Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering

Internal Deadline: FRIDAY February 10, 2012

In past years, the University of Michigan has been invited to nominate two faculty members for the Packard Foundation's Fellowships for Science and Engineering. We anticipate an invitation again for the 2012 competition and will be providing information sessions and support for putting together a competitive file.

"The intent of the Fellowship Program is to provide support for unusually creative researchers early in their careers" and "to emphasize support for innovative individual research that involves the Fellows, their students, and junior colleagues, rather than extensions or components of large-scale, ongoing research programs."

Information Sessions

Ann Verhey-Henke, Director, Foundation Relations will conduct two information sessions for faculty and chairs. She will provide more information about the Packard Foundation, the types of projects funded in the Fellowships for Science and Engineering program, information about the Foundation review process, as well as provide best practices in preparing a competitive application.

Session 1:
Date: December 7, 2011, 3:00-4:00 pm
Location: Palmer Commons, Boardroom 5 (6'h Floor)

Session 2: Date: December 12,2011, 1:30-2:30pm
Location: Lurie Engineering Building, 3'" Floor, Johnson Room B&C, (College of Engineering)

Eligible candidates:

Faculty members engaged in research in the natural and physical sciences or engineering. Candidates must be faculty members in the first three years of their faculty career, that is, whose initial faculty appointments began no earlier than May 31, 2009, and no later than May 31, 2012.

Eligible Disciplines

Disciplines that will be considered include physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science, and all branches of engineering. Candidates engaged in research in the social sciences will not be considered.

Award

The awards provide individual grants of $875,000 distributed over five years.

NOTE: Not all eligibility criteria may be listed in this abstract. Before submitting an application for this internal competition, it is the applicant's responsibility to visit the foundation website (listed below) and verify that both the applicant and their project meet ALL eligibility criteria.

How to apply

For consideration as an institutional nominee, by the internal deadline listed above, submit the following electronically in a single PDF file:

Nomination letter from dean or department chair. This letter should explicitly address the impact that the Packard award would have on the career of the nominee and the strength of external references.
A research statement responsive to the RFP, describing why the research is important and outlining the general goals for the next five years. Please follow the Packard format.
NIH formatted biosketch
For three external references: names, brief biographies, and relationship to candidate. At least one reference must have had no supervisory or collaborative contact with the nominee. For each reference, please list employment history and awards/ honors received. (For e.g., former Packard Fellow, member of National Academy, etc.)

Submit all internal applications electronically to: OVPRlimitedsubmissions@umich.edu

Internal proposals will be evaluated based on the impact and strength of the proposed research; how well the proposal meets the Packard Foundation stated criteria; the qualifications of the named external references; and the strength of the nomination letter.

Competitive Proposals:

Explain clearly why the idea is out of the box, risky and innovative (i.e. the kind of idea that will generate discussion amongst panel members).
Put the work and its significance in context of the larger field.
Are accessible to a group of very successful scientists from a diverse set of fields (i.e. stay away from field specific jargon).
High impact referees that can emphasize how a fellowship will make a significant impact on the nominee's career and how it will make that difference for them.

Ann Verhey-Henke is also available to provide additional feedback. She can be reached by phone (734-647-0282) or e-mail (averhey@umich.edu).

Additional information and guidelines for preparation are posted on the Foundation website: How to get support

UM nominees will be notified promptly of their selection and must then prepare and submit complete applications (after routing through U-M's eRPM) to the Packard Foundation mid-April 2012. The due date last year was 4120/11. The exact date for this year is yet to be determined by the Foundation as of Nov. 28, 2011.

If you have questions about this program, please contact
Lisa Turek
Office of the Vice President for Research
Phone: 763-1290
E-mail: laturek@umich.edu

Current limited submissions opportunities

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