Support for Postdoctoral Fellowships

Status of Opportunity

This DRI-supported opportunity is currently on hold, pending available funds.

In the meantime, please consult with Research Advancement to pursue external funding to support postdoctoral fellows.

Program Overview

The purpose of this program is to provide support to Postdoctoral Scholars and to faculty research, scholarship and creative activity (RSCA) efforts that will have significant long-term impacts on the research, scholarship, and creative activities of our campuses. Funds from the Division of Research and Innovation are intended to support Postdoctoral Scholars (with faculty matching) for a period of two years.

Please contact [email protected] with questions about this program.

Eligibility

Tenured or tenure-track SDSU faculty at all academic ranks and SDSU research faculty.

Award Specifics

This program can fund Postdoctoral Scholars for a two-year period. DRI will provide 50% (up to $50k) of the funding for salary and benefits each year per Scholar ($100k for two years). Faculty are required to provide at least 50% in matching funds per year per Scholar (see below). Awarded faculty will be responsible for directly appointing or recruiting/selecting the Postdoctoral Scholar. Scholars should be paid at least $60k + fringe benefits per year depending on disciplinary background and candidate experience. Scholars will be hired into the Research Fellow position through the university and not through the SDSU Research Foundation.

On average, fringe benefits cost 50% of the scholar’s base salary; however, in some circumstances the costs are less than 50% or the costs can approach 70%. Fringe costs over 50% must be covered entirely by the faculty member’s funding. When budgeting for the two years of funding for the Postdoctoral Scholar, please be sure to include these costs in your calculations.

Matching Funds

For this program, faculty are required to provide at least 50% of funding each year of the program (for two years) to contribute to the salary and benefits of the Postdoctoral Scholar. As noted above, fringe benefits may exceed 50% of the base salary of a scholar. Fringe amounts over 50% or higher salaries that exceed DRI's contribution must be covered by the faculty member’s funding. Faculty matching funds could come from startup funds, extramural funding (e.g., contracts or grants), or from research support funds. The funds must be identified when the application is submitted. Please provide letters of commitment or evidence of these funding sources in your application.

Application Requirements

Applications should be 3-4 pages, not including evidence of funding sources or letters of commitment.

Please describe the necessity for bringing a postdoctoral scholar onto your team. How will having this position help to significantly move your RSCA forward (e.g., apply for additional funding, complete a project or projects, etc.)?

Please provide a training/mentoring plan for the Postdoctoral Scholar. This could include specific elements of training you plan to provide (e.g., specific technical skills, grant writing, analysis or display of data, production design, archival research, opportunities to attend conferences and networking opportunities), as well as pertinent professional training provided at SDSU through the Center on Teaching and Learning, the Center for Inclusive Excellence, or DRI Research Advancement programs such as the Grants Research and Enterprise Writing (GREW) program for Postdoctoral Scholars.

Please describe the RSCA-related activities you plan to have the Postdoctoral Scholar engage in under your mentorship. These could include activities such as assisting with grant writing, data analysis, the writing of manuscripts/monographs, archival research, editing and curation of works, etc. Please include how completing these activities during the two-year period will significantly impact your RSCA program.

Please include a timeline that includes the training/mentoring plan as well as the RSCA activities planned for the Postdoctoral Scholar.

Please describe the source of matching funds and provide a SDSURF fund number (if applicable). Faculty must have at least two years (50% per year or more) of matching funds available that covers two fiscal years (July 1 - June 30). Please include documentation (not counted in the page count) of these funds. Applications without sufficient matching funds will not be considered for funding.

If matching funding is coming from a third party or outside source, please submit a letter of commitment from the outside funding source.

Application Submission

Applications should be submitted through the SDSU Competitions Portal (e.g., InfoReady). Complete the online application and upload your 3-4 page narrative within InfoReady.

Application Review

Applications will be scored using the following criteria:

  1. the extent to which having a postdoctoral Scholar will advance the RSCA efforts of the faculty applicant;
  2. strength of training/mentoring plan;
  3. the extent to which planned postdoc activities will significantly impact applicant’s RSCA program;
  4. clarity of proposal.

A subcommittee of the University Research Council will review applications.

Reporting

Faculty receiving funding from this program will be required to submit a report following the last year of funding (e.g., June 30, 2026). Reports will be due by the end of August following the last year of funding. DRI will send information about the report three months prior to the funding end date.

Timeline

  • December: Call for applications opens via InfoReady
  • End of January: Applications due
  • Early February: Application review
  • Mid-February: Funded applications announced
  • July 1: Postdoctoral Scholars appointments begin**
  • June 30: Postdoctoral Scholars appointments end**
  • August 31: Reports due to DRI

**Scholars can start after 7/1 and complete their two-year appointment after 6/30 depending on the capacity to recruit and hire a scholar.