USA Scholarships
Hertz Fellowship 2027 - Up to $250,000 for a PhD
The Hertz Fellowship funds young scientists and engineers who want to work on hard problems without asking anyone for permission. The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation gives each fellow up to five years of support, valued at up to $250,000, built from a $38,000 nine-month personal stipend and the full tuition equivalent at any tenable US university. Fellows with dependent children receive another $5,000 a year. You have to be a US citizen or permanent resident, and you have to be at the very start of your doctoral path: a college senior, in a gap year, or in your first year of graduate school, so that you are a first- or second-year PhD student when funding begins in autumn 2027. Applications for the 2027 class opened on 31 August 2026 and close on 30 October 2026, with recommender evaluations due on 2 November.
What is the Hertz Fellowship?
The Hertz Fellowship is the award American science students talk about in slightly lowered voices. The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation has been backing young researchers in the applied sciences since the 1960s, and the pitch has not really changed: take the most promising people early, give them money with almost no strings attached, and get out of the way. Fellows receive up to five years of support worth as much as $250,000, and unlike most doctoral funding it does not tie you to a grant, a lab or a project you described on an application form two years ago.
That freedom is the whole point. A Hertz Fellow can switch advisors, abandon a dead end, or follow a result into a completely different subfield without losing a cent. Anyone who has watched a friend stay on a failing project because the funding was attached to it understands why that matters. The foundation pairs the money with mentoring from people who have been through it, and with a community of about 71 current fellows spread across 17 universities plus decades of alumni who tend to answer emails.
The numbers are straightforward. Under the standard option you get a $38,000 nine-month personal stipend and the full tuition equivalent at any tenable US university, renewable each year for up to five years, with another $5,000 a year if you have dependent children. If you also win something like the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the foundation coordinates rather than competes: your stipend rises to $44,000 during the Hertz-funded stretch, and you receive a $9,000 annual top-up while the other award pays. Two gates decide whether you can apply at all. You must be a US citizen or permanent resident, and you must be early enough in your training to be a first- or second-year PhD student in autumn 2027.
Be clear-eyed about the odds. Last cycle more than 1,450 people applied, 54 reached the final interviews, and 19 became fellows. The essays get you read, but the interviews decide it, and Hertz interviews have a reputation: technical, unscripted, and happy to sit in silence while you work through a problem on a whiteboard. There is no research proposal to write, which surprises people, so what you are really being assessed on is how you think when someone pushes back. The 2027 application closes on 30 October 2026 and your four recommenders have until 2 November. If you are a senior in a hurry, start with the recommenders today.
Eligibility
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✓US citizen or permanent residentThe Hertz Fellowship is restricted to citizens and permanent residents of the United States. There is no route in for international students on a visa. If you reach the interview stage you will be asked for proof of citizenship or your permanent resident card.
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✓At the start of your doctoral trainingApply as a college senior, during a gap year, or in your first year of graduate school. The rule that matters is where you will be when the money starts: you must be enrolled as a first- or second-year PhD student in autumn 2027. Applicants further along are considered only in rare cases with documented justification.
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✓Applied physical or biological sciences, maths or engineeringYour field has to sit in the applied physical and biological sciences, mathematics or engineering. Pure theory with no line of sight to application is a harder sell, and the foundation says openly that it backs work aimed at major, near-term problems facing society.
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✓Full-time, in-person PhD in the United StatesThe fellowship supports a full-time, in-person doctorate at a US institution. Part-time study, remote programmes and PhDs outside the United States cannot be funded. More than 50 universities have standing agreements with the foundation, and others can be added after an award.
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✓A research doctorate, not a professional degreeMD, JD, MBA, DPH and DVM programmes are not funded. If you are in an MD/PhD, the foundation will support the PhD portion, and you apply in the year before you begin dissertation research or during your first PhD year.
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✓Willingness to make the moral commitmentEvery Hertz Fellow makes a non-binding moral commitment to make their skills available to the United States in times of national emergency. It carries no legal obligation and no service requirement, but you are expected to mean it.
