SPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

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Academic Level:
Postdoc & Early Career

Description:
Salary and Benefits: Fellowship salary will be competitive with federal guidelines as set by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with annual increases as allowed by these guidelines. Health insurance will also be provided. If funds are available, additional support is provided for teaching activities, travel for conferences, support for mentoring an undergraduate student, workshops on workplace skills, and participation in annual SPIRE events. Each fellowship is three years, based on available funding.

SPIRE scholars are eligible for all other benefits provided to traditional UNC-Chapel Hill postdocs (Office of Postdoctoral Affairs) including sick leave and vacation. SPIRE policy allows for maternity/paternity leave.

Eligibility: Applicants can be current graduate students who will be defending before September or early in their postdoctoral stage with no more than 2 years since the date of their doctoral degree. Applicants will need to have completed all degree requirements before beginning the program in September, not necessarily at the time of application (Feb).

Candidates from groups underrepresented in the biological, biomedical, chemical, and related STEM fields in sciences are strongly urged to apply and we welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds.

According to the NIH regulations for postdoctoral training grant eligibility: Applicants must be US citizens or non-citizen nationals, or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence and possess an Alien Registration Receipt Card or some other verification of legal status as a permanent resident. Non-citizen nationals, although not US citizens, owe permanent allegiance to the US. They are generally born in lands, which are not states but are under US sovereignty, jurisdiction, or administration. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible for SPIRE fellowships.

Finding a Research Lab: SPIRE applicants identify potential research labs at UNC Chapel Hill based on their graduate training, research interests and specific career goals, much as traditional postdocs do. Applicants can contact potential research mentors for acceptance into a laboratory at any time during the application process. A research lab and mentor do not need to be identified prior to applying to the program. Once accepted into the SPIRE program, the fellowship can not be activated until the scholar is ready to join a lab. Program administrators are available to assist in the identification of potential research labs should applicants have questions pertaining to the specific research environments available for SPIRE scholars. Research projects need to be aligned with NIGMS research areas: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/about/overview/pages/default.aspx#cbb

Application Review: Applications are reviewed by the SPIRE Academic Program Committee comprised of faculty at UNC Chapel Hill and our partner institutions.


Participating Institution(s):
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Program Materials:

This Program can be Described by:
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This program is funded by:
National Institute of Health (NIH)


Page last updated 2/21/2024
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