A final reminder that the deadline for applications to the 2011-12 Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows) Project is 5pm EDT next Tuesday, May 31. Graduates awarded the Ph.D. or equivalent in computing or allied fields from U.S. institutions between May 1, 2010, and Aug. 31, 2011, are eligible to apply. All application materials — including confidential letters of recommendation to be provided separately by the letter writers — must be submitted through the CIFellows Project website by the deadline. The full announcement appears below.

A few common questions thus far:

• To help meet the deadline, applicants may provide names of recommenders prior to submitting an application; CRA/CCC will contact the recommenders while the applicants are gathering the other application materials. To specify recommenders, click here.

• Applicants’ may provide only one (two-page) statement of goals. However, variations in these goals or scholarly activities can be provided in each of the mentor rationale statements as needed.

• The two-page statement of goals for scholarly activity, teaching, and/or other proposed activities must include a statement of the intellectual merits and broader impacts of the proposed work. However, a Data Management Plan is not necessary.

• We expect to notify applicants of their status by July 15, 2011.

If you have additional questions, please e-mail us.

Program details

The goals of the CIFellows Project are to retain new Ph.D. scholars in research and teaching during challenging economic times, while also supporting intellectual renewal and diversity in the computing fields at U.S. organizations. A total of 107 Ph.D.s have been supported through the program since 2009. These CIFellows have received outstanding research and teaching enrichment experiences, and several have landed permanent positions (including tenure-track faculty appointments) in academia and industry as a result of their experiences. (For more details, see here and here for previous blog posts about our CIFellows.)

 

CRA/CCC will make awards for the 2011-12 academic year. The exact number of awards will be contingent upon the quality of applications received as well as the outcome of a proposal for funding that we have submitted.

 

For prospective applicants

Graduates awarded the Ph.D. or equivalent from U.S. institutions between May 1, 2010, and Aug. 31, 2011, have until 5 p.m. EDT on May 31, 2011, to apply to be a 2011-12 CIFellow. Applications must be submitted online (through the CIFellows Project website).

All applicants must secure and submit written commitments from one to three prospective hosts/mentors at U.S. institutions. Each prospective mentor must be with an organization other than the institution of the applicant’s graduate research, and the CIFellow is expected to be in residence at the mentor’s organization during the CIFellowship period. (You can find possible mentors at a matchmaking website we’ve created, and you can indicate your interest in finding possible mentors by creating a profile of yourself.) Applicants must also provide (a) statements describing their research accomplishments and goals for the CIFellowship; (b) a letter from the Ph.D. advisor or department chair affirming their graduation date; and (c) two confidential letters of recommendation that are to be submitted separately by the application deadline.

 

CRA/CCC will announce the awards by July 15, 2011, and the positions will begin this fall.

 

For prospective mentors

If you are interested in hosting a 2011-12 CIFellow, please create a profile on the CIFellows Project matchmaking website as soon as possible.  You need only specify your name, location, personal research webpage URL (if you have one), a few keywords describing your research interests, and your e-mail address. We are pointing candidates to this website as a resource for finding mentors.

 

Those of you who may have already created a profile on this website in past years, please visit the website and review your information as soon as possible. Any updates may be submitted here. If you have previously created a profile but are no longer able to host a CIFellow, please tell us that through the update form so that we may archive your profile.

 

(We also have a companion website for prospective CIFellows to indicate their interest in finding possible mentors.)

 

More information

For more information, please visit the CIFellows Project website.  Complete details on the submission procedures for applicants and mentors as well as the eligibility requirements can be found there. Again, all application materials must be received by 5 p.m. EDT on May 31, 2011.

(Contributed by Erwin Gianchandani, CCC & CIFellows Project Director)