The following guidelines and policies are related to the 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 3 years as of the application deadline, and preference is given to new graduates seeking their first postdoctoral position.
  • Applicants should apply only if they anticipate finishing their PhD by July 2027.
  • Awardees must start their Fellowship by the first Monday in July 2027.
  • Applications that are not complete will not be reviewed by the Steering Committee, i.e. all the required documents must be present.
  • U.S. citizenship is not a requirement of the Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, and a PhD received from an international institution is accepted. Open to proposed U.S. Universities, Research Institutions, and Federal Agencies.

Application Assessment 

  • Relevance and fit within program goals and objectives - The proposal must be innovative research within and across disciplines spanning the spectrum of physical, social, and integrated sciences is needed to better understand, predict, plan for, and manage the Earth System and its interactions in a changing climate, as well as how communities experience and are affected by these changes, and how society will pursue low-carbon pathways for a secure and sustainable future. Each appointed Fellow is hosted by a mentoring scientist at a U.S. University, Research Institution, or Federal Agency to work in an innovative climate-related research area of mutual interest, advancing the fundamental science and our understanding of climate-related issues.
  • Your Personal Statement must cover all topics required in the job description, including how you have demonstrated leadership, such as organizing workshops or sessions, serving on committees, leadership within a department, mentoring, public outreach, teaching (awards), serving on proposal/panel/journal reviews, and science communication.  
  • 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. Please include a list of publications. For all publications that are not yet published, please indicate the stage the paper is at, i.e., In Development, Submitted, Under Review, or Accepted.

Host

  • One or two-page letter of intent from the host indicating areas of focus and curriculum vitae are required.
  • The preference is that no more than one postdoctoral fellow be hosted within a department at the same time. 
  • The host is responsible for mentoring the fellow, but the Fellow is an independent researcher.
  • The hosting institution must be in the U.S.A.
  • Hosts are expected to provide office space, telephone, computer, IT services, and office support for the fellow.

Climate & Global Change (C&GC) Steering Committee Member Hosting Postdoc

  • C&GC Steering Committee Members cannot directly host postdocs.
  • A postdoc may go to a Steering Committee Member's institution, but may not work in a Steering Committee Member's group.

Applicant from C&GC Steering Committee Member's Institution

Steering Committee 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)
  • Must leave room for deliberations and voting
  • Questions of fact are okay