RCSA, NSF Support 14 Postdocs in 2nd Year of Cottrell Fellowships
Research Corporation for Science Advancement has awarded nearly $1 million to 14 Cottrell Scholars to support postdoctoral fellows whose immediate job opportunities disappeared due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Three of these awards are funded through a $225,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
Cottrell Fellowships were first offered in 2020 in response to concerns from RCSA’s Cottrell Scholar community about the careers of early-career scientists working in their research groups who were losing opportunities to move into independent academic careers at colleges and universities due to pandemic-related hiring freezes. As part of RCSA’s continuing commitment to supporting Cottrell Scholars and nurturing the next generation of teacher-scholars, a second round of fellowships was offered this year.
“The financial impact of the pandemic is far from over, and these fellowships make a difference,” said Senior Program Director Silvia Ronco. “Postdocs will continue their research, further their pedagogical training with Cottrell Scholars who are committed to innovation in education, and continue on the path to careers in science.”
Each Cottrell Fellowship of up to $75,000 is for salary, benefits and research-related expenses of one postdoctoral fellow for the 2021-2022 academic year. The awards are made to the Cottrell Scholars sponsoring the postdoctoral fellows.
Recipients of 2021 Cottrell Fellowships are:
Timothy Atherton (on behalf of postdoc J. Anna Philips) Tufts University
Understanding Students' Expectations for Agency in Hands-On Learning Environment
Funded by RCSA
William Dichtel (postdoc Anna Yang) Northwestern University
Porous Polymer Adsorbent for Sequestering Emerging Contaminants from Water
Funded by RCSA
Mircea Dincă (postdoc Ruperto Mariano) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mechanistic Studies of O2 Electroreduction to H2O2 Using Conductive MOFs at Current Densities >100 mA cm-2
Funded by RCSA
Gordana Dukovic (postdoc Katherine E. Shulenberger) University of Colorado Boulder
Light-Driven Catalysis: Mechanistic Insights into Quantum Dot-Enzyme Hybrid Systems
Funded by the National Science Foundation
Keary Engle (postdoc Malkanthi K. Karunananda) Scripps Research Institute
Predictive Computational Models for the Development of Challenging Ni-Catalyzed Alkene Difunctionalizations with Transient Directing Groups
Funded by the National Science Foundation
Claude-André Faucher-Giguére (postdoc Luke Kelley) Northwestern University
Multi-Messenger Signatures of Massive Black Hole Binaries
Funded by the National Science Foundation
Joshua Figueroa (postdoc Shuai (Vincent) Wang) University of California, San Diego
Synthesis and Exploration of Carbyne Complexes of the Late 3d Transition Metals
Funded by RCSA
Daniel Gamelin (postdoc Matthew Crane) University of Washington
Tailoring Spin Dephasing in Metal-Halide Perovskites for Next-Generation Computing Applications
Funded by RCSA
Taekjip Ha (postdoc Yang Liu) Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Hijacking CRISPR-Cas9 as a Molecular Tool for Biology and Medicine
Funded by RCSA
Alexis Komor (postdoc Zsolt Bodai) University of California, San Diego
Investigations of DNA Repair Genes' Involvement in Base Editing and Development of a Hands-On Undergraduate Course on Genome Editing at UCSD
Funded by RCSA
Stella Offner (postdoc Dávid Guszejnov) University of Texas at Austin
The Role of Different Physical Processes in Star Formation
Funded by RCSA
Eric Schelter (postdoc Nate Hirscher) University of Pennsylvania
Aerobic, Photolytic Upgrading of Hydrocarbon Feedstocks
Funded by RCSA
Keivan Stassun (postdoc Nina Hernitschek) Vanderbilt University
Machine-Learning Applications for Variable Stars in the LSST and TESS Astronomical Surveys
Funded by RCSA
Ann West (postdoc Meghan Kemper) University of Oklahoma
Elucidating the Role of a Novel Response Regulator in Sporulation of Clostridiodes difficile
Funded by RCSA
Recipients of last year’s Cottrell Fellowships said the support came at the right time to help them continue their academic careers.
“The funding was vital to my research progress,” said Connor Bischak, who became an assistant professor at the University of Utah this fall. “It gave me the opportunity to wrap up existing projects at the University of Washington and also test out new ideas for my future independent career."
Luca Comisso, Associate Research Scientist in the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, said the award enabled him to gain more experience teaching undergrad students as well as broaden his research activities while continuing to look for a faculty position. “It helped to support my research and teaching in a moment of great uncertainty,” he said.
Rachel Davidson, Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, said the fellowship “provided funding at a crucial time in my career allowing me to explore new research projects and finish up others while planning to take on new opportunities as the world begins to open up again.”
