HSCI invites nominations for the Sternlicht Director’s Fund awards for graduate students (and select postdoctoral fellows) in diabetes stem cell research

May 26, 2011
Call for 2011 Nominations: Deadline June 30, 2011

With generous support from the Sternlicht Director’s Fund, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) announces the continuation of the “Sternlicht Awards for Graduate Students”.   Awards will be made to Harvard University Graduate Students with 2-4 years remaining in their program who are working in the field of diabetes-related stem cell research within the laboratories of HSCI Faculty.  Postdoctoral Fellows who have previously received a Sternlicht Award as a graduate student and are employed in an HSCI Faculty member’s lab are also eligible to apply.  It is the purpose of the Sternlicht Awards to support young investigators, specifically graduate students and postdocs, who have limited resources and limited access to resources but are identified by their mentors as promising new researchers.  Because much of the progress in the field of stem cell science will be in the hands of today’s predocs and postdocs under the leadership of the senior faculty, the Sternlicht Director’s Fund and the HSCI are dedicated to the support of these researchers.

Faculty Sponsors must submit nominations for graduate students in their labs whom they would like to be considered for a Sternlicht Award.  Each nomination should include a letter of recommendation from the nominating Faculty Sponsor, biosketches for the candidate and sponsor, and proof of the nominee’s status as a Harvard University graduate student (including program information, enrollment dates, and anticipated program completion date).  Postdoctoral Fellows must provide a copy of the offer letters for their current postdoctoral position.  Faculty Sponsors should indicate in their nomination letters the years of funding requested, for either 1 or 2 yrs.

Recipients will be selected through a competitive review process; nominations will be reviewed by a Sternlicht Award review committee as convened and chaired by Gordon Weir of the Joslin Diabetes Center.  Finalists will be presented to the HSCI Executive Committee, including HSCI Scientific Director Douglas Melton, Harvard University, for final decision.  Selection criteria will include: the nominee’s promise as a researcher in the fields of diabetes and stem cell science, the recommendation of Faculty Sponsor, the nominee’s graduate program status, and the nominee’s current or intended research.

Awards will provide up to $85,000/yr of funding towards the recipients’ graduate program costs (tuition and stipend) or salary/stipend of postdocs. HSCI expects to award up to 4 Sternlicht Awards in 2011, depending upon the applicant pool and duration of awards.  Recipients will be invited to attend an annual meeting in New York City, arranged by the Sternlicht Director’s Fund, at which the students will report on their progress, and will be asked to write brief semi-annual progress reports for submission to Barry Sternlicht.  Recipients will also be made Affiliates of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Please send your nomination package(s) to Courtney Clark at Harvard Stem Cell Institute, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 727W, Cambridge, MA  02138.  Application packages must be received by Thursday, June 30, 2011.  If you have questions, please contact Scott Balderson (scott_balderson@harvard.edu) or Courtney Clark (courtney_clark@harvard.edu).

See also: 2011, Announcement