ASP Postdoctoral Fellowships:  Cross-Laboratory, Multi-Disciplinary Research at NCAR

Graduate students, postdocs, and Faculty Fellowship Program visitors at the August ASP social:  a breakfast hike at the Mesa Lab. In an effort to bring postdocs together from around the organization, the ASP hosts monthly socials and in 2006 formed the NCAR Graduate-Postdoc Fellows Assocation.  The ASP socials are open to all fellows at NCAR and often include an education or career development component, while the Association meetings are held in a social setting and aim to provide friendship and support to other fellows in the organization.

The Advanced Study Program (ASP) is unlike other NCAR divisions or institutes, because it contributes to all of the NCAR goals and strategic priorities. The ASP is a catalyst for spurring research activities that span the boundaries of NCAR laboratories and divisions. As such, the ASP contributes to all five NCAR strategic goals and to multiple priorities within these goal areas.

The most important ASP component is the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which has been a part of NCAR for forty-one years and has brought over 425 postdoctoral scientists to NCAR. The ASP appoints approximately 10 new postdoctoral scientists each year. During their two-year NCAR appointments, the fellows conduct research in collaboration with NCAR scientists throughout the Center. Many fellows hold joint appointments across divisions or laboratories. All fellows benefit from the opportunity to work with NCAR scientists, from exposure to the breadth of science at NCAR, and from the independence they are encouraged to develop. Many former fellows now occupy prominent positions at UCAR universities or at NCAR, and many of the present collaborations between NCAR and university scientists derive from associations that developed in the postdoctoral program.

In FY2006, the ASP appointed 18 fellows (from over 130 applications) in a diversity of disciplines spanning the various labs and divisions within the organization.  In addition to the diversity of disciplines, the new fellows represent a diversity of population including gender and ethnicity.  Also in FY2006, the ASP held monthly ASP Socials that often included an education or career development aspect such as "How Washington Works," "Proposal Writing," and "Careers in Scientific Leadership."  These socials not only brought members of ASP together, but also included any postdoc or graduate student within the larger organization who wished to attend.  In FY2006, ASP helped form a new Graduate-Postdoc Fellows Association at NCAR.  The Association intends to meet on a monthly basis in a social setting in order to provide friendship and support to other postdocs and graduate students at NCAR.  The ASP aims to create a meaningful experience not only for ASP fellows, but for all fellows at NCAR. In FY2007, ASP plans to continue the core elements of the program, including monthly seminars, bi-weekly research reviews, and monthly socials, along with the annual research planning sessions and ongoing mentoring that postdocs receive.

The postdoctoral program receives its funding from the National Science Foundation.