Lawrence Fellowship: Learn more and apply

Eligibility:

Applicants must either be in the process of completing their Ph.D. (within one year and employment may not start until Ph.D. requirements have been verified) or have received their Ph.D. prior to being hired as a Lawrence Fellow. Selected Fellows for this call will begin employment between August and October 2025.

Although U.S. citizenship is not required for application, candidates should know their current visa status (if any) and be prepared to provide this information should they be selected as a potential fellow.

Process:

Between August 1 and October 1, a link will appear below for the Lawrence Fellowship job posting and application. Before applying, please read through this section for information you will be required to provide.

Required materials, due by October 1st, include:

1. Resume/CV 
2. Research impact statement - Using no more than three or four sentences, describe the scientific significance and potential impact of your proposed research. This section should clearly state why your work is important. In addition, you should state how your work is relevant for LLNL's missions. Be succinct and use plain language that can be understood by a general, lay audience.
3. Research proposal (no more than 6 pages including figures and references)
4. Contact information for three (3) references for letters of recommendation via Xref: (one must be your thesis advisor and the other two should be scientists who can speak with authority on your research). Once you submit your application via the button below, you will receive an additional email that will provide instructions on how to submit the contact information of your references. You are allowed to provide contact information for more than three references, but please be mindful that the review committee has hundreds of applications to read through. Additional references are only recommended if you feel the extra letter provides key information that won’t be captured in the first three. You will be notified when your references submit the letters; please have them check their spam if they do not see an email from Xref. 
5. Transcripts: Official transcripts are not required. If you choose to provide one, electronic copies are preferred. If you are unable to obtain an electronic copy, hard copies can be mailed to Michelle Perez-Robles (perezrobles1@llnl.gov) at LLNL, P.O. Box 808, L-001, Livermore, CA 94551. 

Once you submit your application, you can go back and make updates. All application updates and attachments should be completed by October 1st in order to receive full consideration.

Reference Letters:

Upon submission of reference names, an automatic request for recommendation letters will be emailed to them with instructions for submission. These letters are a critical part of the committee's evaluation of applications. We highly recommend that you contact these references prior to submitting your application to confirm their availability to provide us with a letter on your behalf. Application packages that do not include all reference letters by the deadline will not receive full consideration.

Writing Your Research Proposal:

When writing your Research Proposal, it is important to be succinct (no more than six pages) and to use good English. Remember to include a title. The committee that will be reviewing your statement is composed of scientists from many different disciplines. Your statement should have an introduction that would be understandable to a broad audience but should also include enough details to satisfy the experts. Most essential is a description of why this research is important, what are the advantages of carrying out this research at LLNL, and a description of how this research will be carried out at LLNL. 

It may be helpful to explore LLNL's publication Science and Technology Review for additional information regarding current research at LLNL. Visiting LLNL's main website or LLNL's programs list may also be helpful.

Click here to view an example of a Research Proposal submitted by a previous applicant who was awarded the Lawrence Fellowship.

Selection Process Timeline

If Selected as a Finalist

• Selected finalists will be notified of their finalist status and invited to LLNL for two days of interviews and to give a seminar on their current research work.
• Hire decisions will be made in late February.
• Only the HR rep is authorized to extend an official employment offer.
   

Submit Application