Human Resources
Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellowship
Awarded internationally to outstanding doctoral scientists and engineers who are at early points in promising careers
The deadline for applications is October 1, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. Central Time (U.S.).
The Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellowship aims to attract early career researchers who are eager to develop their careers in Argonne’s mission-driven, high-impact research environment. This fellowship honors the legacy of Dr. Maria Goeppert Mayer as a pioneering Argonne Nuclear Physicist and Noble Prize Winner.
Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows perform research in a scientifically and technologically rich, mission-driven environment; present and publish research; contribute to the overall research efforts of the Laboratory; advance knowledge in the areas of basic and applied research; and strengthen our national scientific and technical capabilities. Candidates with a strong interest in a research career in a Department of Energy national laboratory are encouraged to apply.
Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows in the News
About Maria Goeppert Mayer
Maria Goeppert Mayer was a theoretical physicist and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus — work she conducted while here at Argonne as a senior physicist. It was during her time at the University of Chicago and Argonne that she developed a mathematical model for the structure of nuclear shells, the work for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963, shared with J. Hans D. Jensen and Eugene Paul Wigner. Goeppert-Mayer’s model explained “why certain numbers of nucleons in the nucleus of an atom cause an atom to be extremely stable.” This had been baffling scientists for some time. These numbers are called “magic numbers.” She postulated, against the received wisdom of the time, that the nucleus is like a series of closed shells and pairs of neutrons and protons like to couple together in what is called spin orbit coupling.