Fwd: Schmidt Science Fellows Postdoctoral Opportunity
Jessica Sadler
From: Robyn B Kotzker <rkot...@umd.edu>
Date: Wed, Mar 11, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Subject: Schmidt Science Fellows Postdoctoral Opportunity
To: Abhijit Dasgupta <dasg...@umd.edu>, N Adaire Parker <npar...@umd.edu>, Amol Deshpande <am...@umd.edu>, Andrew I. Harris <ahar...@umd.edu>, B Balachandran <ba...@umd.edu>, Behtash Babadi <beh...@umd.edu>, Benjamin Kedem <b...@umd.edu>, Bill Churma <chu...@umd.edu>, Chris Justice <cjus...@umd.edu>, Cinzia Cirillo <ccir...@umd.edu>, Michael Coleman Miller <mcmi...@umd.edu>, Dana Dachman-Soled <dana...@umd.edu>, David Jacobs <d...@umd.edu>, Derek A. Paley <dpa...@umd.edu>, Dinesh Manocha <dman...@umd.edu>, Doron Levy <dl...@umd.edu>, Eliza Kempton <ekem...@umd.edu>, Emily Dacquisto <emi...@umd.edu>, Emily M Irwin <eir...@umd.edu>, Eun Kyoung Choe <ch...@umd.edu>, Furong Huang <fur...@umd.edu>, Ge Gao <ge...@umd.edu>, gs-cadge <gs-c...@umd.edu>, Hal Daumé III <h...@umiacs.umd.edu>, Ichiro Takeuchi <take...@umd.edu>, Jae Kun Shim <jks...@umd.edu>, Jeffery B. Klauda <jbkl...@umd.edu>, Jessica Marie Sadler <jsa...@umd.edu>, Jessica Vitak <jvi...@umd.edu>, Joel Chan <joel...@umd.edu>, John P Fisher <jpfi...@umd.edu>, Joseph F. JaJa <jos...@umd.edu>, Josiland Chambers <jch...@umd.edu>, Keith Ansel Marzullo <marz...@umd.edu>, Kenneth H. Yu <y...@umd.edu>, Kerri Poppler James <kja...@umd.edu>, Laixiang Sun <lsu...@umd.edu>, Leila De Floriani <de...@umd.edu>, Leonid Koralov <kor...@umd.edu>, Manoj Franklin <ma...@umd.edu>, Marine Carpuat <mar...@umd.edu>, Matthew Ryan Roesch <mro...@umd.edu>, Matthias Zwicker <zwi...@umd.edu>, Megan Elizabeth Wells <mpe...@umd.edu>, Melanie Louie Prange <mpr...@umd.edu>, Michael Ohadi <oh...@umd.edu>, Michel Cukier <mcu...@umd.edu>, Migo Gui <mig...@umd.edu>, Ming C Lin <l...@umd.edu>, Mohammad Taghi Hajiaghayi <haji...@umd.edu>, Nan Bernstein Ratner <nra...@umd.edu>, Neil V. Blough <ne...@umd.edu>, Nikhil Chopra <nch...@umd.edu>, Olivia Dent <od...@umd.edu>, Pam Komarek <pkom...@umd.edu>, Peter A. Sandborn <sand...@umd.edu>, Peter W Chung <pchu...@umd.edu>, Pratap Tokekar <tok...@umd.edu>, Rachel Elise Haber <rber...@umd.edu>, Rachel Chang <rach...@umd.edu>, Radu Victor Balan <rvb...@umd.edu>, Ramani Duraiswami <ram...@umd.edu>, Ron Coleman <ron...@umd.edu>, Ross Herbert Miller <ros...@umd.edu>, Sheena Erete <ser...@umd.edu>, Souad Nejjar <sne...@umd.edu>, Sudarsanam Suresh Babu <sbab...@umd.edu>, Sumant Nigam <ni...@umd.edu>, Thomas D. Cohen <co...@umd.edu>, Thomas J. Haines <t...@umd.edu>, Tom Hurst <thu...@umd.edu>, Vanessa Frias Martinez <vfr...@umd.edu>, Amitabh Varshney <vars...@umd.edu>, John Yiannis Aloimonos <jyal...@umd.edu>, Anna L. Damm <ada...@umd.edu>, Alison Flatau <afl...@umd.edu>, Amy J. Karlsson <ajk...@umd.edu>, Abani K Pradhan <a...@umd.edu>, Gangadhar Akshay Kanamarlapudi <aksh...@umd.edu>, Amy Chester <ale...@umd.edu>, Ashley Montalvan <amon...@umd.edu>, Aileen Naoko Hentz <anh...@umd.edu>, Ankur Srivastava <ank...@umd.edu>, Arpita Upadhyaya <arp...@umd.edu>, Arnaud C. Trouve <atr...@umd.edu>, Rebecca Leffson Matthews <b...@umd.edu>, Bonnie Ginsberg <bgin...@umd.edu>, Billie Ray <bra...@umd.edu>, Christopher D. Ellis <cde...@umd.edu>, Diana Cortez <dco...@umd.edu>, Davi Julie Jacobs <dja...@umd.edu>, David N. Myers <dnm...@umd.edu>, Daniel S. Gruner <dsgr...@umd.edu>, Eric S Haag <eh...@umd.edu>, Elizabeth Pepper <epep...@umd.edu>, Faith Isaac Johnson <fud...@umd.edu>, George A. Belov <gbe...@umd.edu>, Ali Haghani <hag...@umd.edu>, Hang T Nguyen <hngu...@umd.edu>, Ian White <ianw...@umd.edu>, John Enos Erwin <jer...@umd.edu>, Jessica Aparicio <Jes...@umd.edu>, Jorge G. Holzer Bilbao <jho...@umd.edu>, Janet Hannan LoBiondo <jlob...@umd.edu>, Jemma Eloyse Natanson <jnat...@umd.edu>, James Vaughn Green <jvg...@umd.edu>, Kenneth L. Leonard <ken...@umd.edu>, Katrina Groth <kgr...@umd.edu>, Kevin S. McIver <kmc...@umd.edu>, Peter Kofinas <kof...@umd.edu>, Leslie A. Davis <ldav...@umd.edu>, Lizhen Lin <lizh...@umd.edu>, Lauren Vanessa Miles <lmil...@umd.edu>, Kathleen Ann Gardinier <lopr...@umd.edu>, Leslie Pick <lp...@umd.edu>, Leo H. Shapiro <lsha...@umd.edu>, Francis Patrick McCluskey <mcc...@umd.edu>, Maria C. Hoo <m...@umd.edu>, James A. Milke <mi...@umd.edu>, Michelle Montero <mmon...@umd.edu>, Min Ouyang <mou...@umd.edu>, Marcia A. Shofner <msho...@umd.edu>, Amy S. Mullin <mul...