What this program funds
The Packard Fellowships give a small cohort of early-career scientists and engineers large, unusually flexible funding — in recent cycles $875,000 over five years — to pursue their boldest ideas. The foundation explicitly wants risk-taking: work that is too speculative, too interdisciplinary, or too early for conventional federal funding. Eligible disciplines span the natural sciences and engineering (fields like physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, mathematics, computer science, Earth and ocean sciences, and all branches of engineering); clinically oriented biomedical research generally falls outside the program's scope.
Eligibility in plain English
- This is a nomination-only program. The foundation invites a limited set of universities (around fifty in recent cycles), and each invited institution may nominate only a small number of candidates. You cannot apply directly.
- You are faculty within roughly the first three years of your first appointment at one of the invited institutions.
- Your research falls in the natural sciences or engineering, not primarily clinical or translational medicine.
- Because everything runs through your institution, your first step is internal: ask your research development office whether your university is invited, how its internal competition works, and when it runs.
What you'll need to submit
The internal competition and the foundation stage together typically require:
- A research statement describing the ambitious direction you would pursue with flexible funds — usually short, and pitched to a broad scientific audience.
- A CV and representative publications.
- Letters of recommendation from senior scientists.
- Institutional endorsement materials handled by your research development office.
Tips for this mechanism
- Win the internal competition first — and it happens early. Internal selection often runs months before the foundation sees anything. If you hear about the fellowship at the foundation deadline, you have already missed it.
- Pitch what federal funding can't do. Packard reviewers are looking for the project you would never send to a federal agency: higher risk, longer horizon, or a sharp change of direction. A safe, fundable aims page is the wrong document here.
- Lead with vision, not preliminary data. The five-year flexible award is a bet on a person. Make the through-line of your scientific ambition unmistakable in the first page.
Related programs
- Sloan Research Fellowships (broader field list, smaller flexible award)
- Beckman Young Investigator Program (chemistry and life sciences)
- Moore Foundation investigator-style awards (invited, field-specific)
- NSF CAREER (open application, integrates research and education)