The National Poverty Fellows Program is a federal government-university partnership that seeks to build the capacity of researchers to conduct high-quality policy-relevant research on poverty and inequality in the United States and to contribute to the effective use of research and scientific knowledge in the formation of public policy.
The Institute for Research on Poverty is calling for applications for one postdoctoral fellow for 2020–2021 with an anticipated start date in mid-2020. The fellowship is for one year with the option of renewing for a second year.
Fellows will be in residence at the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in the Administration for Children and Families (OPRE-ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Please see the position description for more information. Applications are due by December 1, 2019.
Position Information and Benefits
- Fellowships are for one year, with the possibility of an extension for an additional year.
- Compensation begins at around $81,500/year and includes health insurance.
- Twenty percent of the fellows’ time is allotted to their own poverty- or inequality-related research.
- Fellows have one IRP and one OPRE mentor, and will also have networking opportunities with IRP’s 200+ research affiliates.
- Stipends for conference travel ($1,500) and supplies ($300) are provided.
- Fellows will receive support for two scholar-in-residence visits to IRP at the University of Wisconsin–Madison per year.
Eligibility
The fellowship is open to U.S. citizens who are up to 6 years post-Ph.D. in the social or behavioral sciences with a substantive background in poverty, economic inequality, and social policy from any accredited educational institution. Applicants should have strong research skills, experience with program evaluation, excellent communication skills, particularly in terms of translating research for policy audiences, and work well as part of a team. Successful applicants will be required to go through a security background check prior to appointment.
Application Process
There are three main steps in the application process:
- Submit the Intent to Apply Form
- Contact three academic reference letter writers who can assess your ability to be successful in this program. When all three letter writers have agreed to write you a letter of reference, fill out the Reference Letter Writers Formwith their names and e-mail addresses. Please do this as soon as possible to allow your writers plenty of time to respond to your request for a letter. Providing this information will generate an automatic e-mail instructing them about how to write and submit their letter of support. We ask that all reference letters be received by December 8, 2019, so please confirm with letter writers that they receive the e-mail and complete the task in a timely manner.
- Submit the following documents on the Application Form by December 1, 2019,(late applications will be accepted but may not receive a full review):
- Current CV
- Statement of interest: Please detail your interest, background, and qualifications for the Fellowship. This should include your substantive background in poverty, inequality, and social policy research and your experience with quantitative and qualitative research and analysis. Explain your interest in the connection between research and policy, as well as your career goals and areas of interest. This statement should have a maximum of 1,200 words. Statements exceeding this length will not be read.
- Relevant research/writing sample: We ask that you provide a sole-authored or first-authored piece. If you are not the sole author or first author of the sample, you will be asked to explain your role in the research and writing process.
Please contact Dave Chancellor dave.chancellor@wisc.edu if you have further questions.