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Office of postdoctoral studies, research statement, what is a research statement.

A common component of the academic job application is the Research Statement (or Statement of Research Interests). This statement provides a summary of your research accomplishments and current work and discusses the future direction and potential of your work. The statement can discuss specific issues such as funding history and potential, requirements for laboratory equipment and space, and potential research and industrial collaborations. It should be technical, but should remain intelligible to any member of the department. Because it has the potential to be read by people outside of your subdiscipline, the “big picture” is important to keep in mind. The strongest research statements present a readable, compelling, and realistic research agenda that fits well with the needs, facilities, and goals of the department. Research statements can be weakened by overly ambitious proposals, by lack of clear direction, by lack of big-picture focus, or if inadequate attention is given to the needs and facilities of the department or position.

Some general advice on research statements:

  • The goal of the research statement is to introduce yourself to a search committee, which will probably contain scientists both in and outside your field, and get them excited about your research. The statement may be two or more pages, keeping in mind that you want people to read it. So don’t make it too long, use informative section headings, don’t use a tiny font, don’t make the margins ridiculously small, etc. It is better to use a larger font and let it run over another page than to squeeze it all onto two pages.
  • The main theme(s) and why it is important and what specific skills you use to attack the problem.
  • A couple of specific examples of problems you have already worked on with success – to build credibility and give people outside your field an idea of what it is you do.
  • A discussion of the future direction of your research. This section should build on the above and be really, really exciting to people both in and outside your field. Don’t sell yourself short. If you think that your research could lead to answers for big exciting questions – say so! You’ve already built up credibility in the previous section, now reach for the stars.
  • Tie it all off with a final paragraph that leaves the reader with a good overall impression of your research.
  • There is a delicate balance between a realistic research statement where you promise to work on problems you really do think you can solve and over-reaching or dabbling in too many subject areas. You probably want to select an over-arching theme for your research statement and leave some miscellaneous ideas or projects out of it. Everyone knows that you will work on more than what you mention in this statement.
  • Pay attention to jargon. You want most readers to understand everything in your statement. Make sure that you describe your research in language that many people outside your specific subject area can understand. Ask people both in and outside your field to read it before you submit your application. Remember that the goal is to get the search committee excited about you – they won’t get excited about something they can’t understand.
  • It will be helpful to point out how some faculty at the department/university that you are applying to could be your collaborators in research and/or teaching.
  • Be sure to include potential funding partners or industrial collaboration! Be creative!
  • The research statement should convince the search committee not only that you are knowledgeable, but that you are the person to carry out the research.
  • If you have something that sets you apart (e.g. a publication in Science, Nature, or a very prestigious journal in your field), you may want to include it.
  • There are no excuses for spelling errors.

Civil and Environmental Engineering Communication Lab

Postdoctoral Fellowship Research Statements: What I Wish I Knew Before Writing

Written by Andrew Feldman

Photo of Andrew outside, with trees in the background. He wears glasses and a gray t-shirt.

Of course, the odds of receiving postdoctoral fellowships are not high (typically single digit percentages). Knowing these odds, I applied for eight fellowships: four through university departments and four through government agencies. I initially felt like I had no idea how to be successful, especially since I received none of the 12 doctoral fellowships I had previously applied for. I also had a rough start: my first postdoctoral fellowship application was rejected a month after submission for being slightly out of scope. It certainly required mental fortitude to continue through this application process.

After speaking with colleagues in my field, common themes emerged in how they approach proposals, especially in how to write a stand-out research statement. At this point starting the fifth year of my PhD, I understood the importance of conveying a strong vision in my research statement: it is essential for getting and staying funded regardless of how stellar one’s publication record is. While I knew the motivation and methodology well, my colleagues taught me that conveying my vision in a convincing, focused, and exciting way for other scientists is a different matter. I believe their collective advice was pivotal to improving my research statement and ultimately getting me on the “funded” pile for three of the eight fellowships. I share some of these insights here.

1) Why now? Why me? When formulating your idea, focus on ensuring that your proposal answers why this research should be completed right now, as opposed to anytime. Many committees strongly weigh how much of a priority your research question is. The best introductions will extend beyond an informative literature review and directly state why answering your question is necessary and urgent.

They also want to know: why are you the best person to address this problem as opposed to someone else? Explicitly sell your fit to your research problem and your vision. Lean on your PI choice here – PIs can fill in any technical knowledge gaps and provide complementary tools to those learned during your PhD.

Most surprising to me is how much focus you need place on “why now? why me?” in your motivation. There is no fixed number, but be sure you spend more real estate motivating why the problem and approach is so amazing rather than on addressing every pitfall with your research question and approach.

2) Your audience is broader than you think. Many proposal writers will incorrectly assume (like I initially did) that their committee will include that harsh reviewer of their journal articles who can identify all methodological shortcomings. Rather than trying to defend against this omniscient and unlikely reader, keep the focus on convincing a researcher of an adjacent field that your questions and approach are spectacular. An excellent research statement will ultimately excite any researcher enough to fund the work.

Another nuance to consider: postdoctoral fellowships are mainly offered through federal government agencies (i.e., NSF, NIH, etc.) and specific university departments. Government-based fellowships will be reviewed by researchers closer to your field (but not quite as close as that of a journal article review). In this case, lean slightly towards convincing them that you understand the limitations of the approach and that your background fits the problem. By contrast, university departmental fellowships will typically have committees of professors that will not be in your exact field. For this audience, lean towards exciting them with an accessible, clear problem motivation, provide only a broad overview of the methods you would use, and be very brief.

3) Spend time just thinking: resist the urge to open Microsoft Word and start typing. Spend time purely thinking and schematically charting out your research problem and anticipated results. If you sufficiently plan, the statement will write itself.

4) Less is more: your reviewers are just as busy as you are. They want to see your main idea fast. You may see a ten page limit and feel an urge to cram in as much material as possible. I did this initially, but the statement will quickly become noisy. Instead, prioritize reader friendliness. This means more pictures and less walls of text. Reviewers are thankful for 1.5 spacing, 12 point font, and schematic figures with question marks and arrows that clearly convey your research questions. Use parsimony in discussing methods – mention only the essential methods and main anticipated challenges.

5) Start early: I started formulating my research statement in June 2020. My first deadline was in early August 2020. While this seems early to start, it was not! Give yourself at least two months before your first fellowship deadline to formulate a problem with your prospective PI (or any co-PIs) and write your statements. Provide adequate time for your PI(s) to provide feedback on your ideas and statements. If applying to multiple fellowships with different PIs and/or different project topics, start even earlier.

Lastly, I encourage asking your colleagues for help. Folks around you regardless of career stage have likely spent a significant portion of their time writing research statements. The MIT Communication Lab was a great source of help for me that I used multiple times! Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I was always glad I did.

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Graduate School Applications: Writing a Research Statement

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The research statement is a common component of a potential candidate’s application for post-undergraduate study. This may include applications for graduate programs, post-doctoral fellowships, or faculty positions. The research statement is often the primary way that a committee determines if a candidate’s interests and past experience make them a good fit for their program/institution.

What is a Research Statement?

A research statement is a short document that provides a brief history of your past research experience, the current state of your research, and the future work you intend to complete.

What Should It Look Like?

Research statements are generally one to two single-spaced pages. You should be sure to thoroughly read and follow the length and content requirements for each individual application.

Your research statement should situate your work within the larger context of your field and show how your works contributes to, complicates, or counters other work being done. It should be written for an audience of other professionals in your field.

What Should It Include?

Your statement should start by articulating the broader field that you are working within and the larger question or questions that you are interested in answering. It should then move to articulate your specific interest.

The body of your statement should include a brief history of your past research . What questions did you initially set out to answer in your research project? What did you find? How did it contribute to your field? (i.e. did it lead to academic publications, conferences, or collaborations?). How did your past research propel you forward?

It should also address your present research . What questions are you actively trying to solve? What have you found so far? How are you connecting your research to the larger academic conversation? (i.e. do you have any publications under review, upcoming conferences, or other professional engagements?) What are the larger implications of your work?

Finally, it should describe the future trajectory on which you intend to take your research. What further questions do you want to solve? How do you intend to find answers to these questions? How can the institution to which you are applying help you in that process? What are the broader implications of your potential results?

Note: Make sure that the research project that you propose can be completed at the institution to which you are applying.

