Collage of Hopkins Marine Station, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Bass Biology Research Building, and SLAC

About Us

The Natural Sciences at Stanford

Spurred by an innate sense of curiosity and wonder, humanity has plumbed the ocean depths, sent robotic emissaries to distant worlds, decoded the blueprint of life, and traced the atoms of our being to the swan songs of dying stars. Science has expanded and deepened our understanding of nature over enormous ranges in both space and time and in the process transformed how we perceive ourselves, our place in the cosmos, and our relationship to the Earth and its other living inhabitants.

The beauty and complexity of the natural world inspires endless questions—many of which are being posed at Stanford. Rather than focusing on innovative inventions, foundational, curiosity-driven research is focused on advancing human knowledge about the natural world. These advances are critical for the future and often form the basis for shaping new technologies and developing solutions to society’s greatest challenges.

Stanford University offers a wide range of opportunities for scientists whose curiosity will drive foundational research forward and make them leaders in the academy. Stanford’s top-ranked science and engineering departments, as well as many interdisciplinary laboratories and research institutes, are situated in close proximity on the same campus. We share faculty with the nearby SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, a renowned laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Stanford has two natural laboratories for immersive field research: Hopkins Marine Station and Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Successful Stanford Science Fellow applicants will be members of a broad academic community that also includes ethicists, economists, and poets who can help assess the moral, social, and artistic implications of scientific discoveries.