Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards

Overview

<div>The Understanding Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems program supports scholarship and research directed toward the discovery and refinement of theoretical and mathematical tools contributing to the continued development of the study of complex, adaptive, nonlinear systems. The program's emphasis is on the development and application of the theory and tools used in the study of complex research questions and not on particular fields of research per se.  JSMF is also interested in projects attempting to apply complex systems approaches to coherently articulated questions where such approaches are not yet standard but could open up new paths to progress.</div> <div></div> <div>Students completing their doctoral training, and committed to acquiring new skills and experience in a multi-disciplinary field such as complex systems science, can benefit from postdoctoral training where such opportunities to broaden research experience and acquire new knowledge and skills.   A postdoctoral position adding new dimensions to a student’s doctoral education (adding theoretical skills to one’s experimental training or vice versa; pursuing work in a new topic or field), can be limited by the availability of funded positions via institutional training grants or faculty research grants.   The latter case can result in a postdoctoral fellow engaging in a research project dictated by the needs of the research grant rather than pursuing a creative and self-directed training program based on his or her interests or goals. </div> <div></div> <div>The James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Postdoctoral Fellowship Award in Understanding Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems is intended to provide students in the final stages of completing a Ph.D. degree more freedom in identifying and securing postdoctoral training opportunities. Following a multi-phase review of applications, selected pre-doctoral students are granted “letters of intent to fund” that the student can use in negotiating with potential postdoctoral training institutions while the student is in the final phase of graduate school.   The JSMF Fellowship is designed to provide students with opportunities to pursue postdoctoral training that might not be otherwise readily available.   The Fellowships are intended to allow students to seek postdoctoral research opportunities aligned with the student’s interest and desire to obtain additional skills and experience that will further their pursuit of careers in complex systems science.</div>