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Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellowships

Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellowships support trainees whose research will bridge at least two laboratories and disciplines. The funds are intended to supplement other sources of support for the trainee and/or research costs. Examples include full-time support during a concentrated period (e.g. 1-2 months in a laboratory other than the mentor's, and potentially at another university), and partial long-term (one year) supplements between laboratories (most likely but not restricted to UR).

  • Post-doctoral Candidates should not be more than four years beyond receipt of the Ph.D. or M.D. degrees (or residency if relevant to the latter) at the time of application; they need not be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
  • Pre-doctoral Candidates should be advanced graduate students who have completed all qualifying exams in a UR neuroscience-related Ph.D. program.

For all candidates, primary and secondary faculty mentors must be identified. The primary mentor must be a full-time tenure-track faculty member within one of the SPIN. sponsoring units at the University of Rochester. Recipients are expected to present the outcome of their work in the Neuroscience Colloquium, coordinated by the Graduate Program in Neuroscience office.

Applications for up to $12,500 for post-doctoral awards, and up to $7,500 for pre-doctoral awards, should be submitted by the primary mentor in conjunction with the candidate.

The application consists of:

  1. A statement of up to 3 pages describing the candidate's research interests and goals for the fellowship.
  2. The candidate's bio-sketch or CV.
  3. Letters of recommendation (including those from the primary and secondary mentors).

Review will emphasize the following:

  • Significance and innovation of the proposed research.
  • The interdisciplinary and collaborative character of the proposal (must be new and across laboratories, not pre-existing).
  • The impact on the fellow's objectives and career.
  • The relevance to one or more of the three areas targeted by the SPIN. These elements should be addressed in the proposal.