2016 CALL FOR APPLICANTS: DEADLINE TO APPLY IS JANUARY 29, 2016

Faculty Research Fellowships Relating to the Study of Optimal Aging

A University-wide center, the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center seeks to bring together researchers from across the entire to enable the interdisciplinary study of the biopsychosocial nature of the aging process and its modifiability.

Sponsored by the Center under the direction of Ursula M. Staudinger, Ph.D., these faculty fellowships are open to all junior and senior Columbia University faculty members interested in innovative disciplinary and interdisciplinary research on aging and the lifecourse. Recipients will receive an award of $30,000 per year to support salary and/or research expenses for a total possible maximum of $60,000. Five (5), two-year Columbia Aging Center Faculty Fellowships will be awarded each year. The Faculty Fellowships are meant to lay the basis for subsequent larger scale funding efforts.

Successful projects have explored the role of parathyroid hormone in cognitive decline, how mitochondrial protein quality control proteins can delay muscle deterioration in fruit flies and promote longevity, successful aging among lesbian and gay adults, and the effect the built environment can play on the delay of chronic diseases. The Center is actively seeking as wide a range of proposals as possible.

As an important part of the fellowship, the Center’s Fellows will come together quarterly to discuss new research and exchange with the Center’s Faculty and visiting scholars.  Over the coming years, the Faculty Fellows together with CAC faculty and affiliated faculty will build a rich network of Columbia aging researchers.

• Qualifications:  Applicants must be full-time Columbia University faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher
• Award Amount:  $60,000
• Duration:   2 years, $30,000 per year*  (*Second year of funding contingent on submission of progress report)
• Deadline to Apply:   Friday, January 29, 2016 by 5 p.m. EST
• Start Date:  April 1, 2016

The first call for proposals took place in the fall of 2014. To learn more about our first cohort's research, please click here.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

The selection committee will favor multi- and inter-disciplinary projects addressing the biopsychosocial nature of the aging process and its positive modifiability or plasticity:
 
Lifespan psychology has demonstrated that human development is the result of the interactions among three different sources: biology (maturation/senescence), culture (learning), and the individual person (attitudes/decision/action).  This leaves much room for variation within and between individuals – a potential for variation in development that is labeled “plasticity” (e.g., Staudinger, Marsiske & Baltes, 1995).  Plasticity is dependent on the internal and/or external resources available or built by a given person.

Proposal submissions are to include the following:

1.    Abstract (1 page)
2.    Budget and budget justification.  Note: Faculty who wish to pay for a research assistant must be aware that University policy may require that fringe benefits be included as part of any compensation paid. Please include these amounts in your budget if applicable).
3.    CV
4.    Summary of candidate’s most significant research accomplishments (200 words)
5.    Research proposal (5 page limit)

This should be innovative, with a cross-disciplinary orientation that emphasizes the positive modifiability of the aging process. Description should include the project title and 5-10 key words as well as:
a. specific aims
b. background and significance
c. impact
d. preliminary results
e. approach

6.    Current funding & plans for future funding
7.    References

Submission Instructions:
Please compile the components above into one PDF document.  Save the document using the following format: LASTNAME_CACFRFGRANT2016.pdf.  Email application materials by January 29, 2016, 5 p.m. EST to Caitlin Hawke, Senior Science and Strategy Officer, Columbia Aging Center: [email protected].  Selection will be made for an April 2016 start date.