International Research Experience for Graduate Students andPostdoctoral Fellows

**Next Deadline: July 15th**

Arabidopsis 2010: International Research Experience for Graduate Students
and Postdoctoral Fellows



Website: AT2010 Research Exchange Program
<http://www.arabidopsis.org/news/job_postings/friesner022106.txt>



U.S. and German scientists are active in broad-based Arabidopsis functional
genomics programs funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF)
Arabidopsis 2010 program and the German Arabidopsis Functional Genomics
Network (AFGN), respectively, as well as through other scientific programs
from these government agencies. In an effort to establish collaborations
between U.S. and German functional genomics groups, an NSF grant has been
awarded to fund graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows from
NSF-supported U.S. laboratories engaged in Arabidopsis functional genomic
projects to spend up to three months in a host German laboratory.



In order to provide maximum opportunity and to represent as many projects as
possible, the program will provide for airfare (up to $1000) and a nominal
subsistence allowance during the stay (up to $1500/mo). The program has
sufficient resources to send 8-10 students per year to Germany and is funded
for two years beginning May 1, 2005. Of course individuals may wish to use,
and are encouraged to secure, additional funding to supplement the expenses
of their stay, to stay longer than the maximum 3 month period, or provide
other research related opportunities. All travel must be completed by
December, 2007.



Awardees will be selected from those submitting a completed application
package including:



1. A letter of nomination from the leader of the U.S. research group,
including the basis for candidate selection and the value of the experience
for the cooperating laboratories. There is a limit of one application per
group and consideration of women and underrepresented minorities is strongly
encouraged. 2. A letter of agreement by the proposed German host laboratory
approving the proposed visit. 3. A two-page description of the research
topic and suitability of the research to the goals of both the sponsor and
host research groups, 4. A brief (2 page, NSF format) biographical sketch
for the applicant including information on past and current education and
relevant research and employment positions. (Follow the "Senior Personnel"
guidelines, parts a-d, located at
<http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/nsf04_23/2.jsp#IIC2f>

[Only registered users see links. ].)

5. A letter of application which should include how this proposed experience
addresses longer-term career goals of the applicant. A valid email address
for notification of application status must be included. 6. A draft
itinerary including the estimated dates for the proposed research visit.



Final selection will be determined by recommendations from The Multinational
Arabidopsis Steering Committee (MASC;

[Only registered users see links. ]) based on the
following criteria:



Eligibility:

1. This program is targeted to postdoctoral fellows and graduate students
without substantial previous international research experience. Applicants
who have previously conducted research at the undergraduate or graduate
level outside of the United States will have lower priority. 2. Only
postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who have completed at least their
first year of studies and have initiated their research project expected to
lead to the PhD (or its equivalent), will be considered. Level of
attainment of the applicant (i.e., how far along in their scientific

career) should be addressed by the PI in the letter of nomination. 3.
Students must be working on a dissertation topic in the broad area of
Arabidopsis functional genomics and associated with a research group where
this is a significant part of the research goals of an NSF-funded program.



Evaluation criteria:

1. Suitability of the research to the goals of both the sponsor and host
research groups and its potential for longer-term interactions. 2. The
potential for the candidate to contribute substantially to the field of
Arabidopsis during their career, as determined by accomplishments, current
research efforts, and longer-term goals.



US scientists interested in locating a German group and young German
scientists interested in a research exchange in the US are encouraged to
visit the DFG Arabidopsis Functional Genomics Network web site at
[Only registered users see links. ] (select the 'Young Researcher
Exchange Program' link.)



Proposal Deadlines:



2006: July 15th, September 15th, November 15th.



2007: January 15th, March 15th



Application packages should be submitted electronically, either in MSWord or
Adobe PDF format, to Joanna Friesner, Coordinator of the Multinational
Arabidopsis Steering Committee ([Only registered users see links. ]) Applicants will
receive email acknowledgements of successful submission and notification of
the status of their application by the last day of the month following
submission.