Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

The President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program supports the career development of outstanding Ph.D. recipients with great potential for advancing the ASU Charter through a future tenure track appointment at ASU. The fellowship program offers postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, or service contribute to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at ASU. Part of the LIFT Initiative, this program ensures our continued evolution as a premier public research institution with a fundamental responsibility to the communities that it serves.

About this program

Funding

Each Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship scholar will receive up to 2 years of funding. Options for a third or fourth year of funding may be offered, depending on each fellow’s progress and training needs. 

Scholars will receive a minimum of $5,000 toward moving expenses and a minimum of $3,000 per year toward career development activities. It is expected that a majority of appointees will receive offers to continue their academic careers at ASU in a tenure track position. Such appointments will require a process of review within the designated tenure home unit.

ASU's commitment 

ASU and its programs are committed to providing individualized mentorship and career development to ensure each scholar is well prepared to succeed in a future tenure track appointment. This commitment includes ensuring an inclusive research environment, including plans to integrate the postdoctoral scholar(s) into the life of the host department, relevant research labs, teaching, and unit culture and a plan for faculty training to accommodate, support and sustain faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

• Scholars will work with their selected mentors to collaboratively develop training goals and an Individual Development Plan. 

• Career development and community building will occur through programmatic support at the ASU Graduate College’s Postdoctoral Affairs Office and through research, teaching opportunities, and mentorship in the scholar’s hiring unit.   

• Training opportunities to build a community of support through networking, professional development and cohort-building activities with other Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship scholars as well as the broader community of postdoctoral scholars at ASU.  

• A special emphasis on training activities related to the transition toward a tenure-track position, including topics such as starting up a research group, preparing proposals, student recruitment, teaching with innovative methods, service to the university and profession, and navigating the tenure track process. 

• Participation in a peer mentoring program designed to bring together faculty from underrepresented backgrounds in their discipline who share an interest in a broad topic, a discipline or disciplinary group (e.g. “engineering”) at ASU.  Each group will be paired with a senior faculty mentor who has committed to advancing faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion at ASU.

Call for Proposals

The program offers a commitment of centralized funding for two-year postdoctoral research positions, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, or service contribute to inclusive excellence at ASU. Awarded units will work with their college to submit hiring plans and secure funding to transition fellows to tenure track appointments. This program ensures our continued evolution as a premier public research institution with a fundamental responsibility to the communities that it serves.

The success of this program rests on our commitment to provide an inclusive and supportive culture and high-quality training to prepare postdoctoral scholars for successful independent careers. This is fundamentally a faculty development program. Academic units therefore must commit to provide individualized mentorship and career development to ensure each candidate is well prepared to succeed in a future tenure track appointment.

All academic units (schools/departments) are eligible to apply. Units can propose to host a single postdoctoral scholar or a cohort of no more than three scholars. Academic units with tenure/tenure track appointments that are interested in hosting one or more scholars must submit a proposal to their college. The dean or a dean’s designee will determine which proposal(s) will advance to the selection committee for further review. The dean may set a deadline to facilitate internal review. Colleges may submit only one proposal per unit.

Submission

Call for Proposals for Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowships

Info Sessions for Faculty & Staff: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. and Monday, August 12, 2024 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. Preregistration is required.

Due Date for Proposals: Colleges interested in recruiting postdoctoral scholars through this program must submit a proposal through this link by September 18, 2024.

Selection

A review committee of faculty, including representation from the Office of Inclusive Excellence, Advisory Council on African American Affairs and the Graduate College, will review applications submitted by September 18, 2024 and make recommendations to the Office of the Executive Vice President and University Provost. 

Final selections will be announced by Monday, October 7, 2024, allowing time for recruitment to begin in October. Awarded departments must attend a post-award information session, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 12:30-2:00 p.m., before beginning any search activities.

Contact

Academic units should contact Tiffany R. King with questions.

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowships