NESCent provides a range of support options for synthetic evolutionary research. These include Post-Doctoral Fellowships, Sabbatical Fellowships, Short-term Visitor positions, Catalysis Meetings and Working Groups.
Questions regarding NESCent’s programs can be directed at Allen Rodrigo, Director of NESCent or Susan Alberts, Associate Director of Science and Synthesis.
If you are considering submitting a NESCent proposal in any of these categories, we encourage you to read Linking Big: The Continuing Promise of Evolutionary Synthesis, which provides context and a classification of synthesis in evolutionary science."
Post-Doctoral Fellowships (December 1st deadline)
An important aspect of NESCent's mission is providing professional training for postdoctoral fellows in the field of evolutionary science. NESCent Postdoctoral Fellowships provide two years of support for ambitious, synthetic research on any aspect of evolutionary biology and relevant disciplines. Application Process and Details
Sabbaticals (July 10th and December 1st deadlines)
Traditional sabbatical stipends offer the equivalent to one half of their salary while in residence at NESCent to allow visiting faculty to carry out synthetic evolutionary projects. These can involve a wide range of activities. We are especially interested in projects of grand scale and ambition. Sabbatical fellows may join visiting working groups, or even propose a working group to coincide with a sabbatical.
Application Process and Details
The Center will also pay stipends up to the equivalent of a full salary for targeted sabbaticals (monthly stipend equal to 1/12 of 9-month salary at home institution). Targeted sabbaticals currently include (1) a program for faculty from minority-serving institutions to engage in research and educational scholarship, and (2) the Distinguished Scholar program, designed to allow senior researchers to archive extensive data collections. Application Process and Details
Triangle Scholar (Rolling deadline)
We encourage Triangle area scholars from any Triangle University 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. Application Process and Details
Short-Term Visitors (Jan. 1st, April 1st, July 1st, Sept. 1st deadlines)
Short-term visitors are supported to enable synthetic research on any aspect of evolutionary science. Visitors will work on-site at NESCent for periods of 2 weeks to 3 months. Proposals can include any type of synthetic evolutionary project, but we particularly welcome collaborative projects. We encourage scholars to consider collaborations with NESCent in-house scientists or informaticians; joint proposals from two or more investigators to spend time together at NESCent; or proposals from leaders of working groups to work on their project with NESCent informatics staff. Application Process and Details
Graduate Fellowships (Jan. 1st, April 1st, July 1st, Sept. 1st deadlines)
The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center is now seeking to include graduate traineeship to our portfolio in facilitating broadly synthetic research to address fundamental questions in evolutionary science. We are offering one-semester fellowships for graduate students to pursue research with a NESCent sabbatical scholar, postdoctoral fellow, or with a working Group. The research should be in line with the goals of the sabbatical scholar and/or working group and may include integrating datasets, developing databases, performing analyses, programming and software development, etc. Support will not be provided to collect or generate new data. When relevant, graduate students are expected to be full members of working group. Ultimately we expect the graduate student to lead and author aspects of the research. Interested graduate students should consult with the Principal Investigator of a Working Group, Postdoctoral Fellow, or Sabbatical scholar before submitting an application through our online proposal system.
Catalysis Meetings (July 10th and December 1st deadlines)
These one-time meetings bring together ~ 30 scientists from diverse disciplines to focus on a major question or research area in evolutionary science and intended to increase the scale and ambition of our scientific vision. These meetings identify avenues for scientific synthesis and classes of primary data that must be collected before grand-scale synthesis is possible and catalysis meetings are intended to facilitate the assembly of networks to realize these. Application Process and Details
Working Groups (July 10th and December 1st deadlines)
Working Groups involve small groups of scientists (~10-12 participants) collaborating intensively on the analysis or synthesis of data, models, or both, to address a major question in evolutionary science. The working groups will typically meet 3-4 times over two years, with each meeting lasting 3-7 days. However the number of participants, number of meetings, and duration of each meeting is flexible, depending on the needs and goals of the group. The Working Group is intended as a mechanism for scientists to collaborate productively. Products could include software, databases, manuscripts, or education materials. Application Process and Details
Course Proposals (July 10 deadline)
NESCent welcomes ideas and proposals for short courses (1-2 weeks) at the postgraduate level on topics of relevance to synthetic evolutionary science. To suggest a course, please see details about the proposal process. NESCent also provides cosponsorship for existing short courses on evolutionary topics. Click here for more information on this. To view or apply for upcoming courses sponsored by NESCent, please see the list of current courses.
