10/15/91

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Dean of Research announces Presidential Fellows' nomination procedure

The National Science Foundation has announced a new Presidential Faculty Fellows program that, together with its recently announced Young Investigator award, will replace the Presidential Young Investigators program.

The Presidential Faculty Fellows (PFF) award will consist of an annual grant of $100,000 for each of five years, and is targeted at junior faculty in their early years of tenure-track positions. Each institution is permitted two nominations for the program.

Thirty fellows will be chosen nationwide -- 15 in engineering and 15 in science. The awards, to be announced next spring, will be personally bestowed by the president of the United States.

"The prestige that will go with this award will benefit young faculty members -- and their institutions," Patricia Devaney, associate dean of research, said.

The awards are meant to recognize tenure-track faculty members who have demonstrated an exceptionally high level of research and teaching competence, and who have the highest potential for leadership in academic pursuits. The support is intended to allow fellows to undertake self-designed, innovative research and teaching projects and programs, and to pursue other appropriate activities.

To be eligible for a Presidential Faculty Fellowship, a Stanford nominee must be a member of the Academic Council who is or will be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident as of Dec. 2, 1991; who received a doctorate or equivalent between Jan. 1, 1984, and Dec. 2, 1991, and who began his or her first tenure-track or equivalent position after Dec. 1, 1988.

Candidates may work in any discipline of science or engineering, including research in engineering education or science education. The National Science Foundation normally will not support biomedical research with disease-related goals, including work on the etiology, diagnosis or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality or malfunction in human beings or animals. Animal models of such conditions, or development or testing of drugs or other procedures for their treatment, also generally are not eligible for support.

Nominating procedure

With a Dec. 2 deadline for nominations, the office of the dean of research has announced a three-step process intended to give Stanford's two nominees time to prepare the extensive materials needed to accompany the university's nominating letters.

Nominations should be submitted by Nov. 1 as follows: for the School of Humanities and Sciences, to Associate Dean Alexander Fetter; for the School of Earth Sciences, to Dean Gary Ernst; for the School of Engineering, to Associate Dean Charles Kruger; and for the School of Medicine, to Associate Dean Robert Cutter.

Once the two Stanford candidates have been identified, a packet of nominating materials will be assembled, to include the nominee's research description and teaching plan, statements of qualifications, a biographical sketch and other supplemental materials. Four reference letters are required from persons outside Stanford who are familiar with the candidate's work.

High qualifications

According to the National Science Foundation's announcement, the review criteria include:

The Presidential Faculty Fellows award cannot be used for the awardee's academic-year salary. Indirect costs are limited to 10 percent of the funds provided by the National Science Foundation.

Nomination procedures for the NSF Young Investigators (NYI) award were announced in the Oct. 3 Campus Report. It will grant investigators $25,000 per year, with potential matching funds to a total of $100,000 per year.

More information on both programs is available from sponsored projects officers, or Devaney at 723-3763.

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