Thursday, March 14, 2002

Teitel Awarded Bridging Fellowship to Brain and Cognitive Sciences for Spring 03

Professor Stephen Teitel, a condensed matter theorist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded a University Bridging Fellowship to pursue new interdisciplinary interactions with researchers in the College's Department of Brain and Cognitive Science. Only one Bridging Fellowship is awarded in the College in each academic semester.

Teitel will use the Bridging Fellowship in the Spring 2003 semester to pursue research in the area of theoretical neuroscience, in particular neural coding. According to Teitel, theoretical and computational modeling are increasingly being recognized as important tools for the analysis and characterization of neural systems, and this has attracted a growing number of physicists and other physical scientists to the field. Physics in particular has made many important contributions to neuroscience, the best known being the Hopfield model of neural networks, introduced by theoretical physicist John Hopfield in the '80s. More recent contributions include the entropic analysis of information coding in neural spike trains. Teitel hopes to work with the strong theoretical group in the BCS department to establish a new research direction in this field, and to foster future interactions between the two departments.

The University Bridging Fellowship, established in 1985, releases a faculty member from regular departmental obligations for one semester to allow them to move to another part of the University for the purpose of learning aspects of another discipline. The Fellowships are designed to: 1) enable faculty to develop new approaches to research interests, or to strike out on a new research direction; 2) stimulate the formation of new research teams; 3) facilitate the development of new courses; and 4) prepare faculty for affiliation with an existing or emerging interdisciplinary curricular or research center.

The following is a description of the Bridging Fellowship Program at the University of Rochester.

October 4, 2001

Please announce this important opportunity to the members of your faculty. Deadline for Applications: 5:00 p.m. on November 30, 2001.

To: Department Chairs From: Thomas J. LeBlanc Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the College Faculty Re: Call for Bridging Fellowship Applications for one-semester awards during the 2002-03 academic year

I invite members of the faculty of The College to apply for Bridging Fellowships for either Fall semester, 2002 or Spring semester, 2003. We hope to be able to arrange two awards, each for a semester, as we have done annually throughout the last ten years. Dean Olmsted and I will review and rank the applications.

Nature of the Bridging Program: The Bridging Fellowship Program is a University-wide program that supports the interdisciplinary initiatives emphasized in the recommendations of the 1985 Report of the Committee on University Goals. The Bridging Fellowship Program releases members from departmental obligations for one semester to allow them to move to another part of the University for the purpose of learning aspects of another discipline. This provides an opportunity for professional development which will also enhance the value of Bridging Fellows to the University by giving them competence in a new area of knowledge. More specifically, Bridging Fellowships: 1) enable faculty to develop new approaches to research interests or strike out on new research paths; 2) stimulate the formation of new research teams; 3) make it possible for faculty to develop new courses for a clientele wider than the one they served earlier; and 4) prepare faculty for affiliation with an existing or emerging interdisciplinary curricular and/or research center. The Fellow receives a salary in the usual way, as though s/he were still on duty in the department, together with all fringe benefits.

Projects that are not appropriate for Bridging Fellowships are those that: 1) are suitable for funding during a regular sabbatical leave; 2) only involve acquisition of technical skills (e.g., use of a computer for a particular end); 3) sample a field with no specific purpose in mind; and/or 4) are already established interdisciplinary ventures.

Projects involving faculty with which the applicant already has extensive research or curricular interactions or in departments in which the applicant has a joint appointment would normally not qualify for Bridging support.

Eligibility: The program is open to junior and senior tenure-track faculty. Length of service is not a factor in the ranking of applications. In the past, approximately one third of the awards have been made to junior faculty.

APPLICATION MATERIALS

1. A description of the proposed program of study in another discipline, together with a statement of reasons for wanting to pursue a Bridging project. The intended semester for the requested fellowship should be indicated.

2. A statement of the applicant's qualifications for pursuing the proposed program of study, together with an up-to-date curriculum vitae.

3. A statement about the expected effect of the proposed program on the applicant's professional progress.

4. A statement about the way in which the proposed program might broaden the applicant's academic role, including a description of the presumptive value of the fellowship to the University.

(These materials should total no more than six double-spaced typewritten pages, exclusive of the vita.)

5. Letters of approval and support:

a. from the Dean or Director of the School in which the applicant proposes to study, noting the dates of the program, and expressing a prediction of the values to be realized by the School as a result of hosting the Fellow. [Not required if host department is in the College.] b. from the Chair of the Department in which the applicant proposes to study, noting the dates of the program, and expressing a prediction of the values to be realized by the department as a result of hosting the Fellow. Previous Bridging fellows have found it useful to have a desk or office in the host department. c. from the person or persons with whom the applicant will principally work in the host discipline, indicating the person's own reasons for interest in the project and benefits anticipated as a result of involvement with the Fellow. d. from the applicant's Chair, with an assessment of the applicant's past performance and likelihood of future productive teaching and scholarship as a result of the fellowship. The Chair should note in detail needs with regard to instructional replacement of the Fellow for the fellowship period, including any estimated costs. The Chair should also comment on the impact of the fellowship on the department's programs, particularly as it relates to other anticipated leaves.

CRITERIA FOR JUDGING PROPOSALS

1. The proposed program of study should constitute a coherent and substantive professional introduction into another discipline. The project should represent a new initiative, and should clearly require the use of resources outside the applicant's own department. Some prior acquaintance with the new discipline and with persons in the proposed host department is usually necessary to formulate the proposal.

2. The pursuit of the proposed program of study should promise benefits to the University beyond the enhancement of the Fellow's own career, e.g., in the form of jointly taught or sponsored courses, new opportunities for graduate and/or undergraduate students in one or both areas of the exchange, or joint research initiatives.

3. The proposed program should promise continuing cooperation and exchange between the two disciplines involved, (e.g., formation of new faculty clusters, sponsored joint research).

CONDITIONS FOR FELLOWSHIP TENURE

1. Faculty who receive Bridging Fellowships continue to receive their regular salaries and benefits for the duration of their fellowships (ordinarily one semester).

2. Bridging Fellowships are not considered regular leaves of absence. Therefore, a faculty member might qualify for a regular leave of absence immediately after a Bridging experience. For untenured faculty, a Bridging Fellowship does not "stop the clock" on the contractual arrangement with the University.

3. As for regular leaves, a Fellow's course obligations need to be covered. Replacement costs will be considered in the overall requests from the department for course funding.

Article submitted by:
Arie Bodek
3/14/02; 10:38:18 AM

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