@umd.edu>, Nidhi Rawat <nidh...@umd.edu>, Nii O Attoh-Okine <niio...@umd.edu>, Nicole L. Hollywood <nlh...@umd.edu>, Paul Paukstelis <pauk...@umd.edu>, Brian Pierce <pie...@umd.edu>, Debbie Lin <pl...@umd.edu>, Jonathan Poterjoy <pote...@umd.edu>, Steven Rolston <rol...@umd.edu>, Rumya Ravi <rr...@umd.edu>, Janice Reutt-Robey <rro...@umd.edu>, Sara Kao <sar...@umd.edu>, Segen Sara A. Habte <sha...@umd.edu>, Shirley Micallef <smi...@umd.edu>, Shenqiang Ren <sr...@umd.edu>, Saratu Samaila <ssar...@umd.edu>, Stephanie A Yarwood <syar...@umd.edu>, Tamara Elizabeth Hendershot <tbar...@umd.edu>, Timothy Canty <tca...@umd.edu>, Trystan Denhard <tden...@umd.edu>, Thomas Hedberg <thed...@umd.edu>, Angel Castilho Torres <tora...@umd.edu>, Konstantina Trevisa <tre...@umd.edu>, Tina M. Scites <tsc...@umd.edu>, Sarah Tucker <tuc...@umd.edu>, Adele Marie Turzillo <turz...@umd.edu>, Tamieka Waterstraat <twat...@umd.edu>, Sennur Ulukus <ulu...@umd.edu>, Vedran Lekic <v...@umd.edu>, William W Bowerman <wbow...@umd.edu>, Cheng-I Wei <w...@umd.edu>, Gerald S. Wilkinson <wilk...@umd.edu>, Wendell T. Hill <w...@umd.edu>, Zhengguo Xiao <xiao...@umd.edu>, Xiaodong Shi <xm...@umd.edu>, Xiaoping Zhu <xz...@umd.edu>, Andy Yeh <ye...@umd.edu>, Yanjin Zhang <zha...@umd.edu>, Zoltan Safar <zsa...@umd.edu>
Please forward this notice to your programs who may have eligible candidates. Webinars are available for prospective applicants are in March
Thanks,
Robyn
Schmidt Science Fellows Postdoctoral Opportunity
Deadline for UMD Internal Selection Process: May 1, 2026
The Schmidt Science Fellows program’s vision is a world where interdisciplinary science flourishes without limit, driving innovation and accelerating discoveries to benefit the world. Schmidt Science Fellows undertake a 12-24 month postdoctoral placement. Fellows’ placements will represent a significant disciplinary pivot from their PhD topic and are central to the program’s aim to foster greater interdisciplinarity. More details about the fellowship can be found on the Schmidt Science Fellows website.
UMD can select up to three (3) students to apply for this opportunity.
Eligible candidates are intellectually first-rate PhD students working across any of the natural sciences (astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences), engineering, mathematics or computing. Candidates must be expected to complete all the requirements for their PhD between May 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027.
Candidate considerations:
- Candidates should already have a strong track record of scientific achievement from their PhD studies, combined with a clear intellectual curiosity and desire to drive future discoveries.
- Candidates should have the commitment and character to engage with society and global challenges to make a lasting difference in the world.
- Candidates should have a collaborative spirit with the experience and desire to work with diverse teams and across scientific disciplines.
Information Sessions for Prospective Candidates: The Schmidt Science Foundation offers two information sessions for prospective candidates on March 23 and 24, 2026. (Please note the GMT time zone). Interested students and/or faculty advisors may register using this registration link.
UMD Internal Selection Process: To be considered for nomination, applicants must work with their program. Programs are asked to submit the materials below to the Graduate School by close of business on May 1, 2026.
1. This cover sheet.
2. The applicant's letter of interest (2 pages). This letter should 1) provide evidence of extraordinary academic achievement and demonstrated collaborative spirit, 2) describe ambition to make a lasting impact in science and in society, and 3) express your interest in undertaking an interdisciplinary research pivot during a postdoctoral placement.
3. The applicant's C.V.
4. A recommendation letter from the applicant's academic advisor.
Programs, please submit materials to Robyn Kotzker at rkot...@umd.edu by May 1, 2026. A campus committee will select three candidates to nominate for this program.
_________________________
Robyn Kotzker
Program Director, Office of Funding Opportunities
The Graduate School, University of Maryland
2123 Lee Building
7809 Regents Drive, College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-0281 I rkot...@umd.edu I gradschool.umd.edu I @UMDGradSchool