Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Selection Criteria & Program Policies
The following guidelines and policies are related to the NOAA Climate & Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
Selection Criteria
Applicant Eligibility
- Applicant must move to a new institution, except in compelling circumstances. Please add a justification statement, if applicable, to the cover letter.
- Applicant has held a PhD for no more than three years from the application deadline.
- Applicants should apply only if they anticipate finishing their PhD by 1 December of the award year.
- Awardees must start their fellowship by the second Monday in December of the award year.
- Applications that are not complete will not be reviewed by the steering committee. For example, for an application to be complete, we must have all 4 letters, etc.
Application Assessment
- Relevance and fit within program goals and objectives - The proposal must fit within the scope of the NOAA Climate & Global Change Program and be of relevance to the NOAA mission.
- Quality of proposal - The project description should address an important and novel scientific question. It should be ambitious, yet achievable. It should be clearly written and referenced.
- Quality of academic record and research experience (includes publications) - Positive factors are significant publications that have clearly been led by the candidate, research awards, invited presentations, and grants.
- Reference Responses - Did references describe the candidate's high level of creativity, ingenuity, drive, and perseverance?
- Leadership and Service - Positive factors are organizing workshops or sessions, serving on committees, leadership within department, mentoring, public outreach, teaching (awards), serving on proposal/panel/journal reviews, and science communication.
- Diversity and Inclusion - The Inclusion Response Statement describes past experience and contributions to diversity and inclusion, and describes plans to actively foster and encourage a diverse and inclusive environment in the future.
Host
- One or two page letter of interest from host indicating areas of focus and vitae is required.
- Preference is that no more than one postdoctoral fellow is hosted within a department at the same time.
- Host is responsible for mentoring fellow, but fellow is an independent researcher.
- Hosting institution must be in the U.S.
- Hosts are expected to provide office space, telephone, computer, IT services, and office support for the fellow.
Reference Responses
- Four responses from professional references are required. One must be from the thesis advisor.
- A reference response cannot be from the potential host.
Committee Member Hosting Postdoc
- Committee members cannot directly host postdocs.
- Postdoc may go to a committee member's institution, but may not work in a committee member's group.
Applicant from Committee Member's Institution
Members who are from the same administrative unit as an applicant should not take part in:
- Voting
- Advocacy (which could lead to promoting a candidate unfairly over another)
- Committee member should leave room for deliberations and vote
- Questions of fact are okay
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Whatever your intersection of identities, you are welcome at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). We are committed to inclusivity and promoting an equitable environment that values and respects the uniqueness of all members of our organization.