The Hertz Foundation today opened applications for the 2027 Hertz Fellowship, the nation’s most competitive doctoral fellowship in the applied sciences, engineering and mathematics.
Hertz Fellows receive up to five years of financial support, including a stipend and full tuition equivalent, giving them the freedom to pursue bold research without the traditional constraints of graduate funding. They also gain lifelong professional support, including mentorship, events and networking opportunities within the Hertz Community, a network of more than 1,300 exceptional innovators worldwide.
“We seek students defined by initiative, relentless curiosity and creativity, drawn to solving the challenges that matter most. If you find yourself endlessly pushing past ‘why’ in your research, we want to hear from you,” said Derek Haseltine, senior director of the Hertz Fellowship Program.
Since 1957, the Hertz Foundation has identified and supported the nation’s most exceptional innovators in science and technology. Its rigorous, time-tested selection process, led by Hertz Fellows Philip Welkhoff, director of the malaria program at the Gates Foundation, and Anna Bershteyn, managing director of science and global health R&D at Coefficient Giving and associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, identifies innovators who think beyond boundaries and pursue bold goals with the potential to transform society. As part of their application, all Hertz Fellows make a non-binding moral commitment to make their skills available to the United States at times of national emergency.
Past Hertz Fellowship recipients include Nobel laureate John Mather, senior astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and former project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope; Kimberly Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Mung Chiang, president of Northwestern University; and Dario Amodei and Jared Kaplan, co-founders of Anthropic, an AI safety and research company.
“If you find yourself endlessly pushing past ‘why’ in your research, we want to hear from you.”
Derek Haseltine
The Hertz Community deliberately extends beyond its own membership, drawing in leading minds and institutions from across the world to keep its thinking connected to the broader currents of science and society. The 2026 Hertz Summer Workshop outside Chicago featured a keynote from 2025 Nobel laureate Mary Brunkow, a distinguished investigator at the Institute for Systems Biology. This month, the Hertz Foundation launched a salon series pairing Hertz Fellows with researchers at ARIA, the U.K.’s research funding agency led by Hertz Fellow Kathleen Fisher.
The Foundation also partners with organizations across science, technology and philanthropy, including Analog Devices, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, the Gates Foundation and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, giving Fellows opportunities like internships and collaborative research placements that connect their work to real-world application.
More than 50 universities maintain standing agreements with the Hertz Foundation, letting students quickly and seamlessly accept their awards. To support applicants who are not ultimately selected as Hertz Fellows, the Foundation also an agreement with Case Western Reserve University, which offers full financial benefits to Hertz Fellowship Finalists who attend for graduate school.
The Hertz Fellowship application closes on October 30, 2026. Fellowship finalists will be named in February 2027, and fellowship awards will be officially announced in May 2027.
Information Sessions
Hertz Fellowship Director Derek Haseltine will lead two information sessions with current Hertz Fellows, on Thursday, September 10, at 6 p.m. EDT, and Monday, September 14, at Noon EDT, to help prospective applicants learn more about the fellowship and strategies for preparing their best application package. Hertz Fellows will facilitate breakout sessions, drawing on their own application, academic and research experiences. Topics include applying at different academic stages (undergrad senior, gap year and grad student), choosing a research project and navigating STEM as an underrepresented student.
About the Hertz Foundation
The Hertz Foundation is the nation’s preeminent nonprofit organization committed to advancing American scientific and technological leadership. For more than 60 years, it has stood as an unwavering pillar of independent support through the renowned Hertz Fellowship, cultivating a multidisciplinary network of innovators whose work has positively impacted millions of lives. Learn more at hertzfoundation.org.
