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Evaluation and Selection

Applications will be evaluated by University of California review committees according to the selection criteria below.

In all fields, the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program gives special consideration to candidates whose record of scholarship and service will contribute to the diversity of the academic community. The program also will give special consideration to applicants who have demonstrated significant academic achievement by overcoming barriers such as economic, social or educational disadvantage. The program is particularly interested in applicants whose family members may have experienced barriers in participation in higher education, who are bilingual or bicultural, or who have participated in teaching, mentoring or outreach programs (for example, MESA or Puente) that are designed to foster the participation of educationally disadvantaged students in higher education.

For fellowships in the Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, Professions and other relevant fields, the program will prefer candidates whose research emphasizes issues such as diversity, multi-culturalism and communities underserved by traditional academic research. The program is particularly interested in research that considers issues such as race, ethnicity and/or gender as they relate to traditional academic fields. This includes research in such areas as community development, social justice, educational reform, economic development, public health and safety, and the dynamics of multi-cultural communities. Within these general parameters, the program also is particularly interested in research that invigorates traditional disciplines by challenging conventional paradigms or by using innovative methodologies such as interdisciplinary and comparative approaches.

For fellowships in Math, Engineering, Life Science and Physical Science, the program will prefer candidates with a demonstrated record of mentoring or outreach activities that promote access and opportunity in higher education. For example, the program will prefer individuals who can articulate strategies for increasing gender and racial diversity in Math, Engineering and the Sciences.

The review committee also considers whether applicants demonstrate strong potential for consideration for appointment to ladder-rank faculty positions at the University of California. Applicants not already holding tenure-rank appointments and applicants who have not already had significant postdoctoral experience will be preferred.

AWARDS AND TENURE
The University of California awards approximately 15-20 postdoctoral fellowships every year. Each fellowship award is for one academic year, beginning July 1. A renewal of the fellowship will be granted only upon demonstration of academic productivity and participation in the program events. If a selected candidate has received an offer for a ladder rank position at the time of selection, the fellowship will be awarded for one year, without renewal. Fellowships are awarded for research conducted in residence and under faculty sponsorship on any one of the University of California’s ten campuses:

Berkeley	Los Angeles	San Diego	Santa Cruz
Davis	Merced	San Francisco
Irvine	Riverside	Santa Barbara

ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and must hold or receive a Ph.D. from an accredited university. Applicants should expect to have earned their Ph.D. degree by June 30th of the year for which they are applying.

University of California policy limits total time of service in academic postdoctoral appointments to five years. Thus, applicants with five or more years of postdoctoral appointments in educational institutions are not eligible. Candidates who will have four years of postdoctoral service at the time of their selection are eligible for only one year of President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program support.