C-DEBI Graduate Fellow Program

The C-DEBI Graduate Fellow Program supports graduate student research in C-DEBI community laboratories. A candidate fellow's research is expected to align with one or more of the C-DEBI objectives. A principal goal of C-DEBI is to recruit scientists of any related fields to deep biosphere research and to build a well-connected future community of deep-biosphere researchers. C-DEBI encourages women and underrepresented groups to apply. This funding is only available to graduate students sponsored in US institutions.

C-DEBI provides support for graduate student fellowships awarded on the basis of scientific excellence and the appropriateness of the subject matter to Center objectives. The goal of the graduate student program is to stimulate the advancement of deep biosphere research through the training of a new generation of innovative scientists. Potential fellows should contact and discuss research topics for fellowships with potential advisors, as successful candidates will be expected to have well-conceived research plans as well as willing C-DEBI advisors.

The central research themes within C-DEBI are:

1. Activity in the deep biosphere: function & rates of global biogeochemical processes
2. Extent of life: biomes and the degree of connectivity (biogeography & dispersal)
3. Limits of life: extremes and norms of carbon, energy, nutrient, temperature, pressure, pH
4. Evolution and survival: adaptation, enrichment, selection, and cell repair

Proposals should clearly state how the research contributes to one or more of these themes.

The proposal should specify the relevance of the research project to C-DEBI, indicate sources of samples (if necessary), and describe the qualifications of the applicant.

Proposals will be considered for pre- and post-cruise research on drilling samples, participation on upcoming drilling and follow-up cruises, and shore-based investigations. Proposed research can also focus on theoretical and experimental deep biosphere studies in a broader sense, which might include, for example, testing novel techniques for deep biosphere research, lab-based experiments with deep biosphere organisms, model development, and metabolic studies of growth under deep subsurface conditions.

Applicants who wish to use IODP samples or data must ensure that their proposed projects do not conflict with existing expedition-related projects (e.g., shipboard scientists’ projects). Proponents and their intended advisors should resolve this issue by contacting expedition co-chiefs and shipboard scientists before they submit their proposals. In this respect, it should be noted that receiving research support from C-DEBI does not guarantee access to samples or data that are not available to the community at large. A moratorium period of one year is granted to members of the expedition science party to conduct drilling project-related research before core samples and data are made available to the general scientific community. Applicants for C-DEBI support are responsible for securing access to all samples and data needed to complete proposed work, and should provide evidence of access to the samples in the proposal, if appropriate. For the IODP Sample, Data and Obligations Policy and other sample and data access information, visit http://www.iodp.org/access-data/.

Graduate student fellowships are available for a maximum of 2 years, depending on a successful evaluation near the end of year 1 of the fellowship. Current funding rates are $32,000 and will be distributed as stipend funds directly to the advisor’s home institution. The home institution must be a US institution able to receive NSF funding as a subaward and agree that no part of the award will be used for overhead.

The applicant must be a student in good standing who has been accepted into the graduate program. Each graduate applicant will identify a primary advisor, who agrees to sponsor them and manage logistical aspects of their support (office and lab space, materials and supplies for conducting research). The primary advisor will be required to commit to meeting with the graduate student to discuss research progress at least twice monthly and to provide means of allowing broader discussion about her or his research – this can be in the form of departmental seminars, group meetings, etc. The primary advisor also is required to provide support for the graduate student to attend the Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco. Fellows are expected to attend yearly C-DEBI meetings. The advisor should include a statement agreeing to these points in their recommendation letter.

Fellows will submit a progress report on their achievements (2 pages maximum including any presentations given or papers published that can be listed separately), a one page summary of the proposed work for the second year and a letter of progress from the advisor to an ad-hoc oversight committee whose approval will be required for the release of the second year of fellowship funding.

Applications should include a cover page, a proposal for research to be conducted (maximum 3 pages), a proposal implementation statement, a curriculum vitae, a recommendation from the anticipated fellowship advisor and a second faculty recommendation. The next deadline for this semiannual call will be in October 2012.

1. Cover Page (PDF form)

2. Research Proposal - The research project should clearly be the applicant's own endeavor and should demonstrate the student’s capability or potential for carrying out the project. Research goals should be realistic and attainable within the expected period of the fellowship. As necessary, the methodology section should also discuss any relevant pilot studies, projected numbers of samples, sampling strategies, and both limitations and strengths of the proposed techniques. Literature citations should be included throughout the proposal wherever appropriate.

Each research proposal must include a short title, an abstract (a concise summary of about 100 words), and a description of the proposed research (statement of the problem, background and relevance to previous work, discussion of methodology and procedure to be followed, explanation of new or unusual techniques, and discussion of expected results, significance, and application).

3. Proposal Implementation Statement - Include a 1 page statement briefly describing the research facilities where you plan to carry out laboratory testing, if applicable, and a timeline and schedule of your proposed research.

4. Curriculum Vitae - Include relevant educational history (degrees and dates awarded); fellowships, scholarships, and awards received; academic honors received; society membership(s); employment experience (including any internships); and any authored or co-authored journal articles, abstracts, or other publications related to your proposed research.

5. Faculty Advisor Material - Include a copy of the faculty advisor's two page curriculum vitae and a letter of recommendation addressing 1) the degree of originality and independence the applicant has shown in developing the proposed fellowship research and 2) how the research is intellectually and fiscally linked to the advisor's research (funded or pending). The advisor should also include a statement of commitment as described in the requirements section above.

6. Second Faculty Recommendation

Please submit your proposal by email to submissions@darkenergybiosphere.org to the attention of:

Rosalynn Sylvan
Associate Managing Director
Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI)
Email: rosalyyl@usc.edu

If you have any questions, please contact Rosalynn Sylvan at the above address.

> Read our Grants Programs FAQs to understand how C-DEBI proposals are reviewed and more!
> What graduate student research projects have been funded?
 
> See also the similarly IODP-aligned Schlanger Fellowship for graduate students.
> See also the opportunity for Interridge Student Fellowships of up to $5000.