SLOAN INDUSTRY CENTER FELLOWSHIPS
The Sloan Industry Centers Fellowships will enable academic scholars to study at a Sloan Industry Center. The Centers are located at leading universities in the United States, each devoted to a particular industry. A current list of Centers is attached to this announcement. They are also to be found on the Internet at www.sloan.org
The Sloan Foundation's support of these Centers began in 1990. The Foundation's objective is to create an academic community that understands industries. The Foundation has encouraged a direct approach to the companies and people of each industry for data and observations. The Foundation believes that observation-based work by well-informed academics will, in the long run, lead to practical contributions to the industries studied and enhance scholarship and teaching. An important part of the Industry Centers program has been the education of young scholars in the issues most important to industries. Each of the Centers has an active graduate program. In total, the Centers produced over 250 Ph.D.s in the last decade. Many of these have continued the study of their industries at their new academic locations.
Center research programs involve a number of academic disciplines as might be expected from the variety of issues that confront industries. For example, in both the automobile center at MIT and semiconductor center at Berkeley, engineers, economists, and business school management faculty have collaborated on benchmarking studies that produced detailed comparative measurements of productivity for manufacturing companies in these industries. In the steel industry center at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, labor economists have quantitatively measured gains in output obtained by systematically using high performance workplace techniques in steel finishing mills. New information on truck drivers’ training and their utilization, trucking safety and wage scales has been obtained from a truck-stop driver survey at the University of Michigan. In the apparel and textile industry center at Harvard, the entire flow from fibers in the field or chemical plant to clothing in department store show rooms, has been analyzed by a team of economists, engineers and operations researchers who have shown that the most efficient, customer satisfying management is now driven by lean retailers who require continuous inventory replenishment. Many other studies, each unique to its industry have been completed.
PARTICIPATION
The Fellowship program is intended to extend participation in the Centers to academics who are not now at one of the Centers. It will enable new Ph.D.s to take up post-doctoral positions. It will also enable faculty at other career levels to have visiting appointments for up to one year at one of the Centers. This includes those who hold a pre-tenure faculty position and post-tenure faculty seeking sabbatical or other visiting appointments.
NOMINATIONS
Nominations of individuals for fellowship awards are made by the Centers to the Sloan Foundation. The Centers may seek out potential candidates at any of the levels described above. In turn, interested new Ph.D.s or faculty members who would like to work at an Industry Center may directly approach the Center through the Center director's office. It is expected that nominations will not include people presently at one of the Centers. Names and addresses of Center directors are below.
Nominations will describe the candidates' education and research experience. Candidates should present resumes to the Center for inclusion in the nomination. Descriptions of work accomplished in one or another of the disciplines relevant to the Center should be provided. Other evidence of research proficiency and activity should be included. In addition the Center will provide a description of programs in which the visiting Fellow may participate. This should show how the presence of the Fellow will enhance the Center's work in these topics. Each Center is allowed one nomination in each year. The completed nomination should be of reasonable length. No more than two representative publications should be appended.
DURATION
The Fellowship is generally intended for one calendar year. In the case in which the Fellow has just received a Ph.D. and has been appointed to a post-doctoral position, the Foundation will favorably consider renewal for a second year.
STIPEND, NUMBER
Each fellowship will have a stipend of $50,000. In addition, the Center to which the Fellowship is awarded will receive a $7,500 grant to be used in providing benefits to the Fellow, related research funding or other appropriate expenses at the discretion of the Center director. If the nominated fellow requires additional funding beyond the stipend, the Center should explain the funding plan. Centers may choose to solicit additional funding for this program from the companies of their industry or other sources.
Up to five fellowships will be awarded each year.
SCHEDULE
Nominations from the Centers for their Fellowship candidates should be received by the Sloan Foundation by October 1 of each year. Candidates who wish to contact Centers should do so by late spring or early summer. The Foundation will announce awards by December 1 of that year.
SELECTION
The selection committee will consist of prominent members of the academic community, not currently associated with one of the Centers, who work in those disciplines appropriate to Industry Center studies. In addition, to assure that Center goals and experiences are incorporated, some Center directors will also serve on the committee.
Further questions on the overall program should be addressed to
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Dr. Gail M. Pesyna |
