Gilliam Fellows Program
Fellowship details
The Gilliam Fellows Program aspires to build a more inclusive scientific ecosystem by supporting scientists at two levels — graduate students and their faculty thesis advisors.
The program invests in graduate trainees who are committed to advancing equity and inclusion in science, and engaging their communities in science, and empowers them as future science leaders. The Fellowship also provides support for thesis advisors to enhance their mentorship skills and act as change-makers to develop more inclusive and healthy scientific training environments.
Each student-advisor pair receives an annual award of $53,000 for up to three years. Fellows join a vibrant community and are offered professional development in leadership and science communication, and opportunities to engage with and learn from peers, program alumni, and HHMI scientists. As a part of the award, Fellows create a project that engages their communities in the process of science and scientific discovery and/or promotes healthy and inclusive science training environments.
Their advisors also join a cohort of peers, participate in HHMI’s intensive, one-year mentorship skills development course, and support their Fellow’s development and implementation of their Gilliam community engagement project.
Announcements of recent cohorts
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019
More information can be found in the 2025 Program Announcement
The program provides awards and benefits to pairs of graduate students and their thesis advisors.
Award details
- Fellows are supported for up to three years of dissertation research, typically in years 3-5 of PhD study
- For 2025, the fellowship award is $53,000 per year. This includes an annual Fellow stipend of $36,000, an institutional allowance (in lieu of tuition and fees) of $10,000, a Fellow’s discretionary allowance of $4,000, and a community engagement allowance of $3,000 to support activities, led by the Fellow, that engage their communities in the process of science and scientific discovery and/or improve the health and inclusivity of science training environments.
Program highlights for Fellows:
- Attend the Gilliam Annual Meeting to
- meet and connect with other Fellows
- share research with the Gilliam community
- participate in leadership and science communications training and professional development sessions
- Learn about the latest research from HHMI scientists, present an e-poster, and gain career advice at HHMI Science Meetings
- Receive support for attending discipline-specific conferences, advanced courses, and other professional development activities
Program highlights for advisors:
- Engage in a 30-hour, year-long mentorship skills development course through interactive online modules and two in-person meetings
- Learn best practices in improving communication, managing expectations, and developing equitable and inclusive mentoring relationships from nationally recognized facilitators
- Collaborate with the Fellow in the development and implementation of activities to engage their communities in the process of science and scientific discovery and/or advance equitable, inclusive, and healthy science training environments
Application Opens: October 17, 2024
Application Deadline: December 5, 2024
Award Notification: June 2025
Fellowship Starts: September 2025
The announcement and additional information about the Gilliam Fellows Program can also be found on the Gilliam webpage.
HHMI’s Gilliam Fellows Program is open to eligible PhD students and their thesis advisors.
The adviser-student pairs must:
- be studying scientific problems in biomedical sciences, life sciences, or biological questions in related disciplines. This includes basic research on a variety of biological systems and at all scales including at the molecular, cellular, organismal, ecological, and behavioral levels
- be committed to advancing equity and inclusion in science
Prospective Fellows must:
- be currently enrolled and in good academic standing in a biomedical or life sciences PhD program at an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or U.S. territory
- be in their second or third year of a PhD program at the time of application and have at least two full years of study remaining as of September 1, 2025. Students enrolled in or affiliated with a dual-degree program (e.g., MD-PhD) are not eligible to apply.
- be a US citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or undocumented individual who has been granted temporary permission to stay in the U.S. (e.g. DACA) and/or who has been granted eligibility to study at and receive funding from their graduate institution consistent with state law.1 International students are not eligible.
We welcome applications from eligible persons of all identities.
For more details about eligibility, please review our frequently asked questions.
1 https://www.uscis.gov/archive/consideration-deferred-action-external link, opens in a new tabchildhood-arrivals-daca#guidelines
Note: The Gilliam Fellows Program is an open competition. Application prompts are subject to change for each new competition. Please refer to the 2025 Gilliam Program Announcement (PDF).
Application
The Gilliam application requires unique components to be submitted by the student, the thesis advisor, and an additional reference for the student. For details about the specific components, please refer to the program announcement.
In reviewing applications, the Gilliam Fellows Program selection committee considers:
- The demonstrated ability of the student to formulate and creatively pursue interesting scientific problem(s), and their ability to clearly communicate these ideas;
- The commitment of the student to advancing equity and inclusion in their academic or scientific communities as demonstrated by their activities advancing these objectives, their unique perspectives, viewpoints, and experiences as an individual that have shaped their leadership philosophy on equity and inclusion, and/or their plan to contribute to equity and inclusion and engage their communities in science in their future career;
- The demonstrated commitment of the thesis advisor to develop as an effective mentor and support the training and professional development of the student applicant;
- The demonstrated commitment of the advisor to advancing equity and inclusion in science and their role in helping to foster a healthy academic scientific ecosystem for all constituencies (e.g., students, postdocs, early career faculty) at their institution.
For more details, please review the program announcement and our frequently asked questions.