center has served as a collaborative space for academics, artists, and practitioners to enhance their creativity and pursue groundbreaking projects. Unlike a typical retreat, the residency focuses on advancing specific projects while fostering cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural connections among residents. Participants form lasting relationships and remain connected through the Bellagio Network, continuing their engagement with The Rockefeller Foundation after their residency. | Varies |
| Fulbright | Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Awards | Distinguished Scholar awards are the most prestigious appointments in the Fulbright Scholar Program, aimed at scholars with over seven years of experience in their field, though some awards may have additional eligibility restrictions. Recipients are expected to engage actively with host institutions to promote mutual understanding and share knowledge. Awards are available for one or two academic semesters (four or ten months) across all academic disciplines. Distinguished Scholars are anticipated to participate in the academic life of their department and teach one course (graduate or undergraduate) each semester of their residency. | September |
| Fulbright | Fulbright Scholar Award | The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program provides over 400 awards in more than 135 countries for U.S. citizens to teach, conduct research, and undertake professional projects globally. It is open to college and university faculty, artists, and professionals from various fields, contributing to a network of over 400,000 Fulbrighters who gain enhanced skills, new connections, and increased mutual understanding. The majority of awards are Fulbright Scholar Awards, which cater to professionals, artists, and scholars at all career stages. Eligibility and location details vary, with some awards restricted to specific career levels or types of scholars, as outlined in the award descriptions. | September |
| Bogliasco Foundation | Bogliasco Center Fellowships | An American nonprofit with a program in Italy, the Bogliasco Foundation awards one-month Fellowships to individuals of all ages and nationalities who are developing significant new work in the arts and humanities. Fellows live and work in bucolic surroundings on the coast near Genoa, where natural beauty combines with an intimate group setting to encourage inquiry and transformative exchange across all disciplines. | March & December |
| The Newberry | Newberry Short-Term Fellowships | Researchers with short-term fellowships spend one to two months investigating specific collection items that are essential to their scholarship. These fellowship opportunities are open to scholars at the ABD stage and beyond. | December |
| Harvard Radcliffe Institute | Radcliffe Fellowship | Radcliffe fellows are individuals at different stages of their careers who come to the Institute from across the United States and around the world and represent a broad range of academic, professional, and artistic fields. Fellows work on an individual project—a novel, a film, a map of the Milky Way—while mining and deepening the knowledge, ingenuity, and talent of the Harvard University community. | Varies |
| American Association for the Advancement of Science | Science and Technology Policy Fellowships | AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships (STPF) provide opportunities to outstanding scientists and engineers to learn first-hand about policymaking and contribute their knowledge and analytical skills in the policy realm. Fellows serve yearlong assignments in the federal government and represent a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines, and career stages. Each year, STPF adds to a growing corps approximately 4,000 strong of policy-savvy leaders working across academia, government, nonprofits, and industry to serve the nation and citizens around the world. | November |
| US Department of the Air Force | Summer Faculty Fellowship Program | The US Department of the Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program offers hands-on exposure to Department of the Air Force research challenges thorugh 8-12 week research residencies at particpating DAF research facilities for full time science, mathematics. and engineering faculty at US colleges and universities. | October |
| Russell Sage Foundation | Summer Institutes | RSF offers intensive, multi-day summer institutes on various topics for doctoral students and early-career scholars. Most participant costs during the institute, including housing and most meals, are covered, and travel expenses are reimbursed up to a set cap. Participants are required to fully attend all sessions of the program and some institutes require participants to complete some assignments in advance. | March |
| Property and Environment Research Center | Lone Mountain Fellowship | PERC’s Lone Mountain Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for scholars to undertake a project that advances our understanding of how markets, public policy, property rights, and governance affect environmental resources. | February |
| European University Institute | Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowships | Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowships support established academics with an international reputation in pursuing research at the European University Institute (EUI). While in residence, fellows are encouraged to connect with fellow researchers, participate in teaching and thesis supervision alongside EUI professors, and engage with ongoing research projects at the institute. | Varies |
| National Humanities Center | The Fellowship Experience | A fellowship year at the National Humanities Center is an opportunity to make significant progress on scholarly projects, socialize and share ideas with other scholars, and be reinvigorated by a hiatus from the regular demands of academic life for time spent in deep thought and reflection. | October |
| Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute | The Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute (DISI) brings this nascent community together for a few intense weeks each summer. Admitted fellows and storytellers engage with our world-class faculty in a rigorous program of lectures, seminars, projects, meals, salons, and more. Beyond the residential program, DISI alums enjoy access to programming and opportunities throughout the year, as well as lifelong membership in a one-of-a-kind research network. | March, rolling |
| Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Research | Faculty Fellowships | The Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study awards 8-10 residential Faculty Fellowships annually to researchers whose work addresses the Institute’s yearly Research Theme. | October |
| American Councils for International Education | Title VIII Research Scholar Program | Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII), the American Councils Research Scholar Program provides full support for U.S. graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars seeking to conduct in-country, independent research for three to nine consecutive months throughout Eurasia and Eastern Europe. | October |
| Institute for Advanced Study | Visiting Fellowship | Each year, the Institute for Advanced Study selects around 200 Members from over 1,500 applicants across its four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Science. Members can stay for terms ranging from one term to several years. The selection process considers young scholars with potential, applicants from non-traditional backgrounds, and established senior scholars. A key criterion for appointment is the expectation that each Member’s time at the Institute will produce significant and original work. Many Members align their research with the Faculty’s interests, while others explore areas not currently represented. | October |
| Fulbright | Fulbright Specialist Program | The Fulbright Specialist Program, part of the larger Fulbright Program, was established in 2001 by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The program pairs highly qualified U.S. academics and professionals with host institutions abroad to share their expertise, strengthen institutional linkages, hone their skills, gain international experience, and learn about other cultures while building capacity at their overseas host institutions. | September & November |
| National Academies | Jefferson Science Fellowships | Jefferson Science Fellowships offer a unique opportunity for tenured or similarly ranked U.S. faculty to engage in foreign policy and international development through a one-year immersive experience at the U.S. Department of State or USAID. Fellows are embedded in these agencies, gaining insight into their operations while contributing their technical expertise to policy formulation and implementation. This experience enriches the faculty’s understanding of policy, diplomacy, and international development, enhancing both their research and teaching. | October |
Other