Applications are not currently being accepted.

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Please note that the appointments in Spring-Summer 2009 will be for one year only, as this will be the last grant year.  US citizen/Permanent Resident postdocs will be required to sign the NIH Payback Agreement.

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           Graduate and Postdoctoral Application:

• this application form cannot be saved; it must be completed and submitted at one time 
  
  
• both predocs and postdocs should include a curriculum plan as part of  their mentoring plan 
  
  
• your mentoring plan can be identical to that used in the mentor recommendation forms of you primary and secondary mentor  
  
  
• do not use any Greek letters; write out the name (e.g. alpha, beta), as the system turns Greek text into an unreadable symbol  
  
  
• keep a separate copy of the text portion of your application; you will not receive a final copy after submission, and a screen printout will not show all of the text in the text fields. 
  
  
• Note: For those who have recently submitted an application to one of the other Keck Center training programs, you may request that some of the same paperwork be used
      for an application to Nanobiology. Examples include your transcripts, CV, or non-mentor recommendations. Please contact Melissa Glueck at glueck@rice.edu  if you wish to do this.

 

Mentor Recommendation Form:

• both the primary and secondary mentors must fill out this form; they may use the identical mentoring plan as the applicant 
  
  
• this form cannot be saved; it must be completed and submitted at one time 
  
  
• keep a separate copy of the text portion of your recommendation; you will not receive a final copy after submission, and a screen printout may not show all of the text in the text fields 
  
  
• do not use any Greek letters; write out the name (e.g. alpha, beta), as the system turns Greek text into an unreadable symbol 
  
  
• the secondary mentor does not need to complete the financial and departmental contact information at the bottom; just type something meaningless into this required field 
  
  
• both mentors must be members of the NanobiologyTraining Faculty 
  
  
• membership in the Keck Center does not automatically make one a member of the Nanobiology training faculty; faculty must apply for membership for each grant individually, and in advance of application deadlines. Please contact Melissa Glueck at glueck@rice.edufor details.
  
  
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  Summary of Training Grant Eligibility and Support Levels, Application Requirements, and Required Commitments

ELIGIBILITY AND SUPPORT LEVELS

Predoctoral Trainees:  Applicants must already be enrolled in one of the participating GCC institutions. Support is available for a maximum of one year, usually the second - fourth years of graduate school. Support includes the standard NIH stipend ($20,772 in FY09) and also covers a portion of trainee tuition and health insurance costs. Travel funds will also be provided to attend a required meeting at the NIH. Both U.S. citizens (and permanent residents) as well as non-citizens are eligible to apply. 

Postdoctoral Trainees:  The applicant must have already received the doctoral degree by the Training Grant application due date, and must already be employed at one of the participating GCC institutions. Support is available for a maximum of one year, beginning in years -00, -01, or -02 (after receipt of the doctoral degree). Stipends will be at the recommended NIH level based on the number of years since receipt of the doctoral degree. Support may also cover a portion of health insurance costs at the trainee's institution (self-only). Both U.S. citizens (and permanent residents) as well as non-citizens are eligible to apply. US citizen/Permanent Resident postdocs will be required to sign the NIH Payback Agreement.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Complete and submit the Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowship Application form online (see link above).
• Both the primary and secondary mentors must submit an on-line Mentor Recommendation form (see link above).
• Request 2 Letters of Recommendation from people other than your mentors. Have them email the letters directly to glueck@rice.edu. 
• Email a current resume (in Word or PDF format) outlining your academic history and professional work experience to glueck@rice.edu.               
• Email, mail, or fax all undergraduate and graduate transcripts, including a transcript from your current institution (official preferred, unofficial accepted). If the transcript is in a foreign language, you must submit an English translation. Send them to:
                                                                                                                                                       

Melissa Glueck
Administrative Program Director
Gulf Coast Consortia, MS-141
c/o Rice University
P.O. Box 1892 
Houston, TX 77251-1892
Tel. (713) 348-4563   Fax: (713) 348-4659
glueck@rice.edu

SUMMARY OF REQUIRED COMMITMENTS

1)  Graduate students are required to take a core sequence of three academic courses and a fourth year capstone course. It is anticipated that the required courses will in many cases fulfill requirements for the programs at the students' home institutions (e.g., bioinformatics, statistics, structural biology, pharmacology, cell biology, or related requirements). For more information on coursework, see the Nanobiology Training Program Curriculum page.

Postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to attend and to actively participate in the above courses. They are not required to register for academic credit. 

2)  All trainees (both pre- and postdoctoral) must attend the weekly Keck Seminar series on Fridays (during the academic year) at 4:00 p.m. on the Rice University campus. Trainees must sign in for each seminar.

3)  All trainees must attend the Keck Center Annual Research Conference in October, and to present a poster or platform presentation. The 2009 Keck Center Annual Research Conference will be October 29-30, 2009 in the Houston area. Registration and program information will be available in mid-August.

4)  All trainees are expected to attend an annual meeting at NIH for individuals being supported by Roadmap Initiative Training Grants. Travel funds will be provided from the training grant.

5)  Each trainee and postdoctoral fellow in this dual mentored program must do an internship in the secondary mentor's laboratory. This will ensure a truly interdisciplinary educational opportunity. These internships require the trainee to be physically located in the co-mentor's lab for 2-6 months. This will provide the students with an opportunity to learn techniques and the culture of a different research environment. This internship is usually during year three for pre-doctoral students, and after the first year for post-doctoral trainees. By learning about another discipline's environment within nanobiology research, students will extend their research knowledge beyond their core discipline to that of an interdisciplinary nanobiologist.

6)  All graduate student and postdoctoral applicants are required to have a Nanobiology Training Grant primary mentor (other than their dissertation advisor) and a secondary co-mentor, who must both be members of the Nanobiology Training Grant Faculty (Please note that faculty membership in the Keck Center does not automatically make them a member of the Nanobiology Training Faculty; they must apply in advance to become a member. Contact glueck@rice.edu for details.) Co-mentors should be in a different research area from the primary mentor to create an interdisciplinary training experience. Pre- and postdoctoral applications should explicitly describe why this co-mentor was selected. 

7)  All trainees are expected to submit annual written progress reports, including future plans for their projects. Annual oral progress reviews will include a mentor's evaluation and recommendations as well as the trainee's self-evaluation and future plans.

8)   All trainees must take approved training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (ethics), as required by the NIH. In most cases this will be done at the trainee's home institution using established courses/training sessions.

The Keck Center is also committed to providing a wide range of career development opportunities to its trainees. In some cases, opportunities are developed and provided via the Center, but Center also informs trainees about opportunities at all six GCC institutions that are available to them. Trainees will be invited to participate in appropriate outreach, summer undergraduate training activities, and professional and social events from time to time. Trainees are also expected to provide ongoing evaluation to the PI, and to submit a more extensive evaluation when they complete the program.

In most (although not necessarily all) cases, program courses and seminars will be offered on the Rice University campus.