1. I am scheduled to complete my Ph.D. studies this year, but will not have my degree at the time of the Innovation Lab. Can I still apply?
To be considered eligible, applicants will need to have a doctoral level degree (PhD, ScD, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.) at the time of application .
Examples of doctoral level degrees include those obtained in the following disciplines:
- Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Biological, Physical or Earth Sciences
- Computational Sciences, Mathematics, and Statistics
- Engineering
- Health Sciences (Medical, Nursing, Dental, Optometry, or other like fields)
If you have a doctorate-level degree in another discipline, you may still apply, but please specify in your application how your work relates to rural health and environmental exposures.
2. I am currently a post-doc. Can I apply?
Yes! To be considered eligible, applicants will need to have fully completed their graduate studies and, ideally, be working toward a junior faculty position at the time of application.
3. Can international applicants apply?
No, this Innovation Lab is focused on collaborations between investigators with primary appointments at domestic institutions. There are other opportunities at NIH and NSF to develop international partnerships.
4. I have a PhD and have completed my post-doc. I work in industry, where I am involved in research related to rural health. Can I apply?
No, the focus is on fostering new collaborations between academic researchers.
5. I have a master’s degree and work on rural health research, but I do not have doctoral level training. Why can’t I apply to the Innovation Lab?
The focus of this Innovation Lab is the development of new teams of academic researchers and scientists who will work on data science challenges of rural health research. Key outcomes of this Innovation Lab are (1) the academic career paths of Innovation Lab participants and teams and (2) the success in obtaining extramural funding for their rural health research. These require doctoral level training.
6. I am actively engaged in rural health research, but am further on in my career. Can I apply?
Yes, you can. However, please be mindful that early-career investigators (assistant to newly promoted associate professors) are highly encouraged to apply given the overall goal of the Innovation Lab to generate new interdisciplinary collaborations of biomedical and quantitative researchers to develop collaborative ideas of projects that could be submitted to funding institutions. Those later in their careers would already have established themselves, their research programs, and have a record of successfully applying for funding.
7. How do I complete the application?
You can apply by clicking on the link below. Please be advised that the application links will take you to an online form. You will not be able to save and submit the form later. However, you can edit the responses after you submit. Please consider filling out the questions all at once or filling out the responses to the questions in a word document at your leisure then returning to the link to fill out the form when you are ready. For your convenience, you can preview the questions here. As for the application, application period has ended. Thank you for your submission.