About Arc Institute
The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.
While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:
- Funding: Arc fully funds Core Investigator’s (PI’s) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants
- Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators.
- Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support—operationally, financially and scientifically—that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high risk, high reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
- Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.
With $650M in committed funding, the vision is to grow from over 100 people currently to a team of 200-300 people in the next 2-3 years.
Science Fellow Role
Arc Institute’s Science Fellows program is designed for outstanding early career scientists who are seeking an opportunity to transition to a principal investigator position directly after their doctoral training. To accelerate independent careers, this program provides Arc Fellows with leadership training and full salary and research support for their group. Arc Science Fellows are active members of the Arc community and will have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with our Core Investigators, Technology Centers, and Translational Programs.
Arc Science Fellows are employed by the Institute and appointed for a five-year term at Arc. Science Fellows will be independent group leaders that pursue research agendas with a combination of innovative technologies, originality, and risk that are unlikely to be supported by traditional funding sources. Arc Science Fellows are provided an annual direct cost budget of $250K to support their research program, including a team of 2-4 people. This is separate from and in addition to the salary and benefits of the Science Fellow (see below).
Salary
The base salary for Arc Science Fellows is $97,000. The base salary amount does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. All Science Fellows will also be paid an annual housing stipend equal to 10% of their base salary.
Information Session
We will be holding a virtual Information Session about the Science Fellows program on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 12-1pm PST, led by Arc Co-Founder and Core Investigator Patrick Hsu. Prospective Science Fellow candidates can register for the event here.
For more information, visit our page on the Science Fellows Program here.
This program is targeted to individuals who have completed their graduate training (e.g., PhD, MD, MD/PhD) within the last two years or expect to receive their PhD by Spring/Summer 2024. Individuals who pursued clinical training after receiving their MD or MD/PhD should apply within one year of completing their clinical training.
Desired scientific focus areas include Neurobiology, Immunology, Computational Science, Human Genetics, Chemical Biology, and Technology Development.
Individuals who are authorized to work in the US as well as those who require visa sponsorship are eligible.
We welcome applications from candidates at any organization, not just those from our current partner universities.
Applications will be reviewed beginning December 4, 2023 and accepted until the position is filled. Arc plans to hire 1 - 2 new Science Fellows in the 2024 application cycle.
Please submit your application here.
Required application documents:
- Cover Letter
- CV (5 pages)
- An NIH-style biosketch is recommended but not required
- Research plan (3 pages)
- Description of past research (1 page)
- Description of proposed work (2 pages)
- References should be included in your research plan document but do NOT count toward the page limit
- List of 3 most significant publications with a brief description of your specific contributions to each paper (1 page)
- PDFs of your 3 most significant publications
- Recommendation letters will be requested later on in the candidate review process.
Organization Details
Arc gives scientists no-strings-attached, multi-year funding, so that they don’t have to apply for external grants, and invests in the rapid development of experimental and computational technological tools.
As individuals, Arc researchers collaborate across diverse disciplines to study complex diseases, including cancer, neurodegeneration, and immune dysfunction. As an organization, Arc strives to enable ambitious, long-term research agendas.
Arc’s mission is to accelerate scientific progress, understand the root causes of disease, and narrow the gap between discoveries and impact on patients.