Fellowships were initially awarded in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Awards were later added in neuroscience (1972), economics (1980), computer science (1993), computational and evolutionary molecular biology (2002), and ocean sciences or earth systems sciences (2012). Winners of these two-year fellowships are awarded $75,000, which may be spent on any expense supporting their research. From 2012 through 2020, the foundation awarded 126 research fellowship each year; in 2021, 128 were awarded, and 118 were awarded in 2022.