The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) in New Mexico is accepting applications for its 2027 cohort of Complexity Postdoctoral Fellows, which includes the Omidyar Fellowships. Fellows spend up to three years in residence pursuing their own independent research, with no teaching load, no department and no assigned supervisor.
Quick Eligibility: SFI Complexity Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Opportunity Type: Funded Residential Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Education Level: PhD holders and final-year PhD candidates
- Eligible Fields: Any scientific discipline maths, physics, computer science, biology, social sciences
- Nationality: Worldwide
- PhD Requirement: Awarded after October 2020 and before September 2027
- Age Limit: Not specified
- Research Experience: Strong quantitative and computational skills required
- Application Fee: $0
- Duration: Up to 3 years
- Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
- Visa: J-1 sponsored by SFI (H-1B not sponsored)
- Application Deadline: September 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM MDT
- Application Method: Online through SurveyMonkey Apply
Who Can Apply
SFI lists six requirements for the 2027 cohort:
- A PhD in any scientific discipline, granted within 6 years of the deadline
- Strong quantitative and computational skills
- An exemplary academic record
- A proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively
- A demonstrated interest in transdisciplinary research
- Evidence of the ability to think beyond traditional paradigms
Important: The six-year window runs from October 2020 to September 2027. Because the upper limit falls nine months after the interviews, candidates who have not yet defended are eligible. If you are finishing your PhD in 2027, this call is open to you.
SFI states that women, veterans and members of underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply, and that it is responsive to the needs of dual-career couples.
What Does SFI Provide?
- Competitive salary for up to three years
- Generous benefits package, including paid family leave
- Discretionary research funds
- Collaborative research funds
- A structured leadership training programme across the residency
- Collaboration with leading researchers worldwide
- Access to a community of 10 resident faculty, 100+ external faculty and around 1,000 visitors a year
Important: SFI does not publish a salary figure on its fellowship page. Several listing sites quote numbers that cannot be verified against the official call. The exact amount is confirmed at offer stage, and questions can go to the fellowship office directly.
Is It Residential?
Yes. Fellows are in residence at SFI in Santa Fe for the duration.
Research at SFI is mostly theoretical or computational. The Institute has no lab facilities, although projects may include an empirical component. Work requiring benches, wet labs or specialised instrumentation is not a fit.
There are also no formal departments or programmes. Fellows set their own research agenda rather than joining an existing project.
Is the Interview Online?
No. Interviews for the 2027 cohort are held in person in Santa Fe.
Invitations go out in early December 2026, and interviews run over two days plus travel time in early January 2027.
For applicants who need a US visitor visa, that leaves a narrow window over the December holiday period. Appointment waits vary considerably by country, so the visa appointment is the first thing to book after a shortlist email, ahead of flights.
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Required Documents
- Curriculum vitae, including publication list
- Statement of research interests — maximum 2 pages, covering what you want to pursue, why, and your broader interests
- Description of interest in SFI — maximum 1 page
- Three letters of recommendation from scholars who know your work
- Optional: one paper written in English, published or unpublished
- Optional: diversity form
Important: References are handled by SFI, not by you. You enter names and email addresses in the portal and SFI contacts your referees directly with upload instructions. The official call asks applicants to complete this section early. You may submit your own application even if the letters have not arrived.
What Should the One-Page SFI Statement Cover?
This is the document that separates strong applications, because it is the only place a generally excellent candidate becomes a specifically SFI candidate.
SFI suggests addressing one or more of these:
- What input from other fields would most improve your future research
- What multidisciplinary workshop you might organise during the fellowship
- Which parts of your research are difficult to pursue in a traditional academic environment
- What experience you have relating to SFI’s goal of a diverse and inclusive scientific community
The third prompt is really asking which disciplinary walls are limiting your work right now. A page that names the constraint, names the SFI faculty or theme that would loosen it, and sketches what becomes possible afterwards does something that a page of admiration for the Institute cannot.
Selection Timeline
- September 30, 2026 — applications close, 11:59 PM MDT
- Early December 2026 — interview invitations sent
- Early January 2027 — in-person interviews in Santa Fe
- June to December 2027 — fellowships begin
The deadline runs on Mountain Daylight Time. That is 11 hours behind Pakistan, 11.5 behind India, 7 behind Nigeria and 12 behind Bangladesh, so working backwards from your own clock is safer than assuming you have all of the 30th.
How Competitive Is It?
SFI has selected up to four new fellows a year since 2009. Against a global pool drawn from every scientific discipline, that is a genuinely low acceptance rate.
It is still worth an application, particularly for researchers whose work sits awkwardly between fields. It is also worth running alongside other applications rather than treating it as the plan.
Official Information
SFI Complexity Postdoctoral Fellowship; official call and application portal
The only route applications are accepted through.
Register for a SurveyMonkey Apply account
Required before you can start an application.
SFI Research — themes, faculty and current fellows
Worth reading before writing the one-page SFI statement.
ofellowship@santafe.edu
Fellowship contact for eligibility and portal questions.
💡 Not sure your statement is doing the work it needs to?
Send it for review at Where Scholars Begin; line-by-line feedback on the documents that decide funded applications.