The 2025 Cohort Of Schmidt Science Fellows Is Announced

The 2025 cohort of Schmidt Science Fellows has been announced. As in years past, this year’s class of 32 fellows are all recent PhD’s who’ve been identified as some of the most outstanding early-career scientists in the world.

The Schmidt Science Fellows program is supported by Schmidt Sciences, co-founded in 2024 by former Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, President of the Schmidt Family Foundation.

The current class is the eighth cohort in the program, which is delivered in a partnership with the Rhodes Trust. The fellows will join a total of 209 previous Schmidt Science Fellows who’ve come from nearly 40 countries over the duration of the program.

Considered one of the most prestigious scientific postdoctoral awards in the world, Schmidt Science Fellows are awarded support for either one or two years in a field of study that represents a pivot from their Ph.D concentration.

An emphasis is placed on encouraging interdisciplinary research with the potential to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Fellows are given a stipend of $110,000 a year to support their personal and living costs during their fellowships. In addition to their stipend, the fellows receive individualized mentoring and participate in a year-long Science Leadership Program that helps them cultivate the skills, experience and networks expected from interdisciplinary science leaders.

“Philanthropic funding of scientific research, and especially support of early-career researchers, has never been more important,” said Wendy Schmidt, in a press release.

“By providing Schmidt Science Fellows with support, community, and freedom to work across disciplines and gain new insights, we hope they’ll tackle some of the world’s most vexing challenges, achieve breakthroughs and help create a healthier, more resilient world for all,” she added.

Each year, the Schmidt Science Fellows program works with about 100 of the world’s leading science and engineering institutions to identify the most promising candidates for the fellowships. Nominated candidates are selected through a process that includes an academic review by leaders in their home disciplines and final interviews with panels of experts, including senior representatives from many scientific disciplines and different business sectors.

This year the fellows were nominated by 27 different universities, including, for the first time, McGill University in Canada, RWTH Aachen University in Germany, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, the University of California, Los Angeles in the US, and University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

The full list of the 2025 Schmidt Science Fellows can be found here. Their areas of study span a wide range of topics in biology, neurosciences, engineering, cancer diagnosis and treatment, artificial intelligence, biomaterials, and sustainability. As examples:

• Noora Almarri, nominated by University College London, will pivot from electrical engineering to biomaterials as she attempts to develop smart artificial blood vessels that enhance regrowth and provide real-time health monitoring.
• Lucia Brunel, nominated by Stanford University, will move her focus from biomaterials to robobtics to explore how to develop magnetic microrobots that could be used for minimally invasive procedures and targeted drug delivery.
• Jon Arizti Sanz, nominated by MIT, plans to develop fermentation-ready products to produce nutritious food from local resources, using a common fungus. His work could help local communities produce their own food.
• Serena Omo-Lamai, nominated by the University of Pennsylvania, plans to refine gene editing tools in order to selectively eliminate the harmful cells involved in autoimmune diseases, providing a more precise and safe treatment for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and type-1 diabetes.
• Gina Cuomo-Dannebnburg, nominated by Imperial College London, will study how extreme weather events like floods and droughts can affect mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and dengue and whether such events might be associated with more virulent pathogens.
• Connor McKenny, nominated by Johns Hopkins University, will investigate how to use biomolecular engineering to convert plastic waste into important industrial chemicals, thereby reducing the global burden of plastic waste.
• Vahidullah Tac, nominated by Purdue University, plans to pioneer a means of measuring how the human head moves during the blows that cause mild traumatic brain injuries, possibly leading to the development of protective gear to improve the prevention of concussions.

According to its website, Schmidt Sciences “is a philanthropic organization that accelerates scientific knowledge and breakthroughs to support a thriving world.” It prioritizes research in five areas: AI and Advanced Computing, Astrophysics and Space, Biosciences, Climate and Science Systems.

Stu Feldman, Chief Scientist at Schmidt Sciences, described the fellows as “a dynamic global community of remarkable scientists and champions of interdisciplinary research.” He said their work “exemplifies Schmidt Sciences’ commitment to support pioneering approaches that will drive the next era of discovery and innovation.”