Postdoctoral Applicants

Applications are no longer being accepted. Information for the 2013 CPHAR program will be posted in December 2012.

Funding Source

The UNC Institute on Aging received an Institutional National Service Award from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, (Grant Number T32 AG00272-01A1) to support postdoctoral fellows in health and aging research. You are encouraged to apply for a fellowship if your interests are in this area.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the training program is to prepare postdoctoral scholars to make significant contributions to aging and healthcare research through intense, guided career development. Fellows will:

1. critically analyze the adequacy of current research and theories for addressing theory-based approaches to aging, health, and healthcare issues;

2. participate with faculty and other fellows in the development of research protocols using innovative strategies that incorporate the perspectives of at least two disciplines;

3. independently adapt a theoretical perspective into a conceptualization of an approach to studying a health issue important to a population of older adults;

4. initiate the development and testing of a research protocol using perspectives or methodologies from more than one discipline; and,

5. prepare a research proposal for extramural funding.

Award and Fellowship Benefits

Awards are made for one year, renewable for a second year, with annual stipends based on the number of years of relevant experience beyond the doctoral degree, plus tuition assistance, health insurance, a research allowance, and support for one scientific meeting each year. The expertise to be acquired in the postdoctoral training program in healthcare and aging research includes: expanded conceptualization skills, skills in applying theory-based approaches to selected problems and target populations, skills in analyzing and interpreting data using procedures which are new to the fellow, and guided experience in the preparation of proposals requesting research support from public and private sources. Postdoctoral fellows will participate in the selection of themes and speakers for the CPHAR Proseminar Series, and they will plan, with mentor support, the Research in Progress Seminars.

Requirements of Postdoctoral Fellows

Only U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents May be Funded by this Program.

Prior to beginning the fellowship program, postdoctoral applicants must have an earned doctorate from one of the social and behavioral sciences (e.g., sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics), in public health (e.g., epidemiology, health behavior and health education, health policy and health administration, nutrition), or in another of the health sciences (e.g., medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health or human movement sciences). Applicants will have previously conducted research (alone or under supervision) on aging-related topics and issues, and will have chosen the field of aging research as the focus of their future professional work.

Postdoctoral fellows will be admitted only after firm arrangements confirmed in writing are made to work with a specific faculty mentor who shares the fellow's area of interest and can provide appropriate supervision of the fellow's pilot work. All postdoctoral fellows are expected to have worked out a general scope and focus of a formal mentoring arrangement with the training program prior to beginning the fellowship. The CPHAR Steering Committee will facilitate the establishment of such a relationship. An in-person interview with the proposed mentor and at least one member of the Admissions Committee will be required as part of the admissions process.

Fellows will be involved in the ongoing research of the mentor, or will have a preceptorial arrangement whereby the mentor will oversee the fellow's own research that is clearly related to that of the mentor. In either case, the fellow will generate a proposal for a pilot investigation to be conducted in the first year of the training program. When fellows are involved in the research of the mentor, the proposal will be for some extension or modification of the ongoing work. Fellows will prepare papers for publication, will present at scientific meetings each year, will attend and present at colloquia on campus, and will write a proposal for external funding.

At the beginning of the training program each fellow will present a training workplan listing the plan of study (including any courses to be taken), research plans, writing, and estimated dates for completion. No degrees will be offered by the training program, but it will be possible for postdoctoral fellows to enroll in substantive or methodological doctoral courses in participating departments; courses may also be research practicums or reading courses. Clinicians who need additional strength in methods may opt to participate (at partial program expense) in the 9-month Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Core Curriculum, or a comparable series of methods courses. Postdoctoral fellows will have an Advisory Committee, and will meet with the Advisory Committee at the fellow's request, and at least twice a year. The Advisory Committee will be comprised of the mentor, another training program faculty member, and one member of the Steering Committee. In the event that a fellow fails to make appropriate progress, the Advisory Committee may recommend the criteria for continuation in the training program.

All fellows will participate in at least two weekly seminars: the Research in Progress Seminar, the CPHAR Proseminar, and other selected seminars.

Additional Information

Completed applications may be emailed to CPHAR@unc.edu, OR mail completed application packet to Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, PhD at the address below.

Applications are no longer being accepted. Information for the 2013 CPHAR program will be posted in December 2012.

For further information, contact:

Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, PhD
(919) 966-8138

UNC Institute on Aging
720 Martin Luther King Jr, Blvd., CB#1030
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-1030