Website Packard Foundation
About the Program
The Packard Fellows program is for highly creative young faculty researchers in the natural, physical sciences and engineering during their first three years as faculty. According to the Foundation, Packard Fellows are inquisitive, passionate scientists and engineers who take a creative approach to their research, dare to think big, and follow new ideas wherever they lead. The Foundation emphasizes support for innovative PI-led research rather than extensions or components of large-scale, ongoing research programs.
Up to twenty recipients will receive individual grants of $875,000 over five years.
Workshops for Interested Applicants
Packard Fellowship proposals are only two pages and must be able to communicate big ideas to a broader audience of scientists than is typical. For these reasons they are difficult to write. These workshops will help you hone your idea and present it in accessible, compelling language. Previous attendees have found that the exercise of preparing a Packard Fellowship proposal improved their ability to conceptualize and communicate research in other settings.
Letters of recommendation are required, and the best letter writers can evaluate the future potential of the applicant, rather than just review past successes. The internal process will take these concerns into account; the workshop can help you determine your best referees as well as how to best frame your research to appeal to the Packard Foundation.
WORKSHOP DATES
December 15 AND January 19
3:00 – 5:00 pm
Prof. Arthur Lander, past Packard Fellow; and Prof. Chang Liu, Beckman Young Investigator and Moore Inventor Fellow, will lead the workshops.
Eligibility
Candidates must be faculty members who are eligible to serve as principal investigators and are in the first three years of their faculty careers: that is, whose initial faculty appointments began no earlier than May 31, 2020, and no later than May 31, 2023. Eligible disciplines: physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering.
Internal Application Process
UCI may submit only two nominations; therefore, interested applicants should (via the UCI Review application system) submit the following by Wednesday, February 8, 2023:
- Two Page Research Statement consistent with Packard’s Guidelines (12 point font; 1-inch margins; 1400 words max; figures can be included on a third page).
- Brief curriculum vita (up to 3 pages) including a list of publications in which independent contributions are identified,
- Name, Title, and Affiliated Institution of the 3 individuals—external to UCI—who will be asked to submit letters of recommendation to Packard on the applicant’s behalf. One letter must be from a person who has had no supervisory or collaborative contact with the nominee. Please include a sentence or two explaining why each referee will be the best person to provide a strong reference letter for you.
An ad hoc committee will then be convened to review the internal applications. The campus must submit nominations by March 14, 2023 and the selected campus nominees will be notified prior to this deadline. The complete application packet is due to Packard on April 19, 2023 (exact date TBA).
Please review last year’s awardees and the Fellows Advisory Committee members.
Last year’s program guidelines are available for reference online here. Aside from dates, we do not anticipate major changes from Packard.
Questions about our internal campus review process may be directed to
Director of Research Development, Mike Gallo at magallo@uci.edu .
Contact Roxanne Ford (fordmr@uci.edu) in Corporate and Foundation Relations for information about Packard’s funding priorities and the workshop.