Funding

Partial / Stipend

Program dates

TBA

Fellowship•USA · Hybrid

Switzer Fellowship

Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Application Deadline

December 15, 2026

Official Page

The Switzer Fellowship is run by the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation, a family foundation that backs emerging environmental leaders. Each year it selects 20 graduate students, split between Master’s and PhD candidates, and gives each one an unrestricted $17,000 cash award covering a single academic year. Fellows stay in their own graduate programs; the money can go to tuition, university fees, living costs or research expenses as the fellow decides. Beyond the cash, fellows get leadership training and career coaching, join a network of more than 750 former fellows, and become eligible for the foundation’s later grant programs. Starting with the 2027 cycle the fellowship is open to graduate students anywhere in the United States and US territories, which the foundation calls the most significant expansion in its 40-year history; before this it was limited to California and New England.

Benefits & funding

  • Unrestricted cash award of $17,000, paid in two instalments in June and January.
  • Funds may be applied to tuition, matriculation and other university fees, living expenses, or education- and research-related expenses.
  • Leadership training and career coaching during the fellowship year.
  • Membership in the Switzer Network of more than 750 fellows.
  • Eligibility for later foundation funding, including Leadership Grants and the Professional Development Fund.
  • Two required fellowship retreats, held in September and April.

Eligibility

  • Open to US citizens, permanent residents, DACA recipients, and refugees or asylees as defined by the US Department of Homeland Security. International students are not eligible.
  • Applicants must be enrolled at an accredited graduate institution in the United States or a US territory, and plan to be enrolled for the entire 2027–2028 academic year.
  • Students in online programs cannot apply.
  • Master’s applicants must have completed at least one semester or quarter of coursework and be seeking a Master’s as their terminal degree.
  • PhD applicants must have completed their qualifying exams by the time of application.
  • Academic and career goals must be focused on environmental improvement. Applicants come from natural sciences, social sciences, policy and other fields, including people arriving from non-environmental backgrounds with transferable skills.
  • Mid-career students are welcome where the fellowship would strengthen their environmental leadership.
  • No age limit and no minimum work experience are stated.
  • The foundation strongly encourages applications from Black, Indigenous and students of color, first-generation college students, and others underrepresented in environmental graduate programs. This is an encouragement, not a requirement.

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    USA

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  • Education required

    Master Enrolled · PhD Enrolled

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Application process

  1. 1
    Wait for the online application form to open on the How to Apply page in early September 2026.
  2. 2
    Read the eligibility rules and the evaluation rubric, and optionally watch a recorded fellowship information session.
  3. 3
    Write the original essay of two to three pages (10,000 characters maximum) covering commitment to environmental and social change, leadership skills, career plans and work advancing equity.
  4. 4
    Answer the two short narrative questions on the impact the applicant wants their career to have and what the network would add to it.
  5. 5
    Arrange two professional letters of recommendation, submitted directly by the recommenders as PDFs. The applicant is responsible for making sure the letters arrive by the deadline.
  6. 6
    Upload a current resume (not a CV) and the most recent graduate transcripts; unofficial transcripts are accepted.
  7. 7
    Submit the completed online form before applications close in mid-December 2026. Applicants may also request to be paired with a Switzer Fellow for guidance; that request closes earlier, on 16 November.
  8. 8
    Applications pass through a pre-screening step and review by Switzer Fellows, then a consultant review round; finalists interview virtually in early May 2027 and awards are announced in June 2027.

Program timeline

  1. Applications open

    Early September 2026

  2. Deadline to request being paired with a Switzer Fellow for application support

    16 November 2026

  3. Mid-December 2026

    Application deadline (the foundation has not published the exact day; this listing uses 15 December 2026)

  4. Virtual interviews for finalists

    Early May 2027

  5. Award notifications and first payment instalment

    June 2027

  6. Fellowship retreat, start of the fellowship year

    September 2027

  7. Second payment instalment

    January 2028

  8. Second fellowship retreat

    April 2028