Stanford Energy Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027: Applications Closed

Stanford Energy Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027: At a Glance

The fellowship is a cross-campus programme designed to cultivate future energy leaders working across science, engineering, technology, policy, economics and other fields connected to the global energy transformation.

Eligibility for the 2027 Cohort

Eligibility is timing-sensitive. Candidates should calculate both the PhD-conferral date and previous postdoctoral experience before preparing a future application.

Fellowship Salary, Research Support and Benefits

Interdisciplinary Mentoring Model

A central feature of the fellowship is interdisciplinary faculty mentoring. Applicants identify at least two eligible co-mentors from complementary research perspectives. At least one must be a Stanford faculty member holding an assistant, associate or full professorship. Eligible staff scientists and engineers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory with principal-investigator (PI) status, and eligible Carnegie Institution for Science staff scientists at its Stanford-based departments with PI status, may also serve as co-mentors under Stanford’s official mentor rules.

The research statement must explain why the project requires an interdisciplinary approach and why the chosen co-mentors are the appropriate researchers to guide the work. Applicants should contact prospective mentors well before applying; Stanford recommends starting about two to three months before the deadline.

Fellows may be hosted by academic departments across Stanford’s seven schools, allowing research to span technical, scientific, economic, policy and societal dimensions of energy.

2027 Application Components

The 2027 application required a complete package with strict page limits:

How Candidates Are Selected

Stanford’s Downselect Committee evaluates complete applications using criteria that include:

• quality of the proposed research and its potential energy impact;
• quality and promise of the candidate;
• strength of nomination and recommendation letters;
• the extent to which the candidate brings new interdisciplinary expertise to Stanford; and
• fit with the broader mission of sustainable, affordable and secure energy.

Semi-finalists are invited to Zoom interviews with the fellowship Advisory Board. At that stage, reviewers also consider presentation quality, question-and-answer performance and the breadth of the final cohort.

Published annual timeline

Preparing for a Future Stanford Energy Fellowship Cycle

The 2027 cycle is closed. Stanford describes the programme as an annual fellowship and publishes a general July 1–October 1 application timeline, but future applicants should wait for the next cohort page before assuming that all requirements, salary figures or eligibility rules will remain unchanged.

Useful preparation that can begin before the next call includes:

• identifying a genuinely interdisciplinary energy question;
• mapping Stanford faculty whose expertise is complementary rather than redundant;
• building relationships with potential co-mentors well before the deadline, including confirming at least one Stanford faculty mentor and each mentor’s annual nomination capacity;
• preparing a concise three-page CV;
• developing a one-page research concept that explains both scientific rigor and energy impact; and
• checking PhD and postdoctoral-experience timing carefully.

For programme and eligibility queries, use the Stanford contact address Energy_Postdoctoral_Fellowship@stanford.edu.