Paid CDC Public Health Informatics Fellowship

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention runs the Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIFP), a two year, full time paid fellowship for people with a master's or doctoral degree who want to apply computer science, data analytics and data science to public health. Fellows are hired as federal employees and placed at host sites across CDC, mostly in Atlanta, where they work on real information systems and data projects. Applications for the Class of 2027 are open now.

What you get:

• Two years of full time federal employment at CDC: master's level fellows are paid at GS 11, step 3 and doctoral level fellows at GS 12, step 3
• The same benefits as other CDC full time employees, including paid annual and sick leave
• Possible salary increases after the first year, based on performance
• Competency based training in public health informatics: 90 percent on the job, 10 percent coursework in informatics, data science and public health
• A two week orientation on CDC, public health and the role of informatics

What you'll do:

• Work on public health informatics projects at your assigned CDC host site
• Provide short term technical assistance to federal, international, state, local and territorial health departments and non profits through Info-Aids
• Design, build, improve or evaluate a public health information system for your capstone project
• Contribute to CDC's emergency response activities

Key dates:

• Applications open: September 1, 2026
• Applications close: November 6, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. ET
• Recommendation forms due: November 15, 2026 on the key dates table (the application guide says one week after the deadline, so ask recommenders to finish by November 13 to be safe)
• Screening: November 2026 to January 2027
• Host site interviews: January to February 2027
• Final selections and notification: February to March 2027
• Onboarding: March to July 2027
• Fellows start at CDC: August 2027, with a two week orientation in September 2027

More information:

• Full eligibility rules on the Fellow Eligibility and Requirements page
• Step by step preparation guide on the Prepare and Submit Fellowship Application page
• Salary grade details on the Fellow Salary and Benefits page, which links the OPM salary table by location
• Questions to phifp@cdc.gov

• A qualifying degree from an accredited institution: a master's (MPH, MS, MSc or equivalent) or a doctorate (PhD, MD, PharmD, DrPH or equivalent). A completed doctorate is NOT required; master's level applicants are eligible.
• The degree must be in public health, medicine, healthcare or health services research; computer science, data science or medical or public health informatics; statistics or epidemiology; engineering; or operations research
• At least one year of documented full time work or volunteer experience in the same field as the qualifying degree
• Research or evaluation experience, such as publications, a thesis, poster presentations or a research proposal
• Degrees still in progress can be submitted, but any required thesis or dissertation must be defended by May 31 of the year you enter the fellowship
• Must be a US citizen, US permanent resident, current TN, J1 or H1B visa holder, current F1 holder with OPT, EAD and STEM eligibility covering the whole first year, or someone outside the US who is eligible for a J1 visa
• Citizens of countries the US State Department designates as state sponsors of terrorism are not eligible
• Must commit to two years full time and relocate to the assigned CDC site (about 85 percent Atlanta, 10 percent Washington, DC). No remote work, and relocation costs are not paid
• Degrees from non US institutions need a course by course credential evaluation from a NACES member, submitted before the deadline
• Three recommendation forms, at least two from people not currently employed at CDC