Other Considerations:

  • What is the primary question that you have tried to address over the course of your academic career? Why is this question important to the field? How has each stage of your work related to that question?
  • Include a few specific examples that show your success. What tangible solutions have you found to the question that you were trying to answer? How have your solutions impacted the larger field? Examples can include references to published findings, conference presentations, or other professional involvement.
  • Be confident about your skills and abilities. The research statement is your opportunity to sell yourself to an institution. Show that you are self-motivated and passionate about your project.
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  • The Research Statement

Some generalities

​​​ The bottom line : Departments are looking to hire candidates who tackle significant problems, who do so in interesting new ways, and whose work will make impact on their field and beyond.

Overall , you need to demonstrate that, given your training, you are uniquely positioned to accomplish the ambitious and innovative objectives you have set for yourself--Show this, don't say it!

Use subtitles, which will help the reader more effectively follow the structure of your statement.

  • In the Sciences, use a couple of illustrations (graphs, tables, pictures, etc.). An image is worth a thousand words.  

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Search committee members are extraordinarily busy , so you must structure your statement strategically

Abstract : 10-15 lines at most. In a nutshell, what you work on and your plans for the next ten years in terms of the impact you hope to make on your field.

Ph.D work/background . What you worked on and what your work showed, demonstrated, elucidated, etc. Be very direct and to the point. Throw in anything the reader (who won’t be a specialist) will need to understand what you do.

Current postdoctoral research . Again, what you work on and what you hope to achieve. If needed, use a numbered list or bullet points.

Future Directions . I) What you hope to achieve over the next ten years; II) What you hope to achieve over the next 4-7 years; III) What you’ll tackle from the get-go(low-hanging fruits). Obviously, these are not sequential, but parallel. This section should be about 50-60% of the overall 3-5 page statement.  Once you're done, share your research statement with your faculty advisor and other colleagues for critical feedback.

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Research Statement

Research statements are a frequent component of the academic job market application portfolio and one of the more field-specific documents. In a research statement, you are explaining to the search committee your scholarly profile, research agenda, impact of your work, and how your scholarship fits into the department and institution.

While the research statement can vary widely depending on field and institution, in general, research statements:

  • Are up to two pages in length
  • Written as first-person narratives (e.g., "My research focuses on ..."; "I consider ...")
  • Address research topic and details
  • Demonstrate methodologies used, approach, techniques, etc.
  • Address the impact of your work
  • Speak to future research agendas
  • Can address questions of diversity, equity, and inclusion

Content Considerations

While your research statement needs to specify your current research and the foundation you have developed in your doctoral program, you also need to speak to how this current work relates to a future-looking research agenda. You want to talk the search committee through the evolution of your research from current project to future pathways. Think of the statement in three parts:

  • What is the current state of research and why is it important to your field?
  • What immediate work (publications, grants, impact) will you get out of this research? Why is it important?
  • How will you use the skills built in the first two parts to develop future projects? In what direction do you hope to grow? How is this research possible at this particular institution?

Finally, think about the reader of your research statement: a search committee that may be familiar with your field but still requires an easily legible and accessible statement. While drafting and revising, keep this reader in mind:

  • Will they understand the jargon?
  • Can your research be understood by colleagues outside of your adviser, committee, and immediate peers?
  • What about the student population at this institution? How can they be involved and help develop your research agenda?
  • What resources (equipment, access, buildings) does the institution have and how can that help with your research agenda?

You as a Peer

Of utmost importance in a research statement is that you are not talking as a graduate student. You are not proposing a dissertation or potential experiment. In the research statement, you are delineating the contours of your research so a hiring committee can determine if it is in the interest of the department to invest in your candidature. Think about the position you are applying to:

  • How does your research style fit within the department?
  • How does your research complement projects or programs already underway within the department?
  • How would your research engage with the department’s broader interests (e.g., their teaching output or interdisciplinary perspectives)?
  • How would your research benefit the institution (grants, collaborations, new courses, new projects, etc.)?

As with all application documents, make sure to have multiple eyes on the content before submitting your statement. Take advantage of the support Northwestern provides from the Graduate Writing Place, Office of Fellowships, and Northwestern Career Advancement .

Postdocs can make appointments for individualized feedback with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs .

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How to Construct a Compelling Research Statement

research statement for a postdoc

A research statement is a critical document for prospective faculty applicants. This document allows applicants to convey to their future colleagues the importance and impact of their past and, most importantly, future research. You as an applicant should use this document to lay out your planned research for the next few years, making sure to outline how your planned research contributes to your field.

Some general guidelines

(from Carleton University )

An effective research statement accomplishes three key goals:

  • It clearly presents your scholarship in nonspecialist terms;
  • It places your research in a broader context, scientifically and societally; and
  • It lays out a clear road map for future accomplishments in the new setting (the institution to which you’re applying).

Another way to think about the success of your research statement is to consider whether, after reading it, a reader is able to answer these questions:

  • What do you do (what are your major accomplishments; what techniques do you use; how have you added to your field)?
  • Why is your work important (why should both other scientists and nonscientists care)?
  • Where is it going in the future (what are the next steps; how will you carry them out in your new job; does your research plan meet the requirements for tenure at this institution)?

1. Make your statement reader-friendly

A typical faculty application call can easily receive 200+ applicants. As such, you need to make all your application documents reader-friendly. Use headings and subheadings to organize your ideas and leave white space between sections.

In addition, you may want to include figures and diagrams in your research statement that capture key findings or concepts so a reader can quickly determine what you are studying and why it is important. A wall of text in your research statement should be avoided at all costs. Rather, a research statement that is concise and thoughtfully laid out demonstrates to hiring committees that you can organize ideas in a coherent and easy-to-understand manner.

Also, this presentation demonstrates your ability to develop competitive funding applications (see more in next section), which is critical for success in a research-intensive faculty position.

2. Be sure to touch on the fundability of your planned research work

Another goal of your research statement is to make the case for why your planned research is fundable. You may get different opinions here, but I would recommend citing open or planned funding opportunities at federal agencies or other funders that you plan to submit to. You might also use open funding calls as a way to demonstrate that your planned research is in an area receiving funding prioritization by various agencies.

If you are looking for funding, check out this list of funding resources on my personal website. Another great way to look for funding is to use NIH Reporter and NSF award search .

3. Draft the statement and get feedback early and often

I can tell you from personal experience that it takes time to refine a strong research statement. I went on the faculty job market two years in a row and found my second year materials to be much stronger. You need time to read, review and reflect on your statements and documents to really make them stand out.

It is important to have your supervisor and other faculty read and give feedback on your critical application documents and especially your research statement. Also, finding peers to provide feedback and in return giving them feedback on their documents is very helpful. Seek out communities of support such as Future PI Slack to find peer reviewers (and get a lot of great application advice) if needed.

4. Share with nonexperts to assess your writing’s clarity

Additionally, you may want to consider sharing your job materials, including your research statement, with non-experts to assess clarity. For example, NC State’s Professional Development Team offers an Academic Packways: Gearing Up for Faculty program each year where you can get feedback on your application documents from individuals working in a variety of areas. You can also ask classmates and colleagues working in different areas to review your research statement. The more feedback you can receive on your materials through formal or informal means, the better.

5. Tailor your statement to the institution

It is critical in your research statement to mention how you will make use of core facilities or resources at the institution you are applying to. If you need particular research infrastructure to do your work and the institution has it, you should mention that in your statement. Something to the effect of: “The presence of the XXX core facility at YYY University will greatly facilitate my lab’s ability to investigate this important process.”

Mentioning core facilities and resources at the target institution shows you have done your research, which is critical in demonstrating your interest in that institution.

Finally, think about the resources available at the institution you are applying to. If you are applying to a primarily undergraduate-serving institution, you will want to be sure you propose a research program that could reasonably take place with undergraduate students, working mostly in the summer and utilizing core facilities that may be limited or require external collaborations.

Undergraduate-serving institutions will value research projects that meaningfully involve students. Proposing overly ambitious research at a primarily undergraduate institution is a recipe for rejection as the institution will read your application as out of touch … that either you didn’t do the work to research them or that you are applying to them as a “backup” to research-intensive positions.

You should carefully think about how to restructure your research statements if you are applying to both primarily undergraduate-serving and research-intensive institutions. For examples of how I framed my research statement for faculty applications at each type of institution, see my personal website ( undergraduate-serving ; research-intensive research statements).

6. Be yourself, not who you think the search committee wants

In the end, a research statement allows you to think critically about where you see your research going in the future. What are you excited about studying based on your previous work? How will you go about answering the unanswered questions in your field? What agencies and initiatives are funding your type of research? If you develop your research statement from these core questions, your passion and commitment to the work will surely shine through.

