Schmidt Sciences has announced a $20 million investment in eight new Schmidt Polymaths, recognizing scientists with notable research records willing to delve into complex questions beyond their expertise. Founded in 2024 by Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt, the organization aims to accelerate scientific breakthroughs in fields like AI, biosciences, and astrophysics.
The new cohort will explore diverse topics, including immune systems of invertebrates, resilience of food crops against climate change, and the intersection of AI and human cognition. Each recipient will receive up to $2.5 million over five years, allowing freedom to experiment in ways traditional funding may not support. To qualify, researchers must hold tenure or an equivalent stage in their career and have a broad research portfolio.
The eight recipients for 2026 include:
- Allon Klein (Harvard Medical School) – Mapping invertebrate immune systems.
- Blake Richards (McGill University) – Using human behavior data to enhance AI models in neuroscience.
- Bo Wang (Stanford University) – Examining the evolution of warm-bloodedness in birds and mammals.
- Grace X. Gu (UC Berkeley) – Investigating food structure’s impact on taste, texture, and nutrition, and designing personalized food products.
- Hernan Garcia (UC Berkeley) – Developing climate-resilient crops through gene-editing.
- Lauren Zarzar (Penn State University) – Exploring chemical reactions in confined spaces for new molecular and material creation.
- Nicholas Bellono (Harvard University) – Studying communication among organisms.
- Zohreh Davoudi (University of Maryland) – Using quantum tools to understand cosmology.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com.
