TO:      School of Medicine Faculty

FROM:  Katherine L. Nathanson, MD and Matthew D. Weitzman, PhD 

          Co-Chairs, PSOM Limited Applications Selection Committee

RE: The David & Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science & Engineering Program

https://www.packard.org/what-we-fund/science/packard-fellowships-for-science-and-engineering/   

https://www.packard.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/2024-Packard-Fellowship-Guidelines.pdf 

The University has been invited to nominate two faculty members for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science and Engineering Program. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) will determine the final candidates to represent the University.  Each school within the University may nominate two candidates. 

Program summary: The Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering program invests in future leaders who have the freedom to take risks, explore new frontiers in their fields of study, and follow uncharted paths that may lead to groundbreaking discoveries. The Fellowship Program provides support for highly creative researchers early in their careers; faculty members who are well established and well-funded are less likely to receive the award. 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 individual research that involves the Fellows, their students, and junior colleagues, rather than extensions or components of large scale, ongoing research programs.  

Eligibility: 

• Candidates must be faculty members in the first three years of their faculty careers, that is, whose initial faculty appointments began no earlier than May 31, 2021, and no later than May 31, 2024 

• Candidates must be faculty members who are eligible to serve as principal investigators engaged in research in the natural and physical sciences or engineering. Disciplines that will be considered include physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering.  

• The award does not support social science research, clinical research, or research associated with the design and construction of large national facilities such as accelerators and space stations and applied research of direct relevance to national security. 

• For any sponsored research projects, the applicant must be eligible to serve as Principal Investigator for the project, unless otherwise noted in the LSO. Please see Penn’s PI Eligibility requirements to ensure you are eligible.  

Award Information: 

• The Packard Fellowship grant begins in mid-October of the year the grant is awarded. The Fellowship is a five‐year grant. The total award amount is $875,000.

• The grant provides $175,000 per year for five years, subject to reasonable progress in the research work of the Fellow. Of this amount, $17,500 can be for administrative costs. 

PSOM Review Process:

Each candidate must submit the following:

• Cover page which must include:

  • Project title

  • Candidate’s name, academic rank, department, email address, phone number and campus address, month and year of appointment to Penn faculty.  

  • In addition, please provide the names, titles and academic institutions of the 3 people from outside of Penn who will write the letters of recommendations.

• Nomination letter (maximum two pages) from the candidate’s Chair/Division Chief which should provide information about the nominee’s ability to do creative research.

• Research Statement:

  • Should describe why the research is important and outline the general goals for the next five years.

  • Also indicate, in general, how funds will be used. This does not need to be a detailed budget and will not be binding on the actual use of funds.

  • 1,400 words limit (maximum two pages of text, prepared in 12 point font with 1 inch margins). If there are relevant figures, images or references, please include these separately on a third page.

• CV including educational background, professional appointments, awards and honors, publications and current and pending funding with award amounts and start/end dates. If there is potential overlap with the Packard project, briefly describe the nature of the overlap.

Submission should be in a single pdf file in the following order: cover page, letter of intent, CV.  The pdf document should be titled as follows: Packard__InvestigatorSurname_Investigator first name. For example: Packard_Doe_Jane.pdf.  

Applications are due by 9:00AM on Monday, February 12th and should be e-mailed to: Kaitlyn Hagarty at kaitlyn.hagarty@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.