A closing thought: Be yourself, not who you think the search committee wants. If you try to frame yourself as someone you really aren’t, you are setting the hiring institution and you up for disappointment. You want a university to hire you because they like you, the work you have done, and the work you want to do, not some filtered or idealized version of you.

So, put your true self out there, and realize you want to find the right institutional fit for you and your research. This all takes time and effort. The earlier you start and the more reflection and feedback you get on your research statement and remaining application documents, the better you can present the true you to potential employers.

More Advice on Faculty Job Application Documents on ImPACKful

How to write a better academic cover letter

Tips on writing an effective teaching statement

More Resources

See here for samples of a variety of application materials from UCSF.

  • Rules of the (Social Sciences & Humanities) Research Statement
  • CMU’s Writing a Research Statement
  • UW’s Academic Careers: Research Statements
  • Developing a Winning Research Statement (UCSF)
  • Academic Packways
  • ImPACKful Tips

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Writing your research statement, set yourself apart.

Most reviewers volunteer their time. Faced with a huge pile of applications, they’ll move quickly and won’t take time to search out hidden answers.

In reviewing your application, the reader will scan for clear answers to three questions:

  • What new knowledge will be generated for the discipline?
  • Why is it valuable?
  • How can they be assured the conclusions will be valid?

You want to make sure that the reviewer will be left with something to remember: a message that will remain after reading many other proposals. Make sure your proposal is clear and has a strong opening paragraph that will grab the reader’s attention. Your statement should tell a compelling story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Avoid jargon

Always keep in mind that reviewers may not be experts in your particular research area. It is essential that you couch your proposal in language and a narrative that will be accessible to an intelligent but non-specialized reviewer. In particular, don’t use jargon. Eliminate any theoretical discourse that is only accessible to those trained in your area.

Keep the spotlight on ideas

Start with a subject that interests you – a research proposal or a question – and develop a good proposal around it. Don’t worry if your proposed research project isn’t the “hot” topic in the field right now. In fact, an off-the-beaten-path project may stand out among all the other applications.

Show the reviewer that you are ready to take on the challenge of independent research; that you have not only a strong foundation for research as evidenced by a knowledge of the core scholarly publications in your discipline, but also that you possess the creativity, passion, and drive that will take you from more passive learning to active invention and hypothesis. Be clear about how you will undertake the research and how you will analyze the results. Argue why you think this is the best approach to the problem.

Explain which approaches are standard and which are innovative. The way you formulate your questions and describe how you will address them will reveal a lot to the review committee about your thought processes.

Your proposal is not the same as a final plan

If you’re a first-year student, remember that you’re writing a proposal: you are not committed to following the exact path you establish in your proposal. Most funding agencies expect that your project will change as you get underway. The important thing is to show that you’ll be capable of carrying out research in the discipline area proposed given the resources available to you.

Applying for dissertation-year fellowships

If you’re applying for a dissertation-year fellowship, the bar has been raised. Given your breadth of experience, the reviewers will expect to see more from you than they will from a first-year student. Reviewers will want to see that you’ve taken an interest in your professional development by presenting at national conferences and by having publications accepted to peer-review journals or in process, so be sure to address those issues.

Discuss your research proposal with your special committee chair, your director of graduate studies, faculty in your field, and other students. If you can identify students who have had successful proposals or faculty who have served as adjudicators, ask them. It’s okay to tailor your research statement to present the version most likely to win the fellowship. Focus on the aspects of your project that are the best fit with the sponsoring agency’s stated goals for the fellowship program. If you need inspiration, check out the reference notebooks of successful applications available in 350 Caldwell Hall.

Details matter, so sweat them

Your bibliography is important. This is where you will show experts in your field that you know the discipline and that you’ve done your homework. Make sure you cover the key papers in your discipline, but don’t make the bibliography too long. Reviewers want to see that you can distinguish between the most important contributions and secondary papers. A good bibliography shows you know enough about the discipline to avoid duplicating other work.

Proof your work

Make sure that there are no typographical or grammatical errors and follow the guidelines carefully. Your statements reflect on the level of professionalism you will bring to your research. When the competition is extreme, reviewers look for clues that differentiate one application from another. Typographical errors, grammatical errors, and inattention to guidelines will create suspicion over your attention to detail and will probably result in your application being passed over.

Allow enough time

You need to be exceptional in an excellent group of applicants. A good proposal may take up to three months to develop. Write a draft, seek input from others, revise, set it aside, come back to it, revise again, seek input again. Keep working until you have a polished product. If you put in the time to make your proposal as good as it can be, it will show in the end result and your application will be more competitive.

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Open Access

Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Postdoctoral Fellowship

Affiliation Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America

Affiliation Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford Neuroscience Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America

Affiliation Division of Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation, and Cancer Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America

* E-mail: [email protected] (LM); [email protected] (CMB)

Affiliation Asian Liver Center and Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America

Affiliation Stanford Biosciences Grant Writing Academy, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America

  • Ke Yuan, 
  • Lei Cai, 
  • Siu Ping Ngok, 
  • Li Ma, 
  • Crystal M. Botham

PLOS

Published: July 14, 2016

  • https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004934
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Citation: Yuan K, Cai L, Ngok SP, Ma L, Botham CM (2016) Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Postdoctoral Fellowship. PLoS Comput Biol 12(7): e1004934. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004934

Editor: Fran Lewitter, Whitehead Institute, UNITED STATES

Copyright: © 2016 Yuan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: Dr. Ke Yuan is supported by American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant (15SDG25710448) and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Proof of Concept Award (SPO121940). Dr. Lei Cai is supported by Stanford Neuroscience Institute and NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellowship (1F32HL128094). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Postdoctoral fellowships support research, and frequently career development training, to enhance your potential to becoming a productive, independent investigator. Securing a fellowship sends a strong signal that you are capable of conducting fundable research and will likely lead to successes with larger grants. Writing a fellowship will also increase your productivity and impact because you will learn and refine skills necessary to articulate your research priorities. However, competition is fierce and your fellowship application needs to stand out among your peers as realistic, coherent, and compelling. Also, reviewers, a committee of experts and sometimes non-experts, will scrutinize your application, so anything less than polished may be quickly eliminated. We have drawn below ten tips from our experiences in securing postdoctoral fellowships to help as you successfully tackle your proposal.

Rule 1: Start Early and Gather Critical Information

Crafting a competitive fellowship can take 6–9 months, so it is imperative that you start early. You may even want to start looking for postdoctoral fellowships before you finish your doctoral degree. Compile a comprehensive list of fellowships that you can apply to. This list should include key information to organize your game plan for applying, including Sponsor (agency sponsoring the fellowship) name; URL for funding information; Sponsor deadlines; and any other requirements or critical information.

To find suitable fellowships, start by asking your faculty mentor(s), laboratory colleagues, and recent alumni about their experiences applying for fellowships. Federal agencies in the United States, such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF); foreign governmental agencies; and other organizations, such as societies, foundations, and associations, often solicit fellowship applications. Additionally, many institutions offer internally supported fellowships as well as institutional research training grants.

Once you have an exhaustive list of fellowships you are eligible for, start gathering critical information that you can use to inform your writing. Read the fellowship instructions completely and identify the review criteria. Investigate the review process; NIH’s Center for Scientific Review reviews grant applications for scientific merit and has a worthwhile video about the Peer Review Process [ 1 ]. Sometimes Sponsors offer notification alerts about upcoming funding opportunities, deadlines, and updated policies, so make sure to sign up for those when offered. Also, gather previously submitted applications and reviewers’ comments for the fellowships you will to apply to. Both funded and unfunded applications are useful. Sometimes Sponsors make available funded abstracts like NIH’s Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT), and these provide critical information about the scope of funded projects.

Many institutions have internal policies and processes that are required before a proposal can be submitted to a Sponsor. These requirements can include waivers to assess eligibility and internal deadlines (five business day internal deadlines are standard), so make sure you also gather relevant information about any internal policies and processes required by your institution.

Rule 2: Create a Game Plan and Write Regularly

Writing a compelling fellowship takes time, a lot of time, which is challenging to balance with a hectic laboratory schedule, other responsibilities, and family obligations. To reduce stress, divide the fellowship requirements into smaller tasks by creating a detailed timeline with goals or milestones. Having a game plan with daily and/or weekly goals will also help you avoid procrastination. Make sure you are writing regularly (i.e., daily or every other day) to establish an effective writing practice. This will increase your productivity and reduce your anxiety because writing will become a habit. It is also important to make your writing time non-negotiable so other obligations or distractions don’t impede your progress.

