20 Researchers and Artists Win $800,000 Each
The MacArthur Foundation's unrestricted fellowships reward people rather than projects, with no application process.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Science — General
The MacArthur Foundation named 20 fellows, each receiving $800,000, in an announcement published November 6, 2026. The prize is research-stage in no sense: it is a shipped, annual honor that rewards people rather than projects, and candidates cannot apply.
Why it matters
Because nominations feed a selection process lasting years, the fellowship signals which fields the foundation is currently backing, from climate science to forensic anthropology to poetry. The unrestricted award lets recipients fund work on their own timelines rather than against a grant proposal.
The award is a fixed $800,000 per fellow, with no project requirements attached. The stub gives no comparator figures for prior cohorts or for other prizes of this type.
The players
MacArthur Foundation
A private American philanthropy that funds research, creative work and public-interest projects, and awards unrestricted fellowships to individuals across fields.
Holly Jean Buck
A sociologist at the University at Buffalo who studies how local communities help limit climate change and move toward clean energy.
Marika Holland
A climate scientist based in Boulder, Colorado, who predicts changes in Arctic ice cover.
Kaiyu Guan
An environmental scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who uses data and machine learning to help farmers predict and optimise crop yields.
Kate Spradley
A forensic anthropologist at Texas State University who works to identify migrants who died along the Texas-Mexico border.
The details
The fellowship is awarded to people, not to projects, so recipients are not asked to submit a proposal or report against milestones. Nobody can apply: candidates are identified through nominations that move through a selection process lasting years. The 2026 cohort spans climate science, history, philosophy, chemistry, poetry, dance and jazz.
Timeline
November 6, 2026: MacArthur Foundation publishes the announcement naming the 20 fellows.
The Tech Race
The fellowship sits outside the technology competition, but its science picks, including machine learning applied to agriculture and climate prediction, track the research areas where computational methods are being deployed. The stub names no competing prize or rival program for direct comparison.
The award is paid directly to the 20 individuals, who can use the funds without a project brief or reporting requirement. Readers do not need to take any action, since the fellowship is closed to applicants.
The takeaway
Watch which of these fields receive future nominations, since the selection process runs for years and the cohort offers an early read on the foundation's priorities. The next annual cohort will show whether climate and computational work continues to draw fellows.
Further reading
For more on the research areas these honorees work in, browse our Science — General coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times of India.
