Florida State University is expanding its efforts to recruit, support, and retain a diverse faculty. One of those efforts is the creation of a
Provost Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP)
intended to enhance the pipeline to academic careers that results in a more diverse faculty at Florida State University and across our Nation.
The Application Portal is NOW open for the 2023-2025 training period! We are accepting application packages for one Winter deadline (1 December 2022). Applicants will be notified of decision before the winter holidays. Selected fellows can activate their training immediately but should be able to commence their fellowship no later than June 1. If you are a potential fellowship trainee and have questions navigating the application portal, kindly email Mr. David Martin and we will be happy to assist you with any upload complications. If you are a faculty member and would like to serve as a training mentor, please see below for a list of materials needed to advertise your training opportunity! Mr. Martin will coordinate with you to establish your profile on our website, that can be hyperlinked to your departmental website. We will also be creating advertisement profiles that you can post to multiple platforms. Please also click here to visit the Qualtrics page and upload your faculty information. For eligibility questions and questions concerning the content of your application statements or design, please email Dr. Debra Fadool for assistance and guidance.
What is the PPFP? - Down Load Flyer here
- Is a postdoctoral fellowship program at FSU that provides specialty training and funding for up to 6 provost fellows.
- Funding includes two years of salary support (including health insurance and fringe benefits) plus a small grants award (up to $20,000) for training related expenses.
- The PPFP is limited to doctoral recipients who are pursing academic careers.
- Successful applicants will have the potential to contribute to diversity in their academic disciplines.
- Review of applications will take place once in the Fall Semester - December 1st, 2022
Who is Eligible?
- Individuals seeking a postdoctoral fellowship in one of the NSF-defined Fields of US Doctorates
- Not greater than 5 years since awarded their doctoral degree
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Individuals with an ability to enhance diversity are given priority for this program over those that are able to promote diversity through their scholarship (examples = ) a member of an underrepresented group (racial or ethnic), from a financial disadvantaged background, a gender or sexual orientation that is underrepresented in your field of specialty, a member of the military or veteran, or an individual with a disability; please also see memo from NIH that defines some of these categories.
- Nomination by FSU faculty mentor
How Do You Apply?
- Identify a mentor from the list of participating faculty NOTE: you must secure an agreement with a faculty mentor before completing the online application. Upload a signed duties contract in your online application.
- For the online application, upload a CV, a description of your proposed research project (3 pp. limit), and a personal statement describing your career goals and how you would contribute to faculty diversity in your academic discipline (2 pp. limit).
- Arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent on your behalf (1 letter should be from your Ph.D. advisor).
- Letter of nomination by a faculty mentor that describes your research potential and match (this will be prompted during the submission of your application).
Are There Examples of Successful Application Components?
Yes! One of our PPFP candidates has kindly provided a redacted version of his application, which the committee judged was an excellent example of how to communicate all the elements that the program was designed to promote. Specifically the proposed research project is accessible to both experts and a broader readership; the personal statement hones into career goals, achievements, and defined activities that interface with increased diversity in academia; and the mentor's letter outlines many examples of the advisor's commitment/training plan, match of the research interests, and potential of the candidate.
- Successful Nomination Letter Example
- Successful Personal Statement Example (Career and Diversity)
- Successful Research Proposal Example
The evaluation process will include invitation to zoom with the selection committee to learn more about our PPFP training program and the FSU community. Decisions are made within 3 weeks of the close of an admissions deadline and fellows can initiate their appointment to start training as soon as possible but not later than June 1, 2023.
If you have questions during the submission process, please contact, Debra Fadool, Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.
Are you interested in serving as a Faculty Mentor for the FSU Postdoctoral Fellowship Program?
If so, please see the following helpful links to register as a faculty mentor!
- Call for Faculty Mentors (a description of the program and directions for registering as a faculty mentor)
- Survey to upload your postdoctoral mentoring experience and research training interests.
- Table to upload to the survey - Previous Postdoctoral Trainees
- Duties contract to sign for the applicant you are nominating (will be uploaded by applicant).
2018 - 2021 Inaugural Cohort of PPFP Fellows
(back row) - Janet Kistner, Emily Moriarty-Lemmon, Katy Sparrow, Jeff Chanton, Amber Makowicz, Kimberly Hughes, Oscar Ospina, Sally McRorie, and Elizabeth Henderson
Our inaugural cohort of PPFP fellows researched global problems as postdoctoral scholars in the departments of Geography; Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science; Biological Science; Florida Center for Reading; and Chemistry and Biochemistry. We are very proud of the job outcomes for our first PPFP fellows, which have gained permanent job placement across the country as faculty members or research scientists.
- Tropical forest productivity using multi-scale remote sensing (Merrick - Pau team): Research Physicist, Remote Sensing; Coastal, Ocean, and Atmosphere Division, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.
- Measures of grit, conscientiousness, mindset, and anxiety impact on standardized test performance using twin data bases (Holden - Hart team): Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, University of Memphis, Institute for Intelligent Systems, Memphis, TN.
- Carbon cycle and global climate change (Sparrow - Chanton team): Assistant Lecturer, Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
- Epigenetics of behavioral changes in chorus frogs (Ospina - Moriarty-Lemmon team): Assistant Professor, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
- Impact of social interactions for variation in clonal Amazon species (Makowicz - Hughes team): Active Military Duty, Army Reserves, Still in Training
- Design and synthesis of clofilium analogues as potential agents for human pediatric cancers (Henderson - Sang Team): Assistant Professor, Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy, Clinton, SC.
- Sea turtle tracking by using novel unmanned aircraft systems (Bevin - Fuentes team): Marine Scientist, Alabama Coastal Foundation, Mobile, AL.
- Transformation of American drug trade and societal consequences (Del Rio - Gabriel team): History Instructor, University of Chicago Laboratory School, Chicago, IL.