Rule 3: Find Your Research Niche

It is crucial that you have a deep awareness of your field so you can identify critical knowledge gaps that will significantly move your field forward when filled. Keep a list of questions or problems inherent to your field and update this list after reading germane peer-reviewed and review articles or attending seminars and conferences. Narrow down and focus your list through discussions with your mentor(s), key researchers in your field, and colleagues. Because compelling projects often combine two seemingly unrelated threads of work to challenge and shift the current research or clinical practice paradigms, it is important to have a broad familiarity with the wider scientific community as well. Seek opportunities to attend seminars on diverse topics, speak with experts, and read broadly the scientific literature. Relentlessly contemplate how concepts and approaches in the wider scientific community could be extended to address critical knowledge gaps in your field. Furthermore, develop a few of your research questions by crafting hypotheses supported by the literature and/or preliminary data. Again, share your ideas with others, i.e., mentor(s), other scientists, and colleagues, to gauge interest in the significance and innovation of the proposed ideas. Remember, because your focus is on writing a compelling fellowship, make sure your research questions are also relevant and appropriate for the missions of the sponsoring agencies.

Rule 4: Use Your Specific Aims Document as Your Roadmap

A perfectly crafted Specific Aims document, usually a one-page description of your plan during the project period, is crucial for a compelling fellowship because your reviewers will read it! In fact, it is very likely your Specific Aims will be the first document your reviewers will read, so it is vital to fully engage the reviewers’ interest and desire to keep reading. The Specific Aims document must concisely answer the following questions:

  • Is the research question important? Compelling proposals often tackle a particular gap in the knowledge base that, when addressed, significantly advance the field.
  • What is the overall goal? The overall goal defines the purpose of the proposal and must be attainable regardless of how the hypothesis tests.
  • What specifically will be done? Attract the reviewers’ interest using attention-getting headlines. Describe your working hypothesis and your approach to objectively test the hypothesis.
  • What are the expected outcomes and impact? Describe what the reviewers can expect after the proposal is completed in terms of advancement to the field.

A draft of your Specific Aims document is ideal for eliciting feedback from your mentor(s) and colleagues because evaluating a one-page document is not an enormous time investment on part of the person giving you feedback. Plus, you don’t want to invest time writing a full proposal without knowing the proposal’s conceptual framework is compelling. When you are ready to write the research plan, your Specific Aims document then provides a useful roadmap.

As you are writing (and rewriting) your Specific Aims document, it is essential to integrate the Sponsor’s goals for that fellowship funding opportunity. Often goals for a fellowship application include increasing the awardee’s potential for becoming an independent investigator, in which case an appropriate expected outcome might be that you mature into an independent investigator.

We recommend reading The Grant Application Writer’s Workbook ( www.grantcentral.com ) [ 2 ] because it has two helpful chapters on how to write a persuasive Specific Aims document, as well as other instructive chapters. Although a little formulaic, the Workbook’s approach ensures the conceptual framework of your Specific Aims document is solid. We also advise reading a diverse repertoire of Specific Aims documents to unearth your own style for this document.

Rule 5: Build a First-Rate Team of Mentors

Fellowship applications often support mentored training experiences; therefore, a strong mentoring team is essential. Remember, reviewers often evaluate the qualifications and appropriateness of your mentoring team. The leader of your mentoring team should have a track record of mentoring individuals at similar stages as your own as well as research qualifications appropriate for your interests. Reviewers will also often consider if your mentor can adequately support the proposed research and training because fellowship applications don’t always provide sufficient funds. It is also useful to propose a co-mentor who complements your mentor’s qualifications and experiences. You should also seek out other mentors at your institution and elsewhere to guide and support your training. These mentors could form an advisory committee, which is required for some funding opportunities, to assist in your training and monitor your progress. In summary, a first-rate mentoring team will reflect the various features of your fellowship, including mentors who augment your research training by enhancing your technical skills as well as mentors who support your professional development and career planning.

As you develop your fellowship proposal, meet regularly with your mentors to elicit feedback on your ideas and drafts. Your mentors should provide feedback on several iterations of your Specific Aims document and contribute to strengthening it. Recruit mentors to your team who will also invest in reading and providing feedback on your entire fellowship as an internal review before the fellowship’s due date.

You also want to maintain and cultivate relationships with prior mentors, advisors, or colleagues because fellowships often require three to five letters of reference. A weak or poorly written letter will negatively affect your proposal’s fundability, so make sure your referees will write a strong letter of recommendation and highlight your specific capabilities.

Rule 6: Develop a Complete Career Development Training Plan

Most fellowships support applicants engaged in training to enhance their development into a productive independent researcher. Training often includes both mentored activities, e.g., regular meetings with your mentor(s), as well as professional activities, e.g., courses and seminars. It is important that you describe a complete training plan and justify the need for each training activity based on your background and career goals.

When developing this plan, it is helpful to think deeply about your training needs. What skills or experiences are missing from your background but needed for your next career stage? Try to identify three to five training goals for your fellowship and organize your plan with these goals in mind. Below are sample activities:

  • Regular (weekly) one-on-one meetings with mentor(s)
  • Biannual meeting with advisory committee
  • Externship (few weeks to a few months) in a collaborator’s laboratory to learn a specific technique or approach
  • Courses (include course # and timeline) to study specific topics or methods
  • Seminars focused on specific research areas
  • Conferences to disseminate your research and initiate collaborations
  • Teaching or mentoring
  • Grant writing, scientific writing, and oral presentation courses or seminars
  • Opportunities for gaining leadership roles
  • Laboratory management seminars or experiences

Rule 7: STOP! Get Feedback

Feedback is critical to developing a first-class proposal. You need a wide audience providing feedback because your reviewers will likely come from diverse backgrounds as well. Be proactive in asking for feedback from your mentor, colleagues, and peers. Even non-scientists can provide critical advice about the clarity of your writing. When eliciting feedback, inform your reviewer of your specific needs, i.e., you desire broader feedback on overall concepts and feasibility or want advice on grammar and spelling. You may also consider hiring a professional editing and proofreading service to polish your writing.

Some fellowships have program staff, such as the NIH Program Officers, who can advise prospective applicants. These individuals can provide essential information and feedback about the programmatic relevance of your proposal to the Sponsor’s goals for that specific fellowship application. Approaching a Program Officer can be daunting, but reading the article “What to Say—and Not Say—to Program Officers” can help ease your anxiety [ 3 ].

Rule 8: Tell a Consistent and Cohesive Story

Fellowship applications are often composed of numerous documents or sections. Therefore, it is important that all your documents tell a consistent and cohesive story. For example, you might state your long term goal in the Specific Aims document and personal statement of your biosketch, then elaborate on your long term goal in a career goals document, so each of these documents must tell a consistent story. Similarly, your research must be described consistently in your abstract, Specific Aims, and research strategy documents. It is important to allow at least one to two weeks of time after composing the entire application to review and scrutinize the story you tell to ensure it is consistent and cohesive.

Rule 9: Follow Specific Requirements and Proofread for Errors and Readability

Each fellowship application has specific formats and page requirements that must be strictly followed. Keep these instructions and the review criteria close at hand when writing and revising. Applications that do not conform to required formatting and other requirements might be administratively rejected before the review process, so meticulously follow all requirements and guidelines.

Proofread your almost final documents for errors and readability. Errors can be confusing to reviewers. Also, if the documents have many misspellings or grammar errors, your reviewers will question your ability to complete the proposed experiments with precision and accuracy. Remove or reduce any field-specific jargon or acronyms. Review the layout of your pages and make sure each figure or table is readable and well placed. Use instructive headings and figure titles that inform the reviewers of the significance of the next paragraph(s) or results. Use bolding or italics to stress key statements or ideas. Your final documents must be easy to read, but also pleasing, so your reviewers remain engaged.

Rule 10: Recycle and Resubmit

Fellowships applications frequently have similar requirements, so it is fairly easy to recycle your application or submit it to several different funding opportunities. This can significantly increase your odds for success, especially if you are able to improve your application with each submission by tackling reviewers’ comments from a prior submission. However, some Sponsors limit concurrent applications to different funding opportunities, so read the instructions carefully.

Fellowship funding rates vary but, sadly, excellent fellowships may go unfunded. Although this rejection stings, resubmitted applications generally have a better success rate than original applications, so it is often worth resubmitting. However, resubmitting an application requires careful consideration of the reviewers’ comments and suggestions. If available, speak to your Program Officers because he or she may have listened to the reviewers’ discussion and can provide a unique prospective or crucial information not included in the reviewers’ written comments. Resubmitted fellowships are many times allowed an additional one- to two-page document to describe how you addressed the reviewers’ comments in the revised application, and this document needs to be clear and persuasive.

