The Schmidt Science Polymath program bets on recently-tenured professors with remarkable track records, promising futures, and a desire to explore interdisciplinary research. The program aims to encourage the best “polymath” scientists to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary shift soon after achieving tenure.
The Polymath program will make long-term bets on recently-tenured professors with remarkable track records, promising futures, and a desire to explore interdisciplinary research. Each professor will be awarded $500,000 per year, paid through their institution, for up to five years to help support a research group through talent, such as three to four students or postdocs, and resources. These grants are intended to make possible the exploration of new ideas across disciplines, using emerging technologies to test risky theories that may not otherwise receive funding or support. They are not intended to relieve the researcher of pursuing other grants to continue their mainstream work, nor to be large enough to fully support a modern lab.
Duke has been invited to nominate 2 candidates.
Deadlines:
- Duke Internal Deadline: Aug. 16, 2023
- Nomination: Sep. 1, 2023
- Invited Applications: TBA
Interested applicants from Duke University should contact Steve Murray (stephen.murray@duke.edu) for assistance.
- Have achieved tenure or an equivalent status within the past three calendar years (2020 or later),
- Have a remarkable record of accomplishment in area(s) of science and engineering,
- Have a demonstrated history of pursuing and publishing results in more than one field,
- Demonstrate a need for additional funding to enable new experiments, explorations, or shifts in research directions.
Owing to the sponsor's restriction on the number of applications that may be submitted from Duke, anyone wishing to pursue nomination should submit the following materials as one PDF.
- When did you receive tenure (MM/YYYY)?
- Primary field
- CV
- 2-3 highlighted publications/papers/talks/projects demonstrating that you work across fields
- 1 pager outlining outlining what you have done that shows repeated innovation on more than one problem, demonstrated high variance thinking and research in areas widely divergent from primary field, and the demonstrated need for funding to pursue new directions.
Please submit internal materials through My Research Proposal. (Code: ILN) https://www.grantinterface.com/sl/zEnYc0
Instructions for creating an account (if needed) and submitting your materials: https://ctsi.duke.edu/about-myresearchproposal