First 2021 Software Fellowship Competition is Now Open!

The Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) is pleased to announce the latest Software Fellowship competition, which will focus on Seed Fellowships in the current round.  These prestigious six-month Fellowships recognize advanced graduate students and postdocs pursuing the development of software infrastructure, middleware, and frameworks that will benefit the broader field of computational molecular sciences, including biomolecular and macromolecular simulation, quantum chemistry, and materials science. Recipients will have the opportunity to work with scientists at the MolSSI in order to implement recommended best practices, putting the Fellow’s project on a firm foundation. Fellows will receive specialized training in state-of-the-art software design principles and tools, and they will engage in outreach and educational efforts organized by the MolSSI.  Each Fellow will be assigned a mentor among the Institute’s Software Scientists, who will oversee their software development efforts and training.  In addition, the 2021 Seed Fellows will spend a week at MolSSI HQ (typically in January) to interact with the Software Scientists during their “Software Best Practices Boot Camp” (health conditions permitting).

NOTE: While we are confident that we are serving the molecular sciences community as envisioned when the MolSSI launched more than four years ago, renewal of NSF support is not guaranteed. Thus, only Seed Fellowships will be offered at present.  If you agree that The MolSSI is playing a vital role in the community, we encourage you to reach out to the NSF and convey your support for the Institute!

Inquiries to: fellowships@molssi.org

The MolSSI Software Fellowships will include a number of benefits:

Graduate Student Fellowships:

  • A generous stipend of $20k total for the six-month Seed Fellowship, plus tuition and required fees
  • Travel allowances sufficient to fully cover visits to the MolSSI headquarters, as well as participation in MolSSI workshops or summer schools (COVID-19 permitting)
  • Access to MolSSI computational resources, possibly including NSF supercomputers, Virginia Tech Advanced Research Computing facilities, and advanced experimental hardware provided by the Institute’s industrial partners.

Postdoctoral Fellowships:

  • A generous stipend of $25k total for the six-month Seed Fellowship;
  • Travel allowances sufficient to fully cover visits to the MolSSI headquarters, as well as participation in MolSSI workshops or summer schools;
  • Access to MolSSI computational resources, possibly including NSF supercomputers, Virginia Tech Advanced Research Computing facilities, and advanced experimental hardware provided by the Institute’s industrial partners.

Note that MolSSI Fellowships are paid from NSF Participant Support funds. The only allowable expense categories are stipend, tuition and fees; F&A (indirect costs) and health insurance costs are not allowed.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria:

The MolSSI Software Fellowship program is presently limited to graduate students and postdoctoral associates at accredited U.S. academic institutions. Graduate student Fellows are expected to be enrolled full time at their home university, and postdocs must be fully employed or have an offer of full employment prior to acceptance of the award.   The MolSSI Software Fellowships are an equal opportunity program open to all qualified persons without regard to race, gender, religion, age, physical disability or national origin.  Awardees may accept other concurrent awards that do not require a significant time or service commitment.

MolSSI Software Fellows will be selected by the MolSSI Science and Software Advisory Board based on (1) the quality of the applicant’s software research proposal and its relevance to the Institute’s goals; (2) the applicant’s research productivity, including previous software-development efforts; (3) previous academic performance; and (4) external references.

Application Requirements:

A complete MolSSI Software Fellowship Application must include:

  • Project description (maximum of two pages, not including references);
  • Current curriculum vitae;
  • Undergraduate transcripts (graduate applicants only); graduate transcripts (all applicants);
  • Examples of previous software development products (e.g. links to source-code repositories or other code samples);
  • Two letters of support, one of which must come from the applicant’s current research adviser;

Please complete the application and upload the required documents HERE.
Letters of recommendation should be uploaded separately by your references HERE.

To receive full consideration for a Software Fellowship, all application materials (including letters of recommendation) must be submitted by October 1, 2020.

Additional Information:

  • Pass-through Entity (PTE): Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  • NSF award No. ACI – 1547580
  • Period of Performance
    • Seed Fellowships:
      • Start: 1 January 2021
      • End: 30 June 2021
    • Investment Fellowships:
      • Start: 1 January 2021
      • End: 30 June 2022
  • CFDA No: 47.070
  • CFDA Title: Computer and Information Science and Engineering
  • Subject to FFATA: No