The ten tips we provide here will improve your chances of securing a fellowship and can be applied to other funding opportunity announcements like career development awards (i.e., NIH K Awards). Regardless of funding outcomes, writing a fellowship is an important career development activity because you will learn and refine skills that will enhance your training.

  • 1. National Institutes of Health. NIH Peer Review Reveal—a front-row seat to a review peer review meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBDxI6l4dOA .
  • 2. Stephen W. Russell and David C. Morrison. The Grant Application Writer’s Workbook–National Institutes of Health Version. Available: www.grantcentral.com .
  • 3. Spires MJ. What to Say—and Not Say—to Program Officers. The Chronicles of Higher Education. 2012. Available: http://chronicle.com/article/What-to-Say-and-Not-Say-to/131282 .

research statement for a postdoc

How to write a research statement for a postdoc fellowship

In this post, I share the research statement I wrote to become a finalist in a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship competition called the Owen Chamberlain Postdoctoral Fellowship at Berkeley Lab.

At the time of the application, I did not have any main-author papers published yet but some in the pipeline.

research statement for a postdoc

If you are wondering what do you even write in a research statement, I am totally with you.

I felt the same way.

What do I say?

Then I learned that what you mainly say in a research statement is what you have done already and how that makes you great.

I don’t know exactly how many people apply for postdoc fellowships like these but I have heard it’s hundreds.

I was selected as a finalist along with 4 or 5 others.

I had loads of fun visiting the place, interviewing, and giving talks.

At the interview, they told me they didn’t yet know their budget that year.

They ended up not giving the fellowship to anyone that year – as far as I know.

I loved the experience though and here’s the research statement!

Research statement

Multimessenger astronomy and astrophysics, although broad, capture my research interests most accurately. Be it neutrinos, X-rays, dark matter, or gravitational waves, I find these rapidly-growing avenues of studying the Universe most promising, and the Chamberlain Fellowship would allow me to expand on my current expertise while applying the knowledge, skills, and experience gained during my Ph.D.

My Ph.D. is focused on a NASA long-duration balloon experiment for ultra-high-energy (> 10 18 eV) neutrino detection called the ANtarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA). ANITA uses the polar vortex to orbit in roughly circular trajectories, at an altitude of ~ 40 km, over the continent of Antarctica, for about a month during the Austral Summer. This experiment provides a unique opportunity to study high energy astrophysical phenomena by means of an emerging cosmic messenger, namely the neutrino. There have been four ANITA missions so far.

ANITA searches for radio pulses in the 200 – 1200 MHz frequency range, produced by neutrino interactions in the Antarctic ice. The human activity that produces radio waves in the same frequency range, such as military communications satellites, has been known to interfere with and even prevent ANITA science operations. To mitigate radio interference, I built tunable filters for the ANITA-IV mission (2016). During my deployment in Antarctica last year, after a successful launch of ANITA-IV, I operated the tunable filters in real-time. The filters helped to increase the instrument livetime of ANITA by almost a factor of 3. Details are in our pre-print at https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.04536 .

At present, I am studying and classifying anthropogenic noise using data from the ANITA-II and ANITA-III flights. I am a lead contributor to the development of a new analysis technique to search for a diffuse flux of ultra-high-energy neutrinos. Additionally, I am leading the development of new techniques to perform the first search for afterglow neutrinos from Gamma Ray Bursts using data from the ANITA-III and ANITA-IV flights. We are expecting to publish results from these analyses at the end of the Fall of 2017 and in the Spring of 2018, respectively.

I am interested in experiments such as Daya Bay and DUNE, that probe the Universe with neutrinos at energies complementary to those probed by ANITA. These experiments will allow me to increase my breadth both in their particle physics and astrophysics goals. Additionally, I am interested in the next-generation dark matter experiment LZ, that aims to answer fundamental questions about the Universe through the detection of dark matter.

Due to my experience with building and deploying ANITA-IV, I am well-placed to make strong contributions to detector development, testing, calibration, and deployment for new and upcoming experiments. By the time I graduate, I will have worked on multiple analyses using complementary techniques involving data from three flights of ANITA, making me well-rounded and capable of leading analysis projects for the above-mentioned experiments. In conclusion, my research interests align with multiple opportunities that could be supported by the Chamberlain Fellowship, and that would also benefit from my background in particle astrophysics instrumentation and analysis work.

Here is a related post where I talk about the dangers of taking too long to finish a Ph.D. and its impact on winning postdoctoral fellowships.

Dangers of a Ph.D. Taking Too Long

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8 responses to “how to write a research statement for a postdoc fellowship”.

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Lehyla Heward Avatar

This is a very helpful post, thank you! I like that your research statement is not very long and can be easily reverse engineered to get a general outline for any discipline. You’re a great writer 🙂

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Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.

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Your post is very helpful!! Thank you!

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Awesome, thanks!

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Thank you very much my dear for this extraordinary help

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Thank you very much for this very useful guide

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How to write a successful postdoc application – the PI perspective

Shina caroline lynn kamerlin.

1 Uppsala University, Uppsala Sweden

What are PIs looking for when they hire postdocs?

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A few months ago, I was attending a virtual social event, and a junior colleague asked senior researchers at the event “so, what do you look for in a successful postdoc application?” This is obviously a topic of great interest to many potential postdocs: “how to write a successful postdoc application” generates over 7 million hits on a Google search. Indeed, the competition for postdoc positions is fierce. We typically receive 20–70 applications for each position we announce in my research group, many of which are outstanding. Choosing between such excellent candidates is far from trivial. So, in the face of such competition, what makes a successful postdoc application?

There are numerous webpages providing advice and strategies to apply for a postdoc position. My goal rather is to try to give insight into the perspective of PIs in physics, biology, and chemistry, based on answers to an online survey. I posted a link to the survey on my Twitter account @kamerlinlab and received 34 anonymous responses from chemists, biochemists, chemical biologists, computational chemists, biologists, and biophysicists. Clearly, this is by no means an exhaustive overview of PIs’ views, but there was significant overlap in the responses. While each PI evaluates postdoc applications with their own opinions and priorities, it shows some general aspects that they are looking for in an applicant, which could be helpful for aspiring postdocs.

The survey was comprised of both free‐text and multiple‐choice questions. The group sizes of the respondents ranged from 2 to 17 members (˜8 on average, not including the PI), of which between 0 and 8 (˜3 on average) were postdocs, along with various combinations of PhD students, Master’s students, undergraduate researchers, senior researchers, technicians, and/or lab managers. While there were some outliers who either rarely or continuously recruit new postdocs, most respondents typically recruit a new postdoc every 1–2 years.

So, what is it that PIs look for in an application? Common themes that emerged from the responses were: interest in the team’s area of research, independence, experience (in particular, relevance of experience to the position), qualifications and motivation, and creativity. A few respondents mentioned publications—in one case explicitly that they are not looking at quantity or impact factor, but at relevance to the research line of their lab—and some respondents provided more specific skills such as programming experience or leadership qualities. However, motivation and interest in the lab were recurrent and emphasized themes. In the same way, when asked what the biggest dealbreakers for an application would be, respondents frequently emphasized lack of motivation/interest, lack of relevant experience in the field, and generic cover letters (“Dear Sir/Madam”), signs of dishonesty in how applicants present themselves, over‐inflated claims of achievements or over‐inflated publication lists with papers in predatory journals, not being a team player, and in one case, no evidence of open science practices, in addition to other concerns.

When asked how often respondents recruit a postdoc who is changing research field, roughly a quarter of responders said that they would never do or have not yet done this. One PI mentioned they have a very small research team and do not have time to train new members in a new area, and others expressed concern about funding restrictions. This ties in with the emphasis on research background in terms of desired qualities for applicants. However, other PIs stated that they do recruit candidates with divergent backgrounds; what makes these interesting for them are typically motivation, drive, and the ability to really stand out and bring new skills. The value for the intellectual diversity of the research team was emphasized.

The detailed responses are shown in Fig ​ Fig1. 1 . Since I promoted the survey on social media, and since I actively promote and am involved in issues of research evaluation, open science, and a signatory of DORA, one might assume a selection bias among the respondents. With this in mind, it is nevertheless clear that, in general, the respondents did not strongly prioritize institutional prestige, bibliometrics, perceived excellence, or overall grades from prior studies—with a slight skew in favor of excellence. What did, however, stand out as being important was the quality of the cover letter, as well as relevant technical expertise for the position. When asked in a follow‐up question what the single most important thing a candidate can put in their application to stand‐out, respondents again emphasized independence, creativity, explicitly outlining how the candidate is interested in the project, new research ideas, and most importantly, the respondents wanted to be addressed personally and that it is clear why they are the research team the candidate wants to join. These points were again emphasized in additional comments, as well as the importance of performance at interview(s). One person once again stressed that a commitment to open science is helpful, another always checks high school/university math grades if available, and one respondent mentioned that they love the ‘other skills and hobbies’ section at the end of a CV, because it gives them some idea about the person they are hiring. While it is commonplace in continental Europe to include a photograph with the CV, photos can introduce and/or exacerbate the risk of unconscious bias in hiring decisions. Interestingly, none of the respondents mentioned looking at photos.

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Object name is EMBR-22-e54203-g002.jpg

The responses to multiple‐choice survey questions, based on 34 responses total. Respondents were asked to rank (on a 1–5 scale where 1 is least and 5 is most important) the relative importance of institutional prestige, bibliometrics, relevant background, “perceived” excellence, the cover letter, and prior grades when evaluating postdoc/senior researcher candidates for their group.

As can be seen, there is no “one‐way‐only” solution to writing a successful postdoc application. Just like the applicants, team leaders are also individuals with different priorities. It is important for both sides to feel that this is a professional relationship that is likely to work out, and, as a potential postdoc joining a new research team, it is important to feel confidence that the lab is a good fit for you and for your interests. However, the repeating themes, which I also strongly endorse, are genuine interest in the work done by the research team you are going to join; relevant background and skills—even if they are not in the exact research area, explain why the skills you do have are transferable and what new benefits you could bring to ongoing or new research projects in the team; and personalization: a feeling that this is not a generic application that has gone out to a huge number of people. Postdoc positions are tremendously competitive, and none of the advice provided in this piece can guarantee a successful application. However, if you incorporate the three points into your package, and make sure that they come across clearly, it should increase the likelihood your application will be successful.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest beyond being a PI who is hiring herself.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank members of her research team for helpful feedback on the survey and question suggestions, as well as all survey respondents.

EMBO reports (2021) 22 : e54203. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Lynn Kamerlin is a regular columnist for EMBO Reports .

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Proposal (research statement) for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities (2016)

Document type: Proposal / Research Statement Job type: Postdoc Discipline: humanities (general) Year: 2016

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BRET Career Development ASPIRE Program

Job opportunity: postdoctoral fellow, hsieh laboratory at university of colorado anschutz medical campus (cu-amc), aurora, co.

Posted by hagansa2 on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Job Opportunities .

The Hsieh Laboratory at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU-AMC) is looking for a full-time postdoctoral fellow in the field of Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEI) for an NIH-funded project focused on understanding COVID vaccine-elicited immune response in B cell immunodeficiency. We are a laboratory that studies 1) “classic autoimmunity” (i.e., lupus) and 2) inborn errors of immunity (IEI) that present with autoimmunity/inflammation. Using primary human samples, in vitro cell lines, and CRISPR/Cas engineered mouse models of human disease, we identify and study novel IEI to dissect the molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern self-tolerance and anti-microbial immunity and provide critical insights for effective therapies in immunodeficiency, autoimmunity/inflammation, and malignancy.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

  • Manage a research project
  • Work collaboratively with other lab members and mentor (under)graduate students
  •  Critical evaluation of the scientific literature, write manuscripts, and grants
  • Maintain compliance for human and animal research conduct, and good laboratory practice

Preferred Qualifications • Experience with human immunology research in autoimmunity and/or IEI • Experience with tissue culture, mouse work, and flow cytometry • Experience with unsupervised high-dimensional single cell cytometry and/or sequencing data

Minimum requirements

  •  PhD in Immunology, and/or MD degree and a strong background in immunology, including high-quality first-author publications in the field of immunology

The Successful Candidate Will Learn (be trained) to Design, Implement, and Analyze:

  • High-dimensional single-cell cutting edge technologies such as mass cytometry (CyTOF) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNASeq)
  • Multiparametric single-cell tissue imaging platforms such as multiplexed ion beam imaging (MIBI) and spatial transcriptomics analysis

Environment Dr. Hsieh is an NIH-funded physician-scientist Associate Professor in the department of Pediatrics, Section of Allergy and Immunology, and her laboratory and trainees reside in the department of Immunology and Microbiology. She is the director for the Jeffery Modell Primary Immunodeficiency Center at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She is also the PI of an IEI patient biobank, collaborates with national and international investigators in the field of IEI, such as the COVID Human Genetic Effort, and leads the Sanford Children’s Genomic Medicine consortium project focused on IEI. She is also the director for the FOCIS Center of Excellence at the University of Colorado, which supports education and training in basic science and clinical immunology. CU-AMC has a strong focus on immunology across multiple disciplines, exemplified by multiple campus-wide NIH funded initiatives, such as the Center for Mucosal Immunology and Rheumatic Disease Pathogenesis, the Diabetes Research Center, Tissue Interrogation site for the Kidney Precision Medicine Program, GI and Liver Innate Immune Program, the RNA Bioscience Initiative, and the Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Initiative.

How to apply:

Interested applicants should send a cover letter, CV (or NIH Bioksetch), and three references to Dr. Elena Hsieh, [email protected] .

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Beyond the Lab: Data Science

Open postdoc position at Qiu Group

RESEARCH | MEMBERS  | PUBLICATIONS  | Postdoc Opening Position  

Offer Description

We are looking for one highly motivated Postdoctoral researcher working on spintronics and magnetic nanostructures in the group of Prof. Z. Q. Qiu at the physics department of University of California at Berkeley. This project aims to explore magnetic, topological, and spin transport properties in layered van der Waals materials and heterostructures. This is a one-year appointment (9/1/2024 to 8/31/2025) with the possibility of extension based on the course of the research.

Responsibilities

The major responsibility includes preparation/growth of layered materials using Molecular Beam Epitaxy, preparation of heterostructure, structural characterization, and magnetic measurements using various techniques such as MOKE, FMR, ST-FMR, and X-rays, etc.

Qualifications

To qualify for the position of postdoc, you must hold a doctoral degree awarded no more than one year prior to the application in Physics, Materials Science, or Electrical Engineering.

Application procedure

The application should be sent electronically to the contact (see below), and include:

  • CV, including a complete list of publications
  • References (1-3) that we can contact.
  • Personal statement letter (1-3 pages):

• Introduce yourself

• Describe your previous research fields and main research results

• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Prof. Z. Q. Qiu Department of Physics University of California at Berkeley Email:  [email protected] Publications:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7DiXaAYAAAAJ&hl=en

The Royal Society

Newton International Fellowships

This fellowship is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.

Decision by

About the scheme

The Newton International Fellowship (NIF) programme provides support for outstanding early career researchers to make a first step towards developing an independent research career through gaining experience across international borders. The fellowships enable researchers to access expertise, gain new perspectives and build long-lasting collaborative relationships. 

This scheme is jointly run by the British Academy and the Royal Society. 

The overarching aim of the Newton International Fellowship programme is to attract and retain emerging talent in the UK and build a globally connected, mobile research and innovation workforce. The objectives are to: 

  • Attract talented international early career researchers to establish and conduct their research in the UK
  • Support early career researchers to pursue high-quality and innovative lines of research
  • Provide opportunities to acquire new skills and knowledge through training and career development
  • Foster long-term relationships through networking opportunities and the Newton International Fellowships alumni programme.

Applications for the humanities and social sciences should be made to the British Academy.

If you are unsure about which academy to apply to, contact [email protected] .

The Royal Society recognises that diversity is essential for delivering excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Society wants to encourage applications from the widest range of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to maximise innovation and creativity in science for the benefit of humanity. We regularly review and revise policies and processes to embed equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles in all aspects of the grant making process and ensure all talented applicants have an equitable chance to succeed as per assessment criteria.

See below for details of adjustments we can provide for disabled applicants.

ISPF-Funded and Privately-Funded Fellowships

We welcome applications from all countries. 

The Royal Society also has funding through the International Science Partnerships Fund to support additional Newton International Fellowships for applicants applying from Switzerland.

The Royal Society’s partnership with the K C Wong Education Foundation also allows us to fund additional fellowships for applicants applying from China. These awards are termed Royal Society K C Wong International Fellowships.

It is not possible to apply directly for one of these fellowships. They are selected from the same pool of applicants as the Newton International Fellowships and are of equal value and prestige.

Changes to the scheme

Fellowships awarded in the 2024 round will be two years in duration.

What does the scheme offer?

The maximum award value will be £280,000 over two years.

