Scialog® FAQ
Participation
Q. I would like to be a Scialog Fellow. Am I eligible?
A. Fellows are early career faculty members at universities and colleges in the United States and Canada, with “early career” defined as any time from just accepting an institution’s faculty offer as a beginning assistant professor through one or two years post-promotion to associate professor (i.e., typically within eight years of their first independent appointment). Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows (unless already having accepted an independent appointment) are not eligible. Scientists at research institutes, national laboratories, and similar organizations are also considered if they are at an equivalent early career stage as an independent investigator overseeing their own research group. The upper end of the “early career” range is not fixed, but nominees will have reduced priority the more advanced they are in their career trajectory. If a faculty member has had a nonlinear career track or taken leave, they should explain that in the nomination and make a case for inclusion as an “early career” academic scientist.
Q. How can I be considered to be a Fellow?
A. Potential Fellows submit their own nominations through RCSA’s online portal. Active, early career scientists who believe they can contribute innovative ideas to Scialog themes are welcome to self-nominate. RCSA also relies on institutional leaders, senior faculty who serve as facilitators for the initiative, our broad community of Scialog Fellows and Cottrell Scholars, and the networks of foundation cosponsors, to help identify strong candidates for each initiative, whom RCSA can then encourage to self-nominate. To be selected as a Scialog Fellow, a nominee should be a highly promising early career scientist with a track record of significant research accomplishments commensurate with career level. Thus, selection as a Fellow is an honor and should be listed on your CV under honors and awards.
Q. How are Fellows selected?
A. Each cohort of Fellows is chosen from among the nominees with the goal of creating a highly diverse and inclusive group to maximize interactions across fields and methodologies, institutions, geographic regions, and backgrounds. The first step of the review process is an assessment of your qualifications based on your CV/bio-sketch. The second step is the statement of your research interests and how they relate to the topic of the initiative. The third step involves the taxonomy of your research interests and approaches. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topics chosen for Scialog themes, each fellow represents part of the disciplinary matrix that will ensure the right collection of expertise is present for the conversations. We at RCSA believe that great science happens at many types of colleges, universities, and research institutions, and our Scialog Fellows represent that diversity.
Q: I was a Fellow of a previous Scialog. Can I participate in a new initiative?
A: If you are still an early career scientist, you are eligible to apply. You may have reduced priority, especially if you received a Scialog Award through that prior initiative.
Logistics
Q. What are my costs to attend a Scialog?
A. All costs at the meeting are covered – your individual room, meals, and meeting registration. Scialog Fellows cover their own transportation costs, but RCSA will consider providing a travel scholarship if those costs are a barrier to participation. You will have the opportunity to request a travel scholarship when you register for the conference.
Q. Is there support for dependent care?
A. RCSA recognizes that participation can be difficult for individuals serving as dependent caregivers to small children, elderly parents, etc. To be as inclusive as possible, RCSA has a policy to help support Fellows with these needs. You will have the opportunity to request caregiver support funds when you register for the conference.
Q. Should I plan to attend the entire conference?
A. Yes. The essence of Scialog is dialogue and community building, which starts at the opening reception and continues through the final morning’s proposal presentations. Attending the entire meeting is paramount and is required.
Q. May I bring my family?
A. Yes. Your family may share your room, but recognize that the Scialog schedule is packed from morning through evening. Your family is welcome to enjoy the resort while you are busy at the meeting, but your family costs are a personal expense.
Funding
Q. If I am a Fellow, how do I apply for funding?
A. Proposals are conceived, written, and submitted during Scialog convenings. During the meeting, Scialog Fellows interact in multiple breakout discussion groups and informal conversations. Fellows are encouraged to self-assemble into new collaborative teams, typically consisting of two or three (and occasionally four) Fellows. During the latter part of the meeting, teams write proposals for seed funding of blue-sky research ideas that emerge from the discussions. Team members cannot have previously collaborated on other research projects. Each Fellow may be part of two teams at each meeting, and Fellows typically attend two or even all three of the series of meetings.
Q. What are my chances for success?
A. If success is defined as a funded Scialog proposal, then about half of the Fellows who attend more than one meeting in the series receive at least one Scialog grant. RCSA defines success more broadly, however. Scialog Fellows make connections they rely on throughout their careers, and many collaborations initiated at a Scialog proceed without a Scialog award, securing later funding through other sources. Scialog is in part a platform for rapidly catalyzing new funded collaborations. Beyond that, Scialog is a process for building interdisciplinary communities to tackle highly challenging and important scientific questions. Membership in such a community provides opportunities for many forms of success.
Q. If the one-year collaborative project proves successful, can I apply for additional funding?
A. Typically not from the co-sponsors of the Scialog initiative, but in some cases funds have been identified specifically for such follow-on awards. If follow-on funding is available, that would be announced at the Scialog. Certainly, the preliminary data obtained with the one-year Scialog grant could provide the basis for applications to other funding agencies and foundations, and many teams have received additional support to continue and grow their Scialog projects.