Draft:Schmidt Science Polymath

Schmidt Science Polymath Program
Awarded for	Interdisciplinary scientific research by recently tenured faculty
Sponsored by	Schmidt Sciences
Location	United States
Presented by	Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt
Reward(s)	US$500,000 annually for up to five years
First award	2021
Website	Schmidt Science Polymath Program

The Schmidt Science Polymath Program is a philanthropic research fellowship established in 2021 by Schmidt Sciences, an initiative founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. The program supports recently tenured faculty members in pursuing ambitious, interdisciplinary research directions. Each award provides US$500,000 annually for up to five years, offering flexible support to explore research across disciplines.

The program is distinguished by its emphasis on enabling scientists to pivot their research focus after achieving tenure, a stage when funding agencies typically favor incremental projects. The Schmidt Science Polymath Program has been compared to other early-career scientific awards such as the Sloan Research Fellowship and the MacArthur Fellows Program, but it specifically targets mid-career investigators expanding into new fields.

History

The Schmidt Science Polymath Program was launched in 2021 to address a gap in research funding for newly tenured faculty. According to Schmidt Sciences, the program was created to encourage bold, interdisciplinary explorations at a career stage often constrained by funding pressures toward conventional research.

The program operates through an invitation-only nomination process involving leading research universities and scientific organizations worldwide. Selection emphasizes proven research excellence, interdisciplinary engagement, and potential for high-impact discovery.

Mission and Purpose

The mission of the Polymath Program is to promote high-risk, high-reward science by allowing accomplished researchers to explore unfamiliar disciplines. Schmidt Sciences co-founder Wendy Schmidt emphasized that "curiosity doesn't operate in a silo, and neither should science."

The award aims to cultivate "scientific polymaths"—researchers who integrate ideas from multiple fields such as physics, biology, engineering, chemistry, and computer science.

Eligibility and Selection

Eligible candidates are typically within three years of achieving tenure or holding an equivalent permanent faculty position. Nominations are by invitation only. The program is highly competitive, with about 140 nominees per cycle and fewer than 10 recipients selected.

Finalists are evaluated based on research excellence, creativity, demonstrated interdisciplinary interest, and potential to make transformative contributions.

Award Details

Each award provides US$500,000 annually for up to five years (totaling up to US$2.5 million), administered through the recipient's host institution. The funding is unrestricted, allowing support for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, exploratory research, and scientific infrastructure.

Unlike many research grants, there is no requirement for a specific project proposal at the time of award.

Reception and Impact

The Schmidt Science Polymath Program has been positively received by scientists and institutions as a rare source of flexible, curiosity-driven funding. Randall Goldsmith of the University of Wisconsin–Madison described the award as "transformational," noting that it enables scientists to "become fluent in new scientific languages" and take substantial intellectual risks.

Awardees have highlighted the freedom to change directions without immediate pressure for specific deliverables. Stephanie Palmer of the University of Chicago stated, "Of all the grants and fellowships I could have applied for, I feel like this call was written for me."

The program has supported work in fields such as nanotechnology for neuroscience, the genomics of food sustainability, active matter physics, and carbon capture and utilization technologies.

Notable Recipients

2024 Cohort

• Ashleigh Theberge – University of Washington. Personalized drug delivery through remote biospecimen collection.
• Lawrence David – Duke University. Microbiome and diet research to promote public health.
• Neil Dasgupta – University of Michigan. Carbon dioxide recycling for climate solutions.
• Orit Peleg – University of Colorado Boulder. Collective behavior and biological physics.
• Samuel Gershman – Harvard University. Neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
• Stephanie Palmer – University of Chicago. Information processing in biological systems.

2023 Cohort

• Markita del Carpio Landry – University of California, Berkeley. Nanomaterials for neural imaging.
• Jörn Dunkel – Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mathematical modeling of active matter.
• Surya Ganguli – Stanford University. Theoretical neuroscience and machine learning.
• Sara Imari Walker – Arizona State University. Origins-of-life research and astrobiology.
• Naomi Nakayama – Imperial College London. Plant biomechanics and morphogenesis.
• David Soloveichik – University of Texas at Austin. Synthetic biochemical circuits.

2021 Cohort

• Jeff Gore – Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Population dynamics and evolutionary theory.
• Oded Rechavi – Tel Aviv University. Epigenetic inheritance and RNA biology.

See also

• Schmidt Science Fellows
• Sloan Research Fellowship
• MacArthur Fellows Program
• List of prizes named after people