Funds can cover:

  • basic salary as set by the host institution and associated on-costs 
  • research expenses 
  • relocation and visa costs for Newton International Fellows and their dependents (partner and children). The total grant cap may be exceeded to cover relocation/visa costs if this is well justified in the application
  • estate costs and indirect costs 

Further detail on these changes is available in the scheme notes and in our Royal Society Funding Guidance  (costing policy)

We provide flexibility to accommodate personal circumstances including part-time working for health reasons or caring responsibilities. There is provision for maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoptive or extended sick leave , as well as financial support for childcare costs  that arise from attending conferences and research visits.

Royal Society Research Fellows also have the opportunity to access a range of career development and engagement opportunities including training on leadership, science communication and public engagement, and activities coordinated by our science policy and schools engagement teams. For further detail on these additional benefits, read our opportunities page .

Successful applicants may also be eligible to receive alumni funding to support continued networking activities with UK-based researchers following completion of their fellowship.

This scheme is for you if:

  • You have a PhD, or will have a PhD by the time the funding starts
  • You have no more than seven years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application (discounting career breaks, but including teaching experience and/or time spent in industry on research)
  • You are based outside the UK
  • You do not hold UK citizenship
  • You are competent in oral and written English
  • Your research is within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences, which includes but is not limited to biological research and biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. For a full list, please see the breakdown of subject groups and areas  supported by the Royal Society. Applications for the humanities and social sciences should be made to the British Academy.

All applications are developed with the support of a UK sponsor. The Sponsor should work with the lead applicant to develop the project proposal and should provide mentoring, support, and guidance throughout the duration of the award.

Applicants can be of any nationality and those requiring a visa are eligible to apply for a Global Talent Visa  under the fast-track process of endorsement.

Read the scheme notes and FAQ for further information on eligibility.  Please ensure that you meet all eligibility requirements before applying.

You will apply through our application and grant management system, Flexi-Grant®. 

See the ‘Application and assessment process’ page  for a general overview of the application and selection steps and below for details specific to this scheme. 

Assessment of your application will be overseen by one of the four Newton International Fellowship Panels . Following eligibility checks, applications are initially reviewed and assessed by two members of the Extended Committee who have the most appropriate expertise. Shortlisted applications are then discussed at a Panel meeting where recommendations for funding are made.

Further detail on the application and assessment process is available in the scheme notes.

The Royal Society welcomes applications from scientists with disabilities and provides adjustments to ensure that they can participate fully in the selection process. If you need an adjustment when accessing the application form, attending interviews, or for any other part of the application process, please contact the Grants team on [email protected] or +44 20 7451 2666. Adjustments can include, but are not limited to: 

  • extension of the deadline 
  • additional support to complete the application form 

If you have further questions regarding the scheme, please contact the Grants team on [email protected] or visit our contact us page .

  • Newton International Fellowship scheme notes
  • Conditions of Award
  • Newton International Fellowships 2024 – FAQs

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Dr Anand Prakash Maurya

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FDA Postdoctoral Fellowship in Skin Research

Oak ridge institute for science and education, jefferson, arkansas, about the position.

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

FDA Office and Location: A postdoctoral fellowship opportunity is currently available in the Division of Biochemical Toxicology at the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) located in Jefferson, AR. Funding for this opportunity will be provided by the Office of Commissioner (OC), Office of Women's Health (OWH).

Research Project: The selected candidate will participate in a multi-disciplinary effort to evaluate the potential for alternative models of human skin to help predict the dermal absorption of products of interest to the FDA, including human and animal topical drugs and cosmetic ingredients.

Learning Objectives:

The fellow will play a primary role in the development and conduct of in vitro skin absorption studies using excised human skin, artificial membranes, and reconstructed human epidermis and skin barrier models. To this end, the fellow will become familiar with relevant scientific literature, learn how to develop suitable study designs and experimental strategies, and conduct laboratory research using a range of techniques, including cell culture, in vitro skin permeation testing, lipid analysis, histology, transepidermal water loss, and trans-epithelial electrical resistance.

The fellow will be in close collaboration with researchers at NCTR and from FDA product centers, including CFSAN, CDER, and CVM, and from other federal agencies, including NCATS and NICEATM.

The fellow will be actively encouraged to present the study findings at scientific meetings and to publish them in peer-reviewed journals.

Anticipated Start Date: March 1, 2024.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for 18 months, but may be renewed upon recommendation of FDA and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and FDA. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Participants do not become employees of FDA, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.

Completion of a successful background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management is required for an applicant to be on-boarded at FDA. OPM can complete a background investigation only for individuals, including non-US Citizens, who have resided in the US for a total of three of the past five years.

FDA Ethics Requirements

If an ORISE Fellow, to include their spouse and minor children, reports what is identified as a Significantly Regulated Organization (SRO) or prohibited investment fund financial interest in any amount, or a relationship with an SRO, except for spousal employment with an SRO, and the individual will not voluntarily divest the financial interest or terminate the relationship, then the individual is not placed at FDA. For additional requirements, see FDA Ethics for Nonemployee Scientists.

FDA requires ORISE participants to read and sign their FDA Education and Training Agreement within 30 days of his/her start date, setting forth the conditions and expectations for his/her educational appointment at the agency. This agreement covers such topics as the following:

  • Non-employee nature of the ORISE appointment;
  • Prohibition on ORISE Fellows performing inherently governmental functions;
  • Obligation of ORISE Fellows to convey all necessary rights to the FDA regarding intellectual property conceived or first reduced to practice during their fellowship;
  • The fact that research materials and laboratory notebooks are the property of the FDA;
  • ORISE fellow’s obligation to protect and not to further disclose or use non-public information.

Apply for this vacancy

What you'll need to apply

Connect with ORISE...on the GO! Download the new ORISE GO mobile app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to help you stay engaged, connected, and informed during your ORISE experience and beyond!

A complete application consists of:

  • An application
  • Transcripts – Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts
  • A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
  • One educational or professional recommendation. Your application will be considered incomplete, and will not be reviewed until one recommendation is submitted.
  • All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

Contact name

Contact email

[email protected]

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g. toxicology, biology, chemistry, biomedical engineering, or related areas). The doctoral degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.

Preferred skills:

  • A strong background in planning and conduct of wet lab research, data analysis, and presentation of findings is desired.
  • Experience conducting in vitro skin permeation testing and cell culture is preferred.
  • Demonstrated written and oral communications skills.

Additional Information

The application must be completed through Zintellect. https://www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/FDA-OWH-2024-0001

View more jobs

Postdoctoral fellow - structural biology and biophysics, dir lv postdoc, vrc vppl postdoc, external website policy.

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ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP Post-Doctoral research Fellowship - 1 vacancy 03/ECUM/CMAT/2024 – 3MControlSystems

Job information, offer description.

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of one grant of Post-Doctoral research fellowship within the scope of the R&D project “CoSysM3–Mathematical Modelling of Multi-scale Control Systems: applications to human diseases, 2022.03091.PTDC ( https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.03091.PTDC ), financed by national funds (OE) through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, FCT/MCTES, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area : Applied Mathematics and related areas

Recipient category: The BIPD are intended for doctorates in the area of Applied Mathematics and related areas, who cumulatively meet the following requirements:

  • Holders of a PhD degree obtained in the three years prior to the date of submission of the fellowship application***;
  • Have carried out the research work that led to the attribution of a PhD degree in an entity other than the host unit “Centre of Mathematics of the University of Minho” **;
  • Do not exceed, with the conclusion of the contract in question, including possible renewals, a cumulative period of three years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or interpolated.

Candidates who do not cumulatively meet the requirements described will be excluded.

Other requirements : Interest on Mathematical Biology

** Different R&D Units are included, even if located in the same Organic Unit (UOEI) of UMinho (no. 4 and 5 of article 7 of the FCT I.P Research Grant Regulation, in force)

***Documents proving the ownership of academic degrees and diplomas, or their respective recognition when they have been awarded by foreign higher education institutions, when applicable for the type of scholarship in the call for applications, may be waived at the application stage, being replaced by declaration of honor of the candidate, with the verification of this condition occurring only in the phase of contracting the scholarship. This statement must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for the purpose of contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be considered. If it is verified that the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path and may, consequently, change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship contracting will not be done.

Applicants eligibility: Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in article 9 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2019).

Workplan and objectives to be achieved : The work plan aims to develop innovative mathematical models for the study of human diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases. The emphasis will be on models acting on both the cellular and the population level, incorporating relevant dynamics for the biological description of the considered diseases. The objectives include:

– to develop qualitative analysis of the model to demonstrate its mathematical consistency;

– to studying control problems formulated for the proposed model to decide on therapeutic strategies or decision-making;

–to implement numerical simulations to illustrate the response obtained with the model solution.

