Triangle Scholars Program

We encourage Triangle area scholars from the Triangle Universities, or other institutions within commuting distance, to apply to work at NESCent during periods of leave or sabbatical from their home institutions. The Triangle Scholars program provides an opportunity to join our vibrant and very active intellectual community while based at NESCent, but assumes that the Triangle Scholar has their own financial support for the period of residence (see the Visiting Scholars program or the Sabbatical Scholars program for information on programs that provide various types of financial support from NESCent). Proposals can include any type of synthetic project, but fellows should plan on mainly working on-site, to add to our intellectual community. Triangle scholarships may be from 3 months to 1 year in duration. Triangle Scholars are expected to spend a majority of their time at NESCent and be an active participant in our in-house scientific community.

Applications should describe activities that address an important and outstanding question in evolutionary science or education, and that reflect NESCent’s scientific and education mission to advance research that addresses fundamental questions in evolutionary science by integrating methods, concepts, and data within and across disciplines. For more information on synthetic research and a classification of synthesis in evolutionary science please read Linking Big: The Continuing Promise of Evolutionary Synthesis.

NESCent is committed to making data, databases, software and other products that are developed as part of NESCent activities available to the broader scientific community.

Before you Apply

All applicants are encouraged to contact Allen Rodrigo, Director of NESCent, or Susan Alberts, Associate Director of Science and Synthesis, for feedback on project ideas.  The earliest start date of for the Triangle Scholar program would be two and a half months after proposal submission. Please review our  Data and Software Policy and Reporting Requirements before applying. 

Proposals for Triangle Scholars

Proposals for Triangle scholars should be approximately 2 single-spaced (12-pt type) pages, plus a 2-page CV.  Proposals should be organized as follows:

  1. Title (80 characters max)
  2. Name and contact information
  3. Project Summary (250 words max)
  4. Public Summary (250 words max) - written for the public and visible on the NESCent web site
  5. Proposal, including proposed activities, proposed interactions with the NESCent community (including both informal and formal interactions and collaborations), a proposed timetable, anticipated IT needs, and anticipated results. 
  6. Collaborations – We greatly encourage synergy between sabbatical scholars, short-term visitors, working groups, catalysis groups, and postdoctoral fellows at NESCent.  If you plan for such a collaboration please provide specifics. Please contact expected collaborators before proposal submission and indicate this within the body of the proposal.
  7. The period the scholar plans to be at NESCent, and the number of days they expect to spend at NESCent each week (we encourage Triangle Scholars to spend a substantial amount of their time at NESCent, to maximise their chances of achieving their goals).
  8. Short CV of the applicant (2 pages max)

Data, Software and Publication Policy

The open availability of data, software source code, methods, and results is good scientific practice and a key ingredient of synthetic research. NESCent expects that all data and software created through NESCent-sponsored activities be made publicly available no later than one year after the conclusion of the NESCent award, or immediately upon publication of an associated article, whichever comes earlier. For more information please visit our Data, Software and Publication Policy.