Who May Apply?
- Applicants are invited from early career researchers who will have completed their Ph.D. requirements prior to the start of the Fellowship. Applicants must have employment status allowing them to work in the United States and be willing to complete a formal criminal background check. The Buzzards Bay Coalition is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply and will be considered without regard to race, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or veteran status.
How Do I Apply?
- The Brenninkmeyer Fellowship consists of a two-part application. Part I is an open application, while Part II is by invitation only.
Part I. Statement of Interest
Applicants need to submit a cover letter, CV or resume, and a research statement.
- Cover Letter: The cover letter (up to 2 pages) should introduce the applicant to the review committee. It should include a brief synopsis of the applicant’s Ph.D. research and how becoming a Brenninkmeyer Fellow fits with the applicant’s past work/expertise, interests, and career goals. If applicable, we encourage candidates to highlight experience with applied research and/or working in an interdisciplinary environment with collaborators from multiple institutions. If a Ph.D. degree is still in progress, applicants should state the planned date of a Ph.D. defense.
- Resume: There is no set format for the CV or resume, but it should include information on the names of colleges/universities attended, the types and years of degrees earned, and any research publications and/or conference presentations.
- Research Statement: The research statement should identify which Research Topic the applicant wishes to pursue and why. The statement should describe how the applicant’s interests, experiences and Ph.D. research qualifies them to pursue the selected Research Topic. The research statement can be up to two pages and should not exceed 1,200 words.
- Submission: Applicants should compile their Part I application materials into a single pdf file and email them to jakuba@savebuzzardsbay.org. Part I application review will begin April 28, 2025.
Part II. Invited Full Proposal
After review of Part I applications, the top candidates will be invited to develop a full proposal. Full proposals of no more than 8 pages will be written by the applicant but will be developed in collaboration with the proposed co-advisors. The full proposal will include:
- Motivation: Briefly describe the need for the proposed research activities and how they will advance our understanding of the coastal environment and our ability to more effectively manage natural resources in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound.
- Objectives: Describe the specific objectives that the fellow’s work will address.
- Research Activities: Describe a plan for the fellow’s activities over the two-year fellowship period. What samples will need to be collected and how will those be analyzed? What experiments will be performed? The plan should include a timeline for field work and laboratory work.
- Products: Identify products to be developed including potential conferences for presentation of results and target journals for manuscript submission.
Final selection of Fellows will take into consideration: (1) the technical quality of the full proposal, (2) the potential of the proposed work to provide insight into advancing the management/health of Buzzards Bay, (3) evidence of the applicant’s previous success performing research, and (4) the likelihood that the identified research plan can be implemented in the two-year fellowship period.
Brenninkmeyer Fellowship: About the Program | Research Topics | FAQs | Coalition Science