Lawrence Fellowship

The Lawrence Fellowship is a highly competitive postdoctoral position at LLNL that is open to all technical disciplines. Fellowships are awarded to candidates with exceptional talent, scientific track records, and potential for significant achievements. Fellows are free to pursue their own independent research agenda within an environment of subject matter experts who provide guidance and mentorship. Download Flyer.

Application: The application is web-based and includes CV, research impact statement of 3-4 sentences, research proposal of no more than 6 pages, three references for letters of recommendation, and transcripts. 

Key Selection Criteria: Important application elements are the statement of technical interests, letters of recommendation, and your scientific track record (publication record). Candidates who reach the pool of finalists are invited for a two-day interview that includes a seminar about their current research. The seminar and interview must demonstrate excellent communication skills. Applicants must successfully explain specialized topics to a broad interdisciplinary audience.

Process: Registration will open in late-July. Applications are due on October 1. The selection committee, comprised of ten voting members representing various technical organizations in the laboratory, reviews applications between October and late-December to select roughly six finalists from the hundreds of applications. Between mid-January and mid-February, selected finalists are invited to LLNL for two days of interviews and to give a seminar. Hiring decisions are made in mid to late February.

Outcomes: At the conclusion of the fellowship, approximately 60% of the fellows secure a staff position at LLNL. The majority of those who leave obtain tenure-track positions at top-tier universities including MIT, Stanford, and UC Berkeley. A number of former fellows have started their own companies.

Salary: Fellows will be paid a starting salary of $11,204 per month (FY 24).