Whitehead Fellows Program

At the heart of Whitehead Institute’s educational mission is the Whitehead Fellows Program—an initiative that has helped cultivate an extraordinary cadre of scientific leaders.

The program emerged from the notion that nurturing young scientists during their most creative years will yield a new generation of leaders more rapidly than traditional programs. Fellows are given the space, resources and support needed to run their own labs and pursue an independent research agenda. However, unlike traditional faculty positions, the Fellows do not have teaching responsibilities. Fellows are appointed for a three-year term with the expectation that it will be extended to five years.

This kind of support and freedom enables the Fellows to use their time at the Institute to concentrate solely on building a strong research program. In addition, Fellows have the unique opportunity to establish and maintain an independent laboratory, something that many researchers don’t experience until later in their careers.

Fellows must possess not only boundless energy, but also the audacity to take risks and forge a path through uncharted territory. This has been true since the program launched in 1984, when newly appointed Fellow David C. Page (now Whitehead Director) set up his fledgling lab. When Page arrived -- just two months out of medical school -- his lab space consisted of little more than empty bench space and a towering stack of boxes.
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Like Page, many former Fellows view their early experience working as independent investigators as a career shaping process. “I think that the program is fantastic, particularly because the mentoring system is taken very seriously,” says Angelika Amon, who worked as a Fellow from 1996 to 1999.

Candidates for a Whitehead fellowship must be nominated by their faculty advisor or mentor.