Miller Research Fellowships, University of California, Berkeley

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Miller Fellowship Nominations are due no later than Thursday, September 10, 2015. Invited nominees will be asked to complete an online application due no later than Saturday, October 10, 2015.

The Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science invites department chairs, faculty advisors, professors and research scientists at institutions around the world to submit online nominations for Miller Research Fellowships in the basic sciences, University of California, Berkeley. The Miller Institute seeks to discover and encourage individuals of outstanding talent, and to provide them with the opportunity to pursue their research on the Berkeley campus. Fellows are selected on the basis of their academic achievement and the promise of their scientific research. Miller Fellows also have a keen curiosity about all science and share an appreciation for an interdisciplinary experience. The Miller Institute is the sponsor and the administrative home department for each Miller Fellow who is hosted by an academic department on the Berkeley campus. All research is performed in the facilities provided by the host UC Berkeley academic department(s). A list of current and former Miller Research Fellows is available on our website.

Qualifications

Miller Research Fellowships are intended for exceptional young scientists of great promise who have recently been awarded, or who are about to be awarded, the doctoral degree. Normally, Miller Fellows are expected to begin their Fellowship shortly after being awarded their Ph.D. A short period as a post-doctoral fellow elsewhere does not exclude eligibility. However, candidates who have already completed substantial postdoctoral training are unlikely to be successful except in unusual circumstances. Postdocs cannot have had more than five years of postdoctoral experience, including from other institutions, nor been employed as an assistant professor, associate professor or professor in order to be eligible. A nominee cannot hold a paid or unpaid position on the Berkeley campus at the time of nomination or throughout the competition and award cycle, which can run into February. Nominees who are non-US citizens must show eligibility for obtaining J-1 Scholar visa status for the duration of the Miller Fellowship. Non-US citizens will be required to prove English language proficiency prior to award. The Miller Institute does not support H1B visa status. The Fellowship term must commence between July 1 and September 1, 2016. Eligible nominees will be invited by the Institute to apply for the fellowship. The nominee’s email address becomes the candidate’s unique ID, so please confirm your nominee’s preferred and correct email address. Direct applications and self-nominations are not accepted. ALL nominations must be submitted online.

Terms of Appointment

  • Miller Fellowships are granted for a period of three years, generally beginning August 1 and ending on July 31. Starting dates are negotiable but must commence between July 1 and September 1.
  • The Institute provides a stipend of $65,000 with annual increases on subsequent anniversary dates. This stipend is not to be construed as salary for teaching or for duties rendered to the University of California. Miller Fellows also receive a research fund of $10,000 per annum to be used in support of research during the Miller Fellowship, for a total compensation package of $75,000.
  • Miller Fellows are entitled to all normal holidays observed by the University and are granted an annual bank of 24 days of personal time off. Personal time does not carry forward.
  • Twelve days of sick leave are granted annually.
  • There is provision for travel to (but not away from) Berkeley for Miller Fellows and their immediate families. An additional allowance of $3,000 is allowed for the transport of personal belongings.
  • Benefits including medical, dental, vision, short term disability and life insurance are provided, with Miller Fellows making a small contribution towards the premium. Long term disability is voluntary.
  • All University of California postdocs are exclusively represented by the UAW and are subject to the terms of the contract including payment of membership dues or agency fees.
  • Approximately eight to ten Fellowships are awarded each year.
  • Candidates will be notified of the results of the competition between mid-December and mid-February, and a general announcement of the awards will be made in the spring.

Nomination Instructions

Nominations are accepted from department chairs, faculty advisors, professors or research scientists who can attest to the scientific potential of the Miller Fellow candidate. Nominations are accepted from individuals at institutions around the world, and are not limited to faculty at the University of California. Nominations cannot be made by an individual candidate, a student or a postdoc. Nominations will be accepted beginning in May. To be considered, complete nominations must be submitted online bySeptember 10, 2015. The online nomination must be completed during a single online session, therefore nominators will need the following information about their candidate to complete the online process:

  • Nominee’s complete and full legal name (Do not use nicknames)
  • Nominee’s preferred, correct, and active e-mail address
    (notification of nomination is sent to this email address)
  • Nominee’s current institution
  • Nominee’s preferred mailing address including postal code
  • Nominee’s telephone number
  • Nominee’s Ph.D. institution
  • Nominee’s (expected) Date of Ph.D. (month and year required)
  • Nominator’s recommendation and judgment of nominee’s potential. The letter must be specific to the Miller Fellowship, with a current date, and on institution letterhead. It should then be uploaded as a PDF file and will be included in the candidate’s file as an additional letter of support.

