Postdoctoral Development Program

Overview

The goal of the NOAA Cooperative Science Center in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology (NCAS-M) Postdoctoral Program (PDP) is to support advanced training of postdoctoral fellows in NOAA-related sciences with the goal to conduct research that directly supports NOAA’s mission, strategic plan, objectives, and outcomes. The NCAS-M PDP seeks to build NCAS-M-supported research directly aligned with NOAA’s mission and strategic priorities.

NCAS-M has three thematic and five focus areas in atmospheric sciences and meteorology that will support two postdoctoral fellows (see Table 1).

Table 1: NCAS-M Thematic and Focus Areas in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

Thematic Areas Focus Areas
  1. Research to Build Resilient Communities Against Weather Extremes
  2. Innovative Observations for Advancing Climate, Weather, and Air Quality Analysis and Prediction
  3. Interdisciplinary Research in Support of Healthy Communities
  1. Process-level Understanding and Enhanced Modeling Capabilities
  2. Improved Quantification of Forecast Uncertainty
  3. Advancing the Development of High Resolution Models
  4. Integrated Social Science
  5. Effective Communication of Climate and Weather Risk

Requirements

The NCAS-M PDP will support two-year fellowships for two postdoctoral fellows annually. The fellow must be a recent doctoral graduate within two years of graduation. The period of eligibility to be supported is 24 months within a 26-month period. Postdoctoral fellows must be US citizens. The following requirements must be met during the two-year fellowship tenure.

  1. Postdoctoral research must address NOAA-mission science priority areas. At NCAS-M, the focus will be on the NCAS-M three thematic and five focus areas of atmospheric sciences and meteorology.
  2. In addition to the NCAS-M faculty mentor, each postdoctoral fellow is expected to be collaborative with other NCAS-M Corporative Science Center (CSC) postdoctoral fellows, CSC scientists, and NOAA scientists through research, training, tool development, and professional meeting activities.
  3. Postdoctoral fellows will co-locate at a NOAA facility for a minimum duration of six (6) consecutive months and not to exceed one (1) year. This would the Center and/or postdoctoral fellow to: a) engage and expand NCAS-M’s collaboration with NOAA in atmospheric sciences and meteorology, b) work on a priority area for the NOAA facility, c) increase NOAA mission capacity of NCAS-M, and d) support students training and professional development for NCAS-M’s future mission workforce.
  4. Postdoctoral fellows will complete an Individual Postdoctoral Development Plan (IPDDP) three (3) times a year (planning form, mid-year progress report, and end-of-year progress report to monitor advanced training progress in NOAA-mission science from year to year.

In addition, postdoctoral fellows will receive support for travel, professional development (technical skills training where relevant), and be included in strategic planning, project management, and student mentoring.