Faculty Mentors
Each Fellow must have at least one U-M faculty member as the primary mentor at the time of the application (the list of participating faculty will be posted by Sept. 1, and will keep being updated). A second mentor with complementary expertise is required when the Fellow starts in the program. If needed, the primary mentor can help identify a suitable second mentor. Working together with MIDAS, the mentors will provide career guidance to the Fellows, meet with them regularly to assess research progress, help the Fellows seek opportunities for career advancement, and participate in activities that strengthen the Fellows community and the U-M data science and AI community.
While all faculty members in research domains within the scope of this program are eligible to be mentors, not all have funding or bandwidth to accept new postdocs. In order to help postdoc applicants connect with potential mentors, we maintain a list of faculty members who have opted in this program. If you would like to opt in, please sign up with this form. Please note that faculty members who are not on this list can still be mentors. Being on the list simply makes it easier for applicants to find you.
For the sake of the program’s scientific diversity, faculty mentors of the current Fellows are discouraged to be mentors of new applicants.
Expectations
Selection process: A faculty review committee will select the top candidates. MIDAS will consult with their faculty mentors to determine the salary, then notify the candidates.
Cost share: Faculty mentors and MIDAS will provide 50:50 cost share to cover the postdoc’s salary and benefits.
Salary: Commensurate to norms in each research field, funded jointly by MIDAS and faculty mentors. Faculty mentors will work with MIDAS to determine the exact salary.
Office space: Fellows are expected to conduct their work on U-M’s Ann Arbor Campus. They will be expected to spend at least 50% of time at MIDAS so that they can be part of the data science and AI postdoc network and enhance the interdisciplinary reach of MIDAS.
Professional service: The Fellows will be expected to spend 10% of their effort on MIDAS programs that strengthen MIDAS’s core pillars. Based on their career plans, they can choose to be involved in activities such as developing tools for research, training and mentoring, and data science projects for positive societal impact. They will also be expected to interact with the U-M data science and AI community through research presentations and other events.
How to Participate
MIDAS faculty members can sign up to participate in this program, with the understanding that, if their applicant is selected, their portion of the funding needs to be in place before the Fellows start at U-M. You do not need to tell us what the source of funding will be until it is time to make offers. The only constraint is that the funding should not require substantial non-research time commitment from the fellow, such as teaching a course.
Anyone who is currently not a MIDAS affiliate faculty member will need to join before they can be placed on the participating faculty list.
Any faculty member who is not on the participating faculty list may still submit an application with a candidate. Not being listed simply means that it is very unlikely you will receive inquiries from potential applicants.
List of mentor candidatesOther Questions?
*For questions or concerns regarding the financial support of visa fees, mentors should contact the Program Team, [email protected].