At Schmidt Science Fellows, we are committed to continuously improving and strengthening the integral process of selecting our Fellows to ensure that we can identify the most promising interdisciplinary scientific leaders from around the world each year.
This commitment was recently emphasized at a Selector Workshop in Pasadena, as part of our 2025 Interdisciplinary Science Summit.
The workshop brought together a group of academic reviewers and final selectors from across disciplines, who have all participated in our selection process in recent years.
Along with more than 120 colleagues each year, this group plays a crucial role in identifying candidates demonstrating not only brilliance but also the courage to pivot into new fields in pursuit of global impact.
Dr. David McAllister, Director of Selection and Outreach, said: “The invaluable contributions of our reviewers and selectors are the cornerstone of our selection process. Their expertise, dedication, and commitment to our shared mission allow us to identify truly exceptional scientists who will make a profound impact on the world.”
The convening served as a forum to reflect on our process, share best practices, and explore how to strengthen the selection of Schmidt Science Fellows, with participants expressing strong satisfaction with the current processes, guidance, and program.
“Coming together like this has helped me reflect on the evaluation of leadership, collaboration, and social good, and how to balance that with the assessment of the pivot” – Laure Zanna, Keller Professor of Applied Mathematics at NYU.
It has been very helpful and fascinating to hear from the other selectors about their approach to assessing the applicants,” said Laure Zanna, Keller Professor of Applied Mathematics at NYU, Courant Institute.
“Coming together like this has helped me reflect on the evaluation of leadership, collaboration, and social good, and how to balance that with the assessment of the pivot.”
The workshop featured extensive discussion about the “pivot”, the program’s unique core requirement for Fellows to shift from their PhD specialization into a new research area, with the goal to foster interdisciplinary leaders who can address complex global challenges with a broader, more integrative scientific perspective.
Selectors engaged in thoughtful dialogue about the program’s evaluation framework, examining how criteria such as scientific curiosity, collaborative spirit, and alignment with the program work together to identify exceptional candidates.
Looking to the future, participants explored how the program can maintain its rigorous standards while adapting to evolving technological landscapes, ensuring the selection process remains fair, comprehensive, and forward-thinking.
The group considered how Generative AI might support the review process, for example, by extracting key information from large numbers of applications or suggesting questions for interviews.
The consensus was clear: AI can serve as a valuable assistant for routine tasks, enabling human reviewers to focus on the most critical, nuanced decisions.
Beyond formal discussions, the workshop fostered a stimulating environment for researchers from various disciplines to connect, network, and discuss interdisciplinary science.
The insights generated from the 2025 Selector Workshop will continue to inform our selection processes, ensuring Schmidt Science Fellows remains at the forefront of identifying and supporting the most promising interdisciplinary scientists who will drive interdisciplinary breakthroughs for global benefit.
Through our dedication to working closely with and listening to our expert reviewers and selectors, we maintain our commitment to excellence while adapting to the evolving landscape of scientific research.
We are immensely grateful to our selectors for their time, insights, and unwavering commitment to helping us identify the future leaders of science.
Special thanks go to Bruce Armitage (Carnegie Mellon), Shelley Claridge (Purdue), Wilmot James (Brown), Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio (Yale), Ben Raphael (Princeton), Julián Rimoli (UC Irvine), Viviana Risca (The Rockefeller University), and Laure Zanna (NYU).
Photos: Claudine Gossett
