MBB seeks fellow nominations, faculty research award proposals

Each year, the Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative (MBB) offers a faculty fellowship to an outstanding visiting scholar who conducts research on the nervous system in relation to human behavior and mental life. MBB is particularly interested in a visitor who links multiple disciplines, conducts research in areas or with technologies not well covered by Harvard’s own faculty, and is eager to cross departments and Schools to engage with the interdisciplinary MBB community of faculty and students. Nominations are due Jan. 31.

Additionally, MBB is now accepting faculty research award proposals. These research awards are intended to support novel, interdisciplinary, Harvard faculty-led research projects relevant to MBB’s mission. Preference will be given to applications that bring together two or more disciplinary perspectives or transcend disciplinary boundaries that are not yet ready for traditional sources of support. Typically, MBB looks for collaborative projects that involve faculty members from different departments, but will also consider projects that involve faculty within the same department working at different levels of analysis. MBB is particularly interested in proposals that at federal agencies would normally fall between the cracks of traditional disciplinary boundaries. These awards are in the amount of $25,000 and support one year of research. Award funds might be spent on equipment, supplies, or for hiring staff or student assistants that might increase productivity or facilitate interfaculty collaboration. The awards cannot be used as salary support for the principal investigator(s). These proposals are due Jan. 31.

Lastly, the initiative is accepting nominations for its 2008-10 postdoctoral fellowships. These fellowships allow postdoctoral students to work on projects that typically don’t fall neatly within a specific department or School. In addition to furthering the development of a Harvard postdoc, these fellowships can have tremendous benefit for faculty as well. Faculty members who work in the area of mind, brain, and behavior and who have wanted to collaborate with a colleague from a different department or School on a particular problem are encouraged to nominate a postdoctoral fellow who can serve as a bridge between departments or Schools.

These MBB postdoctoral fellowships are two-year fellowships that will start in the fall of 2008 and end before the fall of 2010. (Nominations for shorter terms or different start and end dates will be considered.) Fellows will be paid a stipend similar to National Institutes of Health levels, with benefits and a small amount of funds for research and travel/conference expenses.

Students who are comfortable moving among departments and disciplines, enthusiastic about collaborating with faculty, and who have some interdisciplinary experience, are ideal candidates. Nominations are due Jan. 31.