Graduate School Newsblog

Postdoctoral Girton College Research Fellowship

Girton’s Research Fellows are at the post-doctoral stage in their careers. The fellowship gives them funding for three years to pursue their interests in depth. They work on their own without supervision and are therefore expected to be highly motivated and self-directing. They may take on a certain amount of teaching but are not required to do so. These favourable conditions for pure research normally result in publications that are highly innovative and thorough, and usually lead on to rewarding academic posts in higher education.

As well as a salary and expenses, the Research Fellows have dining rights and the option of living in college accommodation. They have many further opportunities to participate in the life of the college. They mix regularly at social occasions with teaching fellows and graduate students. They sit by right on the Governing Body and may be invited to serve on a variety of committees dealing with college business.In addition they organise informal evening meetings for the discussion of current research work with the rest of the fellowship.

Teranishi Graduate Fellowship in Food Chemistry will be awarded to a proming beginning graduate student to pursue research of significance to the area of food
chemistry. The winner receives a one-time fellowship award of $2,500 and a plaque.

Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study

The Smithsonian Institution offers a variety of Fellowship programs, contingent on available funds.

The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program

At present, the fields fellowship are available for:

• Animal behavior, ecology, and environmental
  science, including an emphasis on the tropics
• Anthropology, including archaeology,
• Astrophysics and astronomy
• Earth sciences and paleobiology
• Evolutionary and systematic biology
• History of science and technology
• History of art, especially American, contemporary,
  African, and Asian art, twentieth-century
  American crafts, and decorative arts
• Social and cultural history of the United States
• Folklife
• Materials Research

Deadline: January 15 annually (applications are available in September)

Postdoctoral Fellowships are offered to scholars who have held the degree or equivalent for less than seven years. Senior Fellowships are offered to scholars who have held the degree or equivalent for seven years or more. The term is 3 to 12 months**. Both fellowships offer a stipend of $42,000* per year plus allowances.
* Earth and Planetary Sciences Senior and Postdoctoral stipends are $47,000 per year.
** Postdoctoral fellowship applicants in science may apply for up to 24 months.

Predoctoral Fellowships are offered to doctoral candidates who have completed preliminary course work and examinations. Candidates must have the approval of their universities to conduct doctoral research at the Smithsonian Institution. The term is 3 to 12 months. The stipend is $27,000 per year plus allowances.

Graduate Student Fellowships are offered to stu-dents formally enrolled in a graduate program of study, who have completed at least one semester, and not yet been advanced to candidacy if in a Ph.D. Program. Applicants must submit a proposal for research in a discipline, which is pursued at the Smithsonian. The term is 10 weeks; the stipend is $6,000.

Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship in Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry

The Office of the Undersecretary of Science at the Smithsonian Institution is offering an Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowship in the area of stable isotope biogeochemistry. Research proposals must integrate the use of stable isotopes (2H/1H, 13C/12C, 15N/14N, and 18O/16O) into their specific research questions. Isotope analyses will be conducted at one of the two Pan-Institutional isotope facilities (OUSS/MCI Stable Isotope Mass Spectrometry Facility in Suitland, MD or at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama). Applicants interested in this fellowship are strongly encouraged to contact potential advisors/hosts at any of the Smithsonian’s various Museums and Research Units prior to proposal preparation and submission. Please consult the research staff listed for the Museum, Research Units, and Offices at the links to Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study’ see below.

The Foundation’s research grants provide support for research on Chinese Studies in the humanities and social sciences.  Scholars focusing on the social, cultural, economic or political development of Taiwan over the past few decades are strongly encourage to apply for this research grant.

Please see the solicitation for additional information.

DLS supports fundamental research that increases our understanding of cognitive, linguistic, social, cultural, and biological processes related to children’s and adolescents’ development and learning.  Research supported by this program will add to our basic knowledge of how people learn and the underlying developmental processes that support learning, with the objective of leading to better educated children and adolescents who grow up to take productive roles as workers and as citizens.

Among the many research topics supported by DLS are: developmental cognitive neuroscience; development of higher-order cognitive processes; transfer of knowledge from one domain or situation to another; use of molecular genetics to study continuities and discontinuities in development; development of peer relations and family interactions; multiple influences on development, including the impact of family, school, community, social institutions, and the media; adolescents’ preparation for entry into the workforce; cross-cultural research on development and learning; and the role of cultural influences and demographic characteristics on development. Additional priorities include research that: incorporates multidisciplinary, multi-method, microgenetic, and longitudinal approaches; develops new methods, models, and theories for studying learning and development; and integrates different processes (e.g., learning, memory, emotion), levels of analysis (e.g., behavioral, social, neural), and time scales (e.g. infancy, middle childhood, adolescence).

This program supports Integrative Research Activities for Developmental Science (IRADS).  The program currently is at its capacity for supporting such large-scale awards, and is therefore not considering new IRADS proposals at this point in time.  The program is accepting proposals for individual investigator projects (average total budget of approximately $100,000 per year) and workshops/ small conferences (average total one-time budget of approximately $15,000).

Full proposal Due January 15, 2011 and July 15, 2011

Solicitation

The 2011 Nordic Research Opportunity is now available as a Supplemental Award, for NSF Graduate Research Fellows.  The NSF, the Research Council of Norway (RCN), the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), the Academy of Finland, the Danish National Research Foundation and the Swedish Research Council will support on a competitive basis research visits of 2-12 months or 3-12 months (country-specific) in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden (new this year).  This international research opportunity is intended to enrich the Graduate Research Fellows? experience through cooperative activities with leading Nordic scientists and institutions, thus enabling them to develop early-career collaborations with international research partners. Results of the research collaboration are expected to expand opportunities for innovation and add an international dimension to Fellow research projects. Interested NSF Graduate Research Fellows who have completed at least one year of graduate study and who are studying at U.S. institutions are encouraged to contact potential Nordic host institutions for detailed information on current research activities at that site.  Please read the announcement (Dear Colleague Letter) on the NSF Website at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10073/nsf10073.jsp?org=DUE (also available as a link on the GRFP page, www.nsf.gov/grfp).  The 2011 Supplement Request Deadline is January 14, 2011.  Announcement of supplement awards will be made in early April, 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu).