The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the nation’s most promising innovators in science and technology, today announced that it is accepting applications for the 2021 Hertz Fellowship awards.
The Hertz Fellowship provides financial and lifelong professional support for graduate students in the applied physical and biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Fellows receive up to five years of full tuition equivalent, plus an annual stipend, freeing them from the traditional constraints of graduate training to pursue innovative projects that have real-world impact.
In addition, Hertz Fellows take part in ongoing mentoring, symposia, and workshops with a vibrant community of more than 1200 peers, creating powerful connections that can accelerate their careers and broaden the impact of their work.
“The Hertz Fellowship is an investment in the next generation of leaders, disruptors, and shapers of science and technology in our nation,” said Robbee Baker Kosak, president of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. “We are looking forward to meeting this year’s candidates and discovering their extraordinary potential.”
The fellowship’s merit-based selection process includes evaluation of written responses to application questions, letters of recommendation, and two rounds of rigorous, in-person interviews with current leaders in a variety of scientific and technical disciplines. In addition to academic excellence, the selection committee focuses on the exceptional and unique aspects of each candidate that are essential for future success: deep, integrated knowledge; creative problem-solving; a commitment to the greater good; and a record of leadership and achievement.
The application period ends October 23, 2020. Fellowship finalists will be named in February 2021, and awardees will be officially announced in May 2021.
Next year’s class joins a community of fellows whose transformative research and daring innovation impact our lives every day. Hertz Fellows are developing a drug therapy to restore hearing, data-driven methods to detect cyber threats, technology to genetically eradicate invasive plant species, and immunotherapy to support universal organ transplants, among a number of other exciting breakthroughs. Many Hertz Fellows have pivoted their work to join the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, inspired by the moral commitment each new fellow makes to take action in times of national emergency.
Over the Hertz Foundation’s 57-year history of awarding graduate fellowships, Hertz Fellows have established a remarkable track record of accomplishments. Their ranks include two Nobel laureates; two MacArthur Fellows; eight recipients of the Breakthrough Prize; and winners of the Turing Award, the Fields Medal, the National Medal of Technology, and the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award. In addition, 43 are members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and 12 have been included in Forbes magazine’s “30 under 30” list in Science. Hertz Fellows have founded more than 200 companies and hold more than 3,000 patents.
Learn more and apply for the Hertz Fellowship at https://www.hertzfoundation.org/fellowship.
About the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation
The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation identifies the nation’s most promising innovators in science and technology, and empowers them to pursue solutions to the world’s toughest challenges. Launched in 1963, the Hertz Fellowship is the most exclusive fellowship program in the United States, fueling more than 1,200 leaders, disruptors, and creators who apply their remarkable talents where they’re needed most—from improving human health to protecting the health of the planet. Hertz Fellows hold 3,000+ patents, have founded 200+ companies, and have received 200+ major national and international awards, including two Nobel Prizes, eight Breakthrough Prizes, the National Medal of Technology, the Fields Medal, and the Turing Award. Learn more at HertzFoundation.org.
