There has never been a more exciting time to explore observational cosmology, given the era of Euclid, JWST, and Rubin LSST, as well as the recently launched Roman Space Telescope. The University of Michigan is at the forefront of this scientific revolution. We are proud to be a participating Host Institution for the Brinson Prize Fellowship Program, supported by The Brinson Foundation in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). This fellowship supports outstanding early-career astrophysicists and cosmologists who are committed to chasing bold ideas with creative, nimble, and innovative research.

Application Deadline: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 7:00 p.m. EST (4:00 p.m. PST)

A Thriving Observational Cosmology Science Community at the University of Michigan

At Michigan, you'll find a vibrant community of researchers dedicated to observational cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics. Our work spans observation, numerical, and machine learning methods, including the development of novel astronomical instrumentation. Potential faculty hosts for the Brinson Prize Fellowship include: Fred Adams, Camille Avestruz, Eric Bell, Joel Bregman, Gus Evrard, Elena Gallo, Oleg Gnedin, Kayhan Gultekin, Dragan Huterer, Sean Johnson, Christopher Miller, Sally Oey, Mateusz Ruszkowski, Keren Sharon, Michael Schubnell, Monica Valluri, Feige Wang, Jinyi Yang.

Interested in Joining Us?

You can learn more about the opportunity, resources and support available at U-M through this link. Share this opportunity widely! Potential applicants are encouraged to contact individual faculty members to learn more about research opportunities in observational cosmology and extragalactic astronomy at Michigan. For questions about research collaborations, faculty mentorship, or resources available to Brinson Prize Fellows, please reach out to our faculty contact for this program: Feige Wang (fgwang@umich.edu).

If you are interested in putting the University of Michigan as your host institution for your other prize fellowships (e.g., NASA Hubble Fellowship Program) or want to find a mentor for the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI fellowship, please also feel free to reach out to individual faculty members.

Note: The Brinson Prize Fellowship is supported by The Brinson Foundation in collaboration with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Fellowship details, eligibility criteria, and application instructions are set by STScI. Please visit the official Brinson Prize Fellowship program page at STScI for the most current information.