29 April 2010

Graduating? Want a post-doc? Let NSF pay!

I get many of emails of the form "I'm looking for a postdoc...." I'm sure that other, more senior, more famous people get lots of these. My internal reaction is always "Great: I wish I could afford that!" NSF has a solution: let them pay for it! This is the second year of the CI fellows program, and I know of two people who did it last year (one in NLP, one in theory). I think it's a great program, both for faculty and for graduates (especially since the job market is so sucky this year).

If you're graduating, you should apply (unless you have other, better, job options already). But beware, the deadline is May 23!!! Here's more info directly from NSF's mouth:

The CIFellows Project is an opportunity for recent Ph.D. graduates in computer science and closely related fields to obtain one- to two-year postdoctoral positions at universities, industrial research laboratories, and other organizations that advance the field of computing and its positive impact on society. The goals of the CIFellows project are to retain new Ph.D.s in research and teaching and to support intellectual renewal and diversity in the computing fields at U.S. organizations.
.....
Every CIFellow application must identify 1-3 host mentors. Click here to visit a website where prospective mentors have posted their information. In addition, openings that have been posted over the past year (and may be a source of viable mentors/host organizations for the CIFellowships) are available here.
Good luck!