The Foundation for Psychocultual Research
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES
OF
Culture & Disability:
Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States
At the FPR-UCLA
Culture, Brain, Development, and Mental Health Program
PURPOSE:
The Foundation for Psychocultural Research (The FPR) provides a limited number of fellowships aimed at advancing interdisciplinary research projects and scholarship at the intersection of psychology, culture, neuroscience and psychiatry, with emphasis on psychocultural factors as central, not peripheral.
ELIGIBILITY:
Applicants must have a doctoral or M.D. degree and should have interest in pursuing a career involving interdisciplinary research in psychology, culture, human development, family research, neuroscience and psychiatry. The research will involve substantial engagement in the new FPR-UCLA Culture Brain, Development, and Mental Health program, which includes integrative research on neurobiology, culture, child development, and psychopathology. The focus of this call for applications is the project on Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States, Thomas S. Weisner, director, Tamara Daley, co-PI.
Candidates must conduct their research under Dr. Thomas Weisner as the primary sponsor and PI of research on Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States. Candidates should be eligible to hold a postdoctoral appointment at UCLA. A Ph.D or M.D. degree in hand is required. Fellows are also required to attend interdisciplinary seminars offered by the FPR-UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development, and Mental Health program throughout their fellowship appointment.
STIPEND AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE:
■ Fellowship stipend is $40,000 per year.
■ A support allowance of up to $1,500 per year, to be used at the sponsor’s discretion, to help defray the fellow’s research supplies or travel to scientific meetings.
■ Health benefits.
The FPR does not permit deductions to cover administrative expenses from either the stipend or the institutional allowance. The fellowship may be extended for one additional year, based on the evaluation of the previous year’s performance. Requests for extension should be submitted to the Foundation by 3 months prior to the end of the first year of the postdoc. This extension is not automatic. Progress reports from both sponsors are required to accompany extension requests.
DEADLINES FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS:
Letters of intent can be submitted immediately. Applicants will then be notified if they should submit a full application. There will be ongoing applications until the position is filled, but no letters of intent will be accepted after December 1, 2010. Successful applicants are encouraged to begin their postdoc appointment as soon as possible after selection as is feasible.
GRANTING CRITERIA:
This postdoc will involve significant involvement with the Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States project. This project is part of the FPR-UCLA Culture, Brain, Development, and Mental Health Program. The successful applicant will be working closely with this interdisciplinary research on ASD and contribute to the development of the research sites in Los Angeles and in New Delhi, India.
Candidates will have a background in one or more of the following areas: ASD, family and human development research, social sciences (Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology), neuroscience, and / or public health. The research project the postdoc will be working with will be conducted with families with a child with ASD in the New Delhi, India area, and families in the Los Angeles, CA area. The focus of this study is on family adaptation and accommodation to their child with autism; the explanatory models of parenting, autism, and disability, and their clinical and treatment experiences. Candidates who have cultural, linguistic or other familiarity with Indian families, and/or families with children with disabilities, would fit well with this program. Experience with both qualitative and quantitative methods is also preferred. The candidate also should broadly participate in the overall mission of the FPR and the CBDMH program -- integrating culture, human development and neuroscience. Candidates who fit a number of, but not all, of this preferred background are encouraged to apply.
In addition, applicants should describe their own additional research projects and interests. In addition to the fit with the Delhi/Los Angeles ASD family studies, granting criteria will be based on the assessment of the novelty and integration of the proposed interdisciplinary research, applicant’s interest in, and professional promise with respect to, interdisciplinary research in psychology, culture, human development, neuroscience and their particular discipline(s).
The applicant’s own research interests should:
■ Include substantial engagement in the current topical foci, which includes integrative research on neurobiology, culture, child development, and psychopathology specific to ASD;
■ Demonstrate research experience in ASD or disability; parenting and family research in human development; knowledge of India;
■ Be at the intersection or integration of Culture and Neuroscience in some respect;
■ Have a significant degree of novelty in their own research component. The research should not be repetitive of, or similar to, existing research.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1: Letter of intent.
Please email to Leanna Hernandez at cbd@ucla.edu
In Microsoft Word format, submit:
■ A letter of interest (maximum of 2 pages) describing the fit with the CBDMH proposed research, Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States that
- Includes the applicant’s own research interests,
- Includes the date when the applicant will be available to take up the FPR fellowship,
■ Applicant’s CV,
■ Names of two potential references for the applicant,
■ The applicant’s contact information.
Dr. Weisner will notify the applicants on the result of the preliminary review, whether or not they should proceed with the complete application.
Step 2: The completed application.
Download from http://www.cbd.ucla.edu/CBDMH/Culture_Disability/Culture_Disability.html . The completed application must include one application form with of the following items, collated in the order specified below:
1) Completed Application Cover Sheet and Sections One through Four, which are included in the application form.
2) Abstract of the research in non technical English explaining the importance of the proposed research and its potential application/ clinical relevance. Included in this abstract is the candidate’s interest in and relevance for the project, Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States.
3) Concise summary of candidate’s interest in and relevance for the project, Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States, not to exceed 2 pages. An outline of the candidate’ own research proposal in addition to work with the Culture & Disability: Autism Spectrum Disorder in India & the United States study (the applicants’ own research background, significance, specific aims, materials and methods, summary) not to exceed 5 pages (inclusive of tables and figures; exclusive of references).
4) The date when the applicant could begin the FPR fellowship and a list of other funding sources to which applications have been or will be submitted, with due dates.
5) Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae and Bibliography.
6) A brief 1 page description of the applicant’s background and research accomplishments.
7) Statement of Interest (2 pages) describing in detail applicants’ overall research and career interests (i.e. general and/or specific research interests) in interdisciplinary research and/or scholarship on culture-mind-brain interactions and future goals.
8) Letters of Recommendation from 2 individuals well acquainted with the applicant’s work. These letters should address the applicant’s interests, prior work and achievements, and professional promise. Letters of recommendation should be sent directly to Leanna Hernandez at cbd@ucla.edu by the referees.
PREPARATION GUIDELINES:
Applications must be typed single-space using a 12 pt or larger font size, with 1” margins. Both hard copy and an electronic copy (in Microsoft Word Format) of the application are required. Please e-mail the electronic copy to: Leanna Hernandez at cbd@ucla.edu. Any additional or supplemental data or other modification to an application is subject to the conditions above.
MAILING INSTRUCTIONS:
Send completed applications to the attention of:
Leanna Hernandez at
FPR-UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, & Development
Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center
660 Charles E. Young Drive South
Los Angeles, CA 90095
The application may not be considered if applications exceed any mentioned page limits. All items requested for the full application must be collated. If not collated, the application will not be considered.
For further information on The FPR-UCLA CBDMH Program, please contact Leanna Hernandez at cbd@ucla.edu, or visit: http://www.cbd.ucla.edu/ and http://www.thefpr.org
Download the Culture & Disability Postdoctoral Advertisement
Download the Culture & Disability Postdoctoral Application Form