The Executive Committee finds it helpful in the nomination letter to have the candidate compared with others at a similar stage in their development. The Fellowship is highly competitive and the letter should be persuasive. Successful Miller Fellows exhibit an energetic curiosity for their science and a desire to participate in the Miller Institute community. Should a nominee submit an application, the nomination letter will serve as an additional letter of support. Upon successful submission of your nomination, an email receipt will be sent.

Following the submission of a nomination, invited nominees will be directed to submit an application:

Instructions for completing the Miller Research Fellowship Application

  • Direct applications are not accepted. All candidates must be nominated online first.
  • The DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS, INCLUDING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION, is: October 10, 2015.
  • The Fellowship term must commence between July 1 and September 1, 2016.
  • Ph.D. must be awarded and proof furnished to the Miller Institute before the start of the Fellowship. Therefore, if you will not receive your Ph.D. before August 31, 2016, you will not be eligible for an award.
  • An applicant cannot hold a paid or unpaid position on the UC Berkeley campus at the time of nomination or throughout the competition award cycle, which may extend into February for some candidates.
  • References will receive a system-generated email notifying them of your application with instructions for uploading their letter on your behalf. It is suggested that you inform your references to expect an email from the millerfellows@millerfellows.orgemail address and to check their spam filters if necessary. It is your responsibility to verify your references’ email addresses and to ensure their willingness to upload a letter on your behalf prior to the deadline date.
  • Candidates’ files may be reviewed by potential host departments for consideration for positions other than the Miller Research Fellowship.

Application Components:

Biographical Information

Provide all required information on online form (noted with an asterisk). If you do not fill in all of the required information, an error message will indicate which fields must be completed.

Non-U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents will have additional required information to enter. Only Non-U.S. Citizens already in the U.S. on a visa should upload one combined pdf of all visa documents and work authorizations. Candidates who have just completed a Ph.D. will take advantage of the F-1 OPT training time allowed or STEM status if applicable. New visitors to the U.S. will be helped to obtain J1 Scholar status. The Miller Institute does not support H1B visa status.

References

In your online application you must provide the names of a minimum two references, other than the nominator, who will be able to write about your potential as a Miller Research Fellow and be able to upload their letter online by the October 10, 2015 deadline. References receive a system generated email notifying them of your application. They will be instructed to log on to the system to register with the same email address you entered for them on your application. The references may be from your Ph.D. Institution, UC Berkeley or other institution. The reference letter writers should be persons other than your nominator. Your nominator’s letter will already be included in your file as an additional reference. You will be able to monitor your application status until the deadline to verify the submission of your letters of reference (although the letters themselves will not be viewable by you).
Research Statement and Publications Lists

  • Research Statement: Submit a clearly articulated statement of the research you will pursue at UC Berkeley if awarded a Miller Research Fellowship as a pdf file. Your research statement must not exceed one 8 x 11 inch page and must not be written in a font smaller than 11 point. It is not necessary to include references with this statement. Do not include CV, reprints or any other materials as they will be removed.

    The ability to describe one’s research in a way that can be understood and valued is critical to the competitive selection process of Miller Fellows. The Miller Fellow Application Research Statement is reviewed by each potential academic host department at UC Berkeley; however, the ultimate selection is made by the Miller Institute’s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee which will review 2016-2019 applications is comprised of faculty from Chemistry, Earth & Planetary Science, Molecular & Cell Biology, and Physics. Because of the broad distribution of fields represented on the Executive Committee, it is imperative that candidates write a clearly articulated statement describing the research to be undertaken at Berkeley. Narrow technical details and the use of jargon may not be understood by those outside of your field and can therefore be viewed less favorably.

  • Publications List: The list of publications should be uploaded as a pdf. List your publications, if any (titles, publishers, date). If you have no publications yet, upload a pdf stating “none”. Do not include reprints or any other materials as they will not be included in your file for review.


Contact with potential UCB Host Faculty and campus visits

It is important for applicants to make themselves known to potential host faculty at Berkeley. The application form requires that you select a minimum of one academic host department in which you would like to work, and it is optional to select up to two additional departments. Please list a department only one time. It is required to specify at least one faculty host in each department listed, it is optional to list a second host. If you need help identifying potential faculty hosts, you may wish to contact the chair of your preferred host department to discuss your research interests (http://www.berkeley.edu/academics/dept/a.shtml). While the Miller Institute does not financially support campus visits by candidates, we encourage applicants to make contact with potential UC Berkeley campus host academic departments and/or individual faculty hosts during the course of your application process to ascertain possible collaborative opportunities.

Deadline for Nominations: September 10, 2015