Distinguished chemist Kenneth S. Pitzer is considered one of the founders of modern theoretical chemistry and was the Dean of the College of Chemistry at UC Berkeley in the 1950s. In the years since, the Pitzer family has continued to support the college through the Pitzer Family Foundation. In 1999, the foundation helped establish the Kenneth S. Pitzer Center for Theoretical Chemistry, which houses scientists focused on theoretical chemistry topics ranging from electronic structure theory, statistical mechanics, dynamics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, with wide-ranging applications in areas including nanoscience, biophysics, catalysis, and spectroscopy.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Pitzer Family Foundation, Berkeley’s Pitzer Center is delighted to announce the establishment of a new Pitzer Postdoctoral Fellow Program in theoretical and computational chemical science and engineering. Applications are now being accepted, with a deadline of October 15, 2026 in order to be considered for the 2026 application cycle.

Fellowship Details

• Up to 2 fellowships will be awarded in this cycle.
• Fellows are jointly supported through this program and the Pitzer faculty sponsor(s) and will be supervised by these faculty.  Each Fellow must have one or two faculty sponsors from among the Pitzer Center Faculty. Prospective fellows must contact faculty sponsors to discuss their future research.  Submitting an application is contingent upon the encouragement of the sponsor(s).
• Fellows will carry out their research in person in the Pitzer Center at UC Berkeley.
• Scholars currently affiliated with UC Berkeley are not eligible to apply.  Applicants cannot hold positions at UC Berkeley during the application and evaluation period.
• The Fellowships carry an annual stipend of $90K with $10K for travel and research expenses.
• The Fellowship appointment is for 2 years. Possible extension to a third year can be discussed with the sponsoring faculty. 
• Nominees who are non-US citizens must show eligibility for obtaining J-1 Scholar visa status for the duration of the Fellowship.
• Nominees must be within 3 years of obtaining their Ph.D. when the fellowship commences.

Timeline

Application deadline: 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 15, 2026

Award announcements: by February 1, 2027

Start of fellowship: by September 1, 2027

Application Details

Send all materials to PPF-program@berkeley.edu

Application intake form: First, please complete our application intake form HERE to share contact information, U.S. work authorization, and faculty interest.

The application packet: Submit a single combined pdf file containing:

1. CV with training, publication list, presentations, etc.
2. A two-page future research statement proposing research and learning objectives for the fellowship period and how these interact with the sponsoring group or groups
3. The subject of the email and the name of the file should be: YourLastName_YourFirstName

Two letters of recommendation: Arrange for two letters of recommendation to be sent by your recommenders as pdf files directly to PPF-program@berkeley.edu. The filename and subject line of the email should be:

YourLastName_YourFirstName_RecommenderName

If you have any questions during the application process, please direct them to your potential faculty sponsor.