Harvard economist and 2018 Sloan Research Fellow Isaiah Andrews was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 2021 for his significant contributions to econometric theory. Awarded annually by the American Economic Association, the Medal is widely considered the most prestigious honor available for an American economist under the age of 40.
Program Goal
The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise.
These two-year, $75,000 fellowships are awarded yearly to 126 researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field.
Eligibility Requirements
- Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, or a related field.
- Candidates must be members of the faculty of a college, university, or other degree-granting institution in the U.S. or Canada.
- Candidates must be tenure-track, though untenured, as of September 15 of the nomination year.
- Candidate’s faculty position must carry a regular teaching obligation.
The Sloan Research Fellowship Program recognizes and rewards outstanding early-career faculty who have the potential to revolutionize their fields of study.
Questions about how these eligibility requirements apply to you? See our FAQ page or email us at [email protected]
Nomination
- In order to be considered for a Sloan Research Fellowship, a candidate must have a letter of nomination from a department head or other senior researcher. Submissions unaccompanied by a nomination letter from a senior researcher are not accepted.
- More than one candidate from a department may be nominated, but no more than three.
Nomination Letters and Letters of Support are important elements of the selection process and are read carefully by Selection Committees. The letters allow nominators and support writers to give Committee members insight about nominees that is not present in their other application materials (CV, publication list, etc.). Selection Committees recommend that letters of support be submitted by someone who can speak objectively and knowledgeably about the quality and significance of a nominee’s work. Letters submitted by co-authors, personal associates, or professional mentors are, in this sense, less useful to Selection Committees than letters submitted by those with more professional distance from a nominee’s work.
Who Should Be Nominated?
The Sloan Research Fellowship Program recognizes and rewards outstanding early-career faculty who have the potential to revolutionize their fields of study. Successful candidates for a Fellowship generally have a strong record of significant independent research accomplishments that demonstrate creativity and the potential to become future leaders in the scientific community. Nominated candidates are normally several years past the completion of their Ph.D. in order to accumulate a competitive record of independent, significant research.
In keeping with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's longstanding support of underrepresented minorities in the sciences, the Foundation strongly encourages the nomination of qualified women and minority candidates.
Materials Required
- A letter from a department head or other senior researcher officially nominating the candidate and describing his or her qualifications, initiative, and research;
- The candidate's curriculum vitae (including a list of the candidates scientific publications);
- Two representative articles by the candidate that highlight his or her independent research;
- A brief (one-page) statement by the candidate describing his or her significant scientific work and immediate research plans;
- Three letters from other researchers (preferably not all from the same institution) written in support of the candidate’s nomination.
How to Submit Nomination Materials
All materials must be uploaded and submitted through the Foundation’s online application portal. See the Apply page for more information.
Selection
Nominations are reviewed and candidates selected by an independent selection committee of distinguished scientists in each eligible field.
Fellows are selected on the basis of their independent research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become leaders in the scientific community through their contributions to their field.
Awards are announced in mid-February.
Deadlines
Nominations for the 2021 Sloan Research Fellowships will open July 15, 2020.
All nomination materials, including nomination letters and all letters of support, must be submitted through the Foundation’s online application system no later than 11:59PM EDT, September 15, 2020.
Selection Committees
CHEMISTRY
Thomas Mallouk, University of Pennsylvania
Todd Martinez, Stanford University
Tom Muir, Princeton University
Melanie Sanford, University of Michigan
COMPUTATIONAL AND EVOLUTIONARY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Pavel Pevzner, University of California, San Diego
Molly Przeworski, Columbia University
Amy Keating, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Jennifer Rexford, Princeton University
Ronitt Rubinfeld, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sham M. Kakade, University of Washington
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Inez Fung, University of California, Berkeley
Samantha Joye, University of Georgia
S. George Philander, Princeton University
ECONOMICS
Andrew Atkeson, University of California, Los Angeles
Judy Chevalier, Yale University
Matthew Gentzkow, Stanford University
MATHEMATICS
Anna Gilbert, Yale University
Christopher Hacon, University of Utah
Terry Tao, University of California, Los Angeles
NEUROSCIENCE
Rui Costa, Columbia University
Bernardo Sabatini, Harvard University
Amita Sehgal, University of Pennsylvania
PHYSICS
David Awschalom, University of Chicago
Gibor Basri, University of California, Berkeley
Catherine Kallin, McMaster University
Peter Lepage, Cornell University
Terms of Awards
- Fellowships are for a two-year term, beginning on September 15th of the award year.
- Fellowships are paid in a single lump sum.
- The Fellowship amount is $75,000.
- Fellowship funds may be used by the fellow for any expense judged supportive of the fellow’s research including staffing, professional travel, lab expenses, equipment, or summer salary support.
- Fellowship funds may not be used for indirect costs or overhead charges.
- Fellows are obligated to notify the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation if they are changing institutions.
- Once per year, Fellows (or their institution) are obligated to submit both a substantive report (detailing what is being done) and a financial report (detailing how much money has been spent and on what).
The above terms and conditions are spelled out in more detail in the formal fellowship agreement. Please see the For Current Fellows tab for more information.
News
See All-
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Announcing the 2021 Sloan Research Fellows
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American Economic Association
Harvard Economist and former Sloan Research Fellow Melissa Dell wins John Bates Clark Medal
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Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
A message to our grantees regarding the COVID-19 pandemic
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Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Announcing the 2020 Sloan Research Fellows
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New York Times
Nobel Economics Prize Goes to Pioneers in Reducing Poverty
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Georgia Tech
Photosynthesizers using water, which releases oxygen, could not compete with those using iron, delaying oxygenation of young Earth