Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study

The goals of the Gilliam program are to ensure that students from groups historically excluded from and underrepresented in science are prepared to assume leadership roles in science and science education, and to foster the development of a healthier, more inclusive academic scientific ecosystem by partnering with faculty and institutions committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the sciences.

Application for the Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study is by invitation only. HHMI’s Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study are open to eligible pairs comprising thesis advisors and PhD students (“advisor-student pairs”).

Advisor-student pairs from eligible disciplines must be nominated by the HHMI-designated institutional representative; and

• PhD students must be NIGMS training grant eligible, be from racial, ethnic, and other underrepresented groups in the sciences, or Alumni of the HHMI EXROP and be at the appropriate program stage of their PhD training.
• The Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study will support students for up to three years of their dissertation research, typically in years 3-5 of their PhD studies.
• Nominations must therefore be made for students in their second or third year of a PhD program that have advanced to candidacy by the start of the fellowship.

The advisor-student pairs must be studying scientific problems in biomedical and life science disciplines including plant biology, evolutionary biology, biophysics, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, and computational biology.

For the 2023 fellowship cohort the award amount is $53,000 per year. This includes an annual fellow stipend of $36,000, an institution allowance (in lieu of tuition and fees) of $10,000, a fellow’s discretionary allowance of $4,000, and an adviser allowance of $3,000 to support diversity and inclusion efforts at the graduate level.