The work plan will be developed in collaboration with the members of the CoSysM3 project team.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current version published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019 of august 28; Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021 and Regulation of Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. - in force.

Host institution and scientific supervision : The workplan will be carried out in Centre of Mathematics of the University of Minho (CMAT), School of Sciences, University of Minho, located in Gualtar Campus, Braga, and Azurém Campus, Guimarães, under the scientific supervision of Ana Jacinta Pereira da Costa Soares, Associate Professor of the Department of Mathematics, School of Sciences, University of Minho, with the possibility of delegation of supervision ou co-supervision by another member of the project team.

Fellowship duration : The grant will take place for a period of 12 months, with a provisional starting date on the May of 2024. The fellowship grant may eventually be renewed up to July of 2025, provided that both parts are interested on the renewal of the fellowship.

Amount of the research grant : The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1.801,00 euros , per month, in accordance with the stipends values published by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT I.P.) in the country (Annex I – Monthly Stipends Values for the maintenance allowances of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships ) and Annex II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, according to the applicable regulation.

Payment is made on the 23rd of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contractualization process.

Other benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Security (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1st level of discounts (for research grants with a total duration 6 months or higher) and personal accident insurance.

Exclusivity regime: The grantee will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.

Selection panel : (identify the selection panel President and the effective and substitute members)

Ana Jacinta Pereira da Costa Soares, Associate Professor, Centre of Mathematics (CMAT), School of Sciences, University of Minho.

Vogais efetivos:

– Carolina Paula Baptista Ribeiro, Assistant Professor, Centre of Mathematics (CMAT), School of Sciences, University of Minho;

– Cristiana João Soares da Silva, Assistant Professor with Habilitation, Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, and Integrated Member of the Center for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA) of the University of Aveiro (UA).

Vogais Suplentes:

– Paula Cristiana Costa Garcia da Silva Patrício, Associate Professor, Center of Mathematics and Applications (NOVAMATH), Faculty of Sciences and Technology of Universidade Nova de Lisboa;

– Romina Travaglini, Junior Researcher, Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica “Francesco Severi”, University of Parma, Italy, and Integrated Member of Centre of Mathematics (CMAT), School of Sciences, University of Minho.

The first effective member will substitute the President of the selection panel in case of impediment, being nominate the first substitute member in the place of the first effective member.

Criteria and procedures for applications assessment and selection : The applications assessment will focus on the candidate's Merit, following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 1 to 5 values.

A. Applicant Merit - AM (90%):

A.1 : Academic path (considering the classifications of academic degrees), with a weighting of 60%;

A.2 : Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 30%;

A.3 : Motivation letter, and two recommendation letters by recognized mathematicians, with a weighting of 10%.

The merit classification (AM) of the applicant’s merit with the achieved through the following formula:  

    AM = (A1×0,6) + (A2×0,3) + (A3×0,1)

Candidates classified in the first 3 (three) positions, who obtain a minimum classification of 4 in the AM criterion, will be admitted to the Interview phase, the Jury proceeding to the evaluation of the following sub-criteria.

B. Interview – INT (10%):

B.1: interpersonal skills (10%);

B.2: Demonstrated knowledge in the area (50%);

B.3: Motivation, commitment and interest in the work plan (30%);

B.4: Linguistic competences (10%).

The Jury also decided to proceed with the evaluation of the Interview, according to the following levels:

  • High – 5 values;
  • Good – 4 values;
  • Sufficient – 3 values;
  • Reduced – 2 values;
  • Insufficient – 1 value.

The Interview classification (INT) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

INT=(B1×0,1) + (B2×0,5) + (B3×0,3) + (B4×0,1)

The final classification (FC) of Applicant Merit (AM) and Interview (INT) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

FC=(AM×0,9) + (INT×0,1)

The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honor of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.

Disclosure of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be send to the applicants by email until 90 working days from the applications deadline.

If case of unfavourable results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing to interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (DL no. 4 / 2015 of January 7th).

Complaint and appeal procedures : The final results of the evaluation will be published through an ordered list ( alphabetically, by final grade obtained ), posted in a visible and public place of the host unit, as well as by email to all applicants, enclosing for that purpose, the minutes of the jury deliberations.

The selected candidate must inform its willingness to accept the grant, in writing. In case of rejection, the fellowship will be awarded to the next candidate in the ordered list of applicants.

The final decision can be contested within 15 working days, by sending to the President of the jury the corresponding claim. Interested parties may also submit an optional hierarchical appeal, addressed to the Pro-Rector for Research and Projects, Professor Sandra Paiva.

Constitution of a selection reserve list: The applicants ranked in the next positions on the ordered list will be included in a selection reserve list, which can be used until 30 of November of 2024.

Application deadline and submission : The tender is open for a period of 15 working days , counting from the date of publication of the advertisement on the Euraxess portal, that is from 5 to 25 of March.

Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents:

  • curriculum vitae;
  • certificate of qualifications or declaration of the candidate. either of which indicating the grades obtained in the completed Curricular Units;
  • motivation letter, highlighting both the interest in Mathematical Biology and the commitment and interest in the work plan;
  • two recommendation letters from experts in the field of Mathematics;
  • other documents considered relevant to the assessment of the scientific and professional background.

Applications must be sent by email to [email protected] , in courtesy copy to [email protected] , indicating the reference of the call for applications in the subject line, which is 03/ECUM/CMAT/2024-3MControlSystems . Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.

Recommendation letters should be sent by the authors via email to [email protected] , in courtesy copy to [email protected] , indicating the reference of the competition in the subject line , which is 03/ECUM/CMAT/2024 - 3MControlSystems .

Fellowship contractualization: The fellowship will be attributed by signing a fellowship contract between the University of Minho and the fellow, accordingly with the contract minute (annex IV of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119 , through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, as indicated in 2.4 of the FCT document: “ Rules for Granting and Management of Grants within the scope of R&D projects, including infrastructure projects, the multi-annual financing program for R&D units and other FCT financing instruments (Version 2021) ”.

The contract may only be concluded after all the documentation required is collected, which must take place within a maximum period of 6 months [including evidences of doctoral degree our it’s recognition in Portugal, under Decree-law no. 66/2018 of august 16th].

Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to conclude the scholarship contract. Once received, the fellow must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.

The activities under the fellowship contract can only began after proper authorization by the contracting entity.

Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes provided the fellowship regulations (FCT and UMinho) and in the Statute of the Research Fellow, the fellowship ends with the completion of the work plan, as well as with the expiration date for which it was granted or renewed.

At the end of the fellowship, the grantee is obliged to present a Final Report of the work carried out, in accordance with the objectives and evaluation criteria defined with the scientific advisor, within 30 days after the end of the scholarship.

The final report must be prepared in accordance with Annex I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119 , through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021.

Requirements

Please you can find the information in the Offer Description section

Additional Information

Work location(s), where to apply.

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    The application and assessment process . You will apply through our application and grant management system, Flexi-Grant®. See the 'Application and assessment process' page for a general overview of the application and selection steps and below for details specific to this scheme.. Assessment of your application will be overseen by one of the four Newton International Fellowship Panels.

  25. Federal agencies adopt resource developed by UB ontologists

    1/9/24 Prospective Postdocs. 1/19/24 Current Postdocs. 1/16/24 Faculty and Staff. 1/19/24 Events and Awards. 1/9/24 Contact Us. 1/19/24 About Us. 1/9/24 Prospective Postdocs. ... CCO, created in 2010 by CUBRC with funding from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), is a "mid-level" ontology ecosystem that can be used ...

  26. FDA Postdoctoral Fellowship in Skin Research

    FDA Office and Location: A postdoctoral fellowship opportunity is currently available in the Division of Biochemical Toxicology at the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) located in Jefferson, AR. ... Research Project: The selected candidate will participate in a multi-disciplinary ...

  27. What exactly is meant by research statement for postdoc application

    Generally the research statement for a postdoc position should specify the topic of interest and research which will be worked on during the tenure of the position. Generally new PhDs aims to continue their previous research work as they have publications and thesis in them but it is not mandatory in any way, you can present a purely new topic ...

  28. ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP Post

    A call for applications is now open for the attribution of one grant of Post-Doctoral research fellowship within the scope of the R&D project "CoSysM3-Mathematical Modelling of Multi-scale Control Systems: applications to human diseases, 2022.03091.PTDC ... This statement must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application ...