The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are funding 10 Einstein postdoctoral fellowship programs for pursuing research that is broadly related to the science goals of the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-sponsored Einstein Fellowship Program provides an opportunity for highly qualified, recent postdoctoral scientists to conduct independent research that is broadly related to the science goals of the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program. This includes high energy astrophysics relevant to Chandra, Fermi, XMM-Newton, and future NASA X-ray missions, cosmological investigations relevant to Planck, WFIRST, or new dark energy missions, and gravitational astrophysics relevant to LISA Pathfinder and subsequent related missions. The proposed research may be observational, instrumental, theoretical, archival or study sources from these missions at other wavelengths. The main criterion for proposal selection is the contribution of the proposed research program to the scientific return of the Physics of the Cosmos missions. A Fellow’s program in this area may be specifically appraised for continuation of the fellowship after the second year.
The Fellowship provides support for up to three years at an annual stipend of approximately $66,500 plus health insurance, relocation costs, and funding for research related travel, computing needs, and other research costs. Contingent upon NASA funding, up to 10 Einstein Fellowships will be awarded in 2014.
Proposals will be reviewed by an independent panel of scientists. The Einstein Fellowship Program is administered by the Chandra X-Ray Center (CXC) for NASA. Awards will be made to support each Einstein Fellow through a United States Host Institution designated by the Fellow.
An application for the Fellowship consists of a research proposal and supporting documentation, as described below. Applicants must have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degree in 2011 or later. The deadline for receipt of applications is Thursday November 7, 2013 (5:00 pm EST). Fellowships are expected to begin in September, 2014.
Study Subject:
The fellowship provides an opportunity for highly qualified, recent postdoctoral scientists to conduct independent research that is broadly related to the science goals of the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program.
Duration of Fellowship
Contingent upon the availability of funding from NASA, Einstein Fellowships are awarded through grants to Host Institutions for up to a three-year period. New Fellowship Awards are issued with a two-year period-of-performance and funded on an annual basis. Renewal for the third year will depend on a review of scientific activity, particularly as related to Physics of the Cosmos research.
Fellowship Amount:
The initial annual stipend for a Einstein Fellow will be approximately $66,500 and will be subject to annual review and adjustment. In addition, the Einstein Fellow can receive health insurance, relocation costs, and moderate support (up to $16,000 per year) for research related travel, computing services, publications, and other direct costs.
It is expected that Fellows will devote their full-time effort to their research programs. No additional stipend, salary, or other remuneration may be accepted from another appointment, fellowship, or similar grant during the period of the Fellowship. Einstein Fellows shall not be offered a housing subsidy or allowance beyond what is routinely offered to astronomy and physics fellows connected with that institution.
Eligibility:
Applicants must have received a PhD., Sc.D., or equivalent doctoral-level research degree in astronomy, physics, or a related discipline after January 1, 2011. Applicants who have not yet formally received their degree must present evidence of having completed the academic requirements before commencing the Fellowship.
Einstein Fellowships are open to citizens of the United States and to English-speaking citizens of other countries. Non-US applicants should read the VISA requirements under the “Additional Information” section below before applying. [Note: The United States is defined as the 50 states and the District of Columbia.] Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, creed, color, age, sex, or national origin. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Application Requirements checklist:
- You must have received your Ph.D. on or after January 1, 2011.
- Use the Einstein Fellowship Application to fill in or upload the following:
- application form, including list of three references
- curriculum vitae;
- list of publications;
- summary of previous and current research (limited to 3 pages including all references/figures/tables);
- research proposal (limited to 5 pages including all references/figures/tables). Include relevance to Physics of the Cosmos science;
- list of Physics of the Cosmos missions relevant to the proposal;
- do not attach anything else (reprints, preprints, etc.).
- each file must be less than 2 MB.
- Have the following submitted by your referees or science contact:
- endorsement letter from an authorizing official of the first-choice Host Institution (submitted by the science contact);
- recommendation letters from three referees.
Application Procedure:
Applications are submitted via the Einstein Fellowship web application.
When signing in for the first time, click “New User” on the front page and proceed to enter in a login and password, and information about yourself. When finished, clicking “Submit” will take you to your homepage.
You can send email to fellows@head.cfa.harvard.edu for all questions, including technical questions, related to our online program.
Deadline for receipt of all materials, including Letters of Reference, is November 7, 2013 (5:00 pm EST).
For further information: Einstein Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
