Fellowship programs provide a source of funding and professional/career support for postdoctoral scholars. Funding for fellowship programs established by MIT may be funded by a gift, MIT funds, or by a sponsored award. To establish a postdoctoral fellowship program, a proposal should be submitted to the Vice President for Research and Provost. Programs that are developed and managed by MIT must meet the following criteria:
- Program directed by Dean or DLCI Head
- Specific program objective
- Defined application process, selection criteria and selection committee
- Scope of work should represent the postdoc’s independent research activities, with the primary objective to support research training rather than a PI’s specific research outcomes
- Defined training environment and mentoring plan
- May have program-specific mentoring and professional development activities, and/or postdocs are formally encouraged/expected to attend Institute-wide professional development programs for postdocs.
Postdoctoral scholars funded by an approved MIT postdoctoral program will be appointed as benefits-eligible Postdoctoral Associates, with the fellowship program funding the benefits, according to the current EB rate. F&A will be waived for fellowship programs that meet the internal program criteria, after review and approval by the Offices of the Vice President for Research and the Provost.
For review and consideration, the relevant Dean’s office should submit the fellowship program description/proposal to postdocfellowships@mit.edu including the following information:
- The program’s mission and vision statements
- The program’s funding source
- Details of the fellow selection process, including who participates in the selection
- Description of how scholars’ research activities will be determined
- The anticipated annual number of postdoc fellows
- The anticipated duration of postdoctoral training for each fellow
- Supervision and mentoring structure over the course of the fellowship
- Details of the financial benefits that will be offered to active postdoc fellows