Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities
The Data Science Academy offers Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunities throughout the year. Below is a list of upcoming opportunities.
NC State Data Science Education Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research-informed methodologies for data science teaching and learning are essential to build the workforce needed in data science, which is growing as a career path, a professional skill, and a component of literacy. To this end, the NC State Data Science Academy (DSA) is creating a model for training postdoctoral scholars in education research.
This program will bring together a cohort of four postdoctoral scholars who are committed to broadening participation in data science through education research that centers diversity, equity and inclusion. The DSA offers a unique environment for these postdoctoral scholars to conduct research in data science education through the study of the Data Science Academy’s ADAPT course design model.
The postdoctoral scholars will work with mentors who have varied backgrounds, have a known-record of mentoring diverse trainees, and have professional expertise to support them in developing their own data science education research.
Goal
Through this fellowship, the DSA will create a model for training postdoctoral scholars in data science education research and successfully inducting them into the data science education and STEM-Ed research community. This model will be developed with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to support specifically the training and professional development of women and other groups who are currently underrepresented in STEM and STEM education. As the postdoctoral fellows enter the workforce, this project can be expected to inform the induction of data science education research, curriculum development and student experience. The ADAPT course model, which will be continuously improved by research, can be adopted and studied at other institutions and in other disciplines.
Duties and Responsibilities
Essential Job Duties
Scholars will develop a research project focused on the teaching and learning in progress through the Data Science Academy at NC State University. The research will investigate some aspects of the ADAPT model (described above and online).
The scholars will participate as a cohort in research and professional development activities such as weekly mentor meetings, leadership development, teaching meetings, a data science education journal club, brown bag lunches, presentations, workshops and a data science education conference. Fellows may also access NC State professional development programs and funding for travel and professional memberships.
Each postdoctoral scholar will be expected to teach one course per semester for the Data Science Academy at the undergraduate or graduate level. They may develop a new course or teach an existing course.
The postdoctoral scholars will provide input that helps identify a primary and secondary research mentor. The goal is to create interdisciplinary teams.
NC State University and the Data Science Academy are especially interested in qualified candidates who can make contributions through their experience, research, teaching and/or service that demonstrate NC State’s goals and values as described in the Wolfpack 2030 Powering the Extraordinary Strategic Plan: https://strategicplan.ncsu.edu/current-plan/wolfpack-2030-powering-the-extraordinary/
Other duties as assigned.
Minimum Experience/ Education
Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate (e.g., M.D., D.V.M., Sc.D.) in an appropriate field awarded no more than two (2) years from the initial date of postdoctoral appointment.
Required Skills
- Must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident when the application is submitted.
- Must have earned a doctoral degree, or expect to have earned the doctoral degree in a field of Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM), STEM Education, Education, or a related discipline prior to the start date of the position. The start date must be no later than two years after the conferral of the doctoral degree.
- Must not hold a tenure-track position.
- Experience with data science, data science education and/or data science education research.
- At least 3 years of relevant teaching experience in high school, postsecondary level or as an instructional trainer.
- Relevant research experience. We encourage applications from a broad range of disciplines, including statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, policy, ethics, communications, arts and humanities, physical and social sciences, or related fields.
- Strong communication and writing skills
Qualified applicants may not have all of the following
- Record of research or professional publication and presentation, commensurate with experience.
- Prior work in research projects with human subjects.
- Experience with accessibility practices in communication.
- Experience with project-based teaching and learning.
- Experience broadening participation in STEM education and STEM fields.
- Experience with quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis and communication tools.
- Demonstrated success working in collaborative teams.
Additional Resources
Hired NC State Data Science Education Postdoctoral Fellows
Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2222148 STEM Ed PRF: Mentoring a Diverse Cohort of Postdoctoral Scholars in Data Science Education Research.
Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material. are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.