Call For Applicants: Faculty Research Fellowships Relating to the Modifiability of Aging. 
Application Deadline: Friday, February 27, 2015. 

The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center seeks to bring together Columbia researchers from all over campus to enable the multi- and interdisciplinary study of the biopsychosocial nature of the aging process and its modifiability. Sponsored by the Center, these faculty fellowships are open to all junior and senior Columbia University faculty interested in innovative disciplinary and interdisciplinary research on aging and the lifecourse. Recipients will receive an award of up to $60,000 to support salary and/or research expenses ($30,000 per annum for up to two consecutive years). Up to 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.

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: $30,000 per year (duration: one to two years – to be specified by applicant)
Deadline: Friday, February 27, 2015 by 5 p.m. EST
Start Date: April 2015

Application Guidelines & Procedures

The selection committee will favor multi- and interdisciplinary projects addressing the biopsychosocial nature of the aging process and its positive modifiability or plasticity:

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.”  Plasticity or modifiability is dependent on the internal and/or external resources available to or built by a given person.

Proposal submissions are to include the following:
1.    Abstract (1-page limit)
2.    CV including third-party funding
3.    Summary of candidate’s most significant research accomplishments (200-word limit)
4.    Research proposal (5-page limit):

Proposal 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.    Approach
d.    Impact

5.    Short description of how fellowship fits into candidate’s overall funding strategy
6.    Budget and budget justification
7.    Candidate must specify if application is for 1 or 2 years of funding; the Center has left the duration flexible to encourage as wide a range of projects as possible.

Submission instructions:
Please compile the components above into one PDF document. Name the document using the following format: LASTNAME_CACFRFGrant2015.pdf. Email application materials by 5 pm EST, Friday, February 27, 2015, to Caitlin Hawke, Senior Science and Strategy Officer, Columbia Aging Center: [email protected]. Selection will be made by late March for a start date in April 2015.