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Jack Eddy Postdoctoral Fellowship Elibility and Qualification Guidelines

Eligibility

Applicant

  • Strong preference is given to recent PhDs (PhD within 3 years).  If life circumstances have forced applicant to take a break (maternity and paternity, health issues, etc.), applicants are encouraged to state it in the Personal Statement.
  • Applicants cannot be currently affiliated with Chinese institutions (prior affiliation is fine).
  • It is expected that applicants and hosts will be establishing a new collaboration.  Prior collaborations with host should be clarified in the Personal Statement.
  • Applicants must change institutions (need compelling reason not to). If applicable, please provide a justification statement in the Personal Statement.
  • Applicants should apply only if they anticipate finishing their PhD before the first Monday in December of the award year.

Host

  • Hosting institutions must be in the U.S.
  • Host cannot be the applicant’s PhD adviser or postdoc mentor.
  • Host cannot be part of the Jack Eddy Steering Committee.

For our 2024 Fellowship Applicants:

The following institutional departments currently host first-year C&GC Fellows and are ineligible to serve as hosts this year because they are currently hosting Jack Eddy Fellows:

  • Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • National Center for Atmospheric Research, High Altitude Observatory
  • New Jersey Institute of Technology, Physics Department
  • The Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
  • University of California, Berkeley,  Space Sciences Laboratory

Primary Qualifications

With the aim of identifying applicants with potential for Scientific leadership, applications will be evaluated according to three main criteria (weighted equally):

Relevance

  • Project needs to address directly the objectives of the LWS program 
  • The statement of relevance, within the Research Proposal, needs to stand on its own and contain sufficient information to address relevance without the rest of the proposal.
  • A competitive proposal in the spirit of the Jack Eddy Fellowship will cross rigid boundaries between subdisciplines within heliophysics. Proposals that address too narrowly a niche, or are a mere continuation of prior PhD or postdoctoral research, are not considered competitive. A proposed interdisciplinary approach is encouraged.

Academic Excellence and Leadership

  • Publication record.
  • Activities that show potential for scientific leadership, such as: invited and/or public lectures, awards received, scientific program committees, conference or workshop organization, mentoring others, participation in public outreach, involvement in policy-related committees, professional society activities, special (e.g., international interagency, intergovernmental, or private-public) partnerships.

Proposal Quality

  • Applicants are strongly encouraged to communicate the scientific impact and context of their proposal at a basic level that does not require detailed domain knowledge.
  • Proposals should outline clearly the scientific question(s) and/or objective(s) that will be addressed and how the project will give them closure.
  • The proposal should contain a clear methodology for addressing the science questions and a feasible work plan.

Secondary Qualifications

Quantity of Postdocs per Institution

  • Committee will strive for balance in distribution of postdocs placed at various institutions.
  • Higher preference will be given to applicants that seek to establish new collaborations.
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