Benefits
- Personal stipend $38,000 per nine-month year
- Tuition and ordinary fees Full tuition equivalent
- Length of support Renewable yearly, up to 5 years
- Dependent children allowance $5,000 a year
- Total value Up to $250,000
- Mentoring and fellow community For life
- PhD study outside the USA Not funded
- Stipend during the Hertz period $44,000 per nine-month year
- Tuition during the Hertz period Full tuition equivalent
- Top-up during the other award $9,000 a year from Hertz
- Stacks with NSF GRFP, NIH, DoD Yes, coordinated
- Length of support Renewable yearly, up to 5 years
- Dependent children allowance $5,000 a year
- Professional degrees such as MD or JD Not funded
Document checklist
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✓Online application formEverything runs through the foundation's application portal, which opened on 31 August 2026. Start it early, because the essays take longer than most people expect.
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✓Four short essaysEach runs 250 to 500 words, covering why you chose your field, what you plan to study, how you picked your graduate school, and a chronological account of your work so far.
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✓Personal essayA longer piece of 500 to 1,000 words. This is where the committee looks for the initiative and curiosity it keeps talking about, so write it in your own voice rather than in grant prose.
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✓Four recommendationsYou need four recommenders, and they must complete the foundation's own evaluation form rather than send a standard letter. Their deadline is 2 November 2026, a few days after yours.
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✓TranscriptsUnofficial transcripts are accepted with the initial application. Official copies are requested later if you advance to the finalist stage.
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✓Academic honours and awards listA record of prizes, scholarships and recognitions you have already earned. Include publications, patents and other supplemental material here too.
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✓GRE scores, optionalThe general and subject tests are accepted but not required, and leaving them out does not count against you. If you do send them, the institution code is 4366.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the Hertz Fellowship?
The Hertz Fellowship is a doctoral award from the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation for young scientists, engineers and mathematicians working in the applied sciences. It pays a personal stipend plus the full tuition equivalent for up to five years, and it is deliberately unrestricted: fellows can change advisor, change project, or change direction entirely without losing their funding. The foundation calls that the Freedom to Innovate, and it is the real reason people chase this award over better-known ones.
How much is the Hertz Fellowship worth?
Up to $250,000 across five years. Under the standard option you receive a $38,000 nine-month personal stipend plus the full tuition equivalent, renewable each year for up to five years, with another $5,000 a year if you have dependent children. If you also hold a major award such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the foundation coordinates the two: during the Hertz-funded period the stipend rises to $44,000 with tuition covered, and during the other award you receive a $9,000 annual supplement.
Who is eligible for the Hertz Fellowship?
You need to be a US citizen or permanent resident, and you need to be at the beginning of your doctoral training. College seniors, people in a gap year, and first-year graduate students all qualify, as long as you will be a first- or second-year PhD student in autumn 2027 when funding begins. Your PhD must be full-time, in person, at a US institution, and in the applied physical or biological sciences, mathematics or engineering.
When is the Hertz Fellowship 2027 deadline?
The 2027 application opened on 31 August 2026 and closes on 30 October 2026. Your four recommenders have until 2 November 2026 to submit their evaluations. Interviews follow over the winter, finalists are named in February 2027, and the fellowship class is announced in May 2027.
How competitive is the Hertz Fellowship?
Extremely. For the class of 2026 the foundation received more than 1,450 applications, invited 54 people to the final round of interviews, and made 19 awards. That is roughly a 1.3 percent success rate, which makes it one of the most selective graduate awards in American science. The interviews, not the paperwork, are where most candidates are separated out.
Can you hold a Hertz Fellowship and the NSF GRFP at the same time?
Yes. The Hertz Foundation coordinates with the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and with NIH and Department of Defense awards so that you can accept both and end up with more support rather than less. Under that coordinated option your Hertz stipend is $44,000 for the nine-month year while Hertz is paying, and you receive a $9,000 annual supplement during the years the other fellowship covers you.
What fields does the Hertz Fellowship cover?
The applied physical sciences, applied biological sciences, mathematics and engineering. Within that range the foundation cares less about your label than about whether your work speaks to a major, near-term problem. Professional degrees are excluded, so MD, JD, MBA, DPH and DVM programmes cannot be funded, although the PhD half of an MD/PhD can be.
Does the Hertz Fellowship application require a research proposal?
No. You are not asked to propose a specific project, which sets this application apart from most graduate fellowships. Instead you write four short essays of 250 to 500 words and a personal essay of 500 to 1,000 words, and four recommenders complete the foundation's own evaluation form. The GRE is optional and skipping it does not hurt your case.
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