In early 2009, the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF), launched the Computing Innovation Fellows Project, a short-term initiative providing recent Ph.D.s with one- to two-year postdoctoral positions at academic institutions and industrial organizations with fundamental computing research and education programs. The motivation for the program was to forestall the permanent loss of research talent likely to occur as a consequence of the financial crisis, and to enable new Ph.D.s to develop additional experience, making them effective researchers and/or teachers in the long term. Because economic conditions did not improve rapidly, the program was continued with additional funding from NSF during two subsequent years. Overall, 127 CIFellows have been funded — 60 in 2009, 47 in 2010, and 20 in 2011.

Today the CCC is launching a new webpage intended to serve as a historical archive for the CIFellows Project, summarizing the motivations and goals for the program, key aspects of its implementation, and preliminary results to date. The webpage features short bios of all 127 CIFellows, noting their research areas, Ph.D-granting colleges/universities, host organizations, and in many cases, current (permanent) employment. It is our intention to keep this page updated as we learn more about the successes of our CIFellows.

Please take a few minutes to learn more about the program and the bright, young talent who have been funded through it — they truly represent the future of our field!

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