Postdoctoral Competition FAQ

Applications are typically due on September 9 each year.

See the 2024 Rose Fellow job posting for full details.

Applications must be submitted through the Academic Jobs Online portal

See the 2024 Rose Fellow job posting for full details.

Applicants must have received their Ph.D. before beginning their postdoctoral appointment at Cornell but may apply during the final year of their Ph.D. program. Interested applicants should apply via the annual posting on Academic Jobs Online by submitting a CV; cover letter or letter of interest that incorporates a personal statement; two-page research statement; and a statement supporting diverse communities (this can be a stand-alone document (preferred) or the information can be embedded in other parts of the application materials) outlining how, through research, teaching, service, mentoring, extension, and/or outreach, the candidate has and will contribute to support Cornell’s historical mission of “any person … any study.” Applicants should also provide contact information for 3 references; we solicit letters only on short-listed candidates at a later stage, so please do not have letters sent at the time of initial application.

Applicants are encouraged to treat their cover letter much like a personal statement, explaining in several pages a bit about their professional background, why they are interested in joining the Cornell Lab community, how they see themselves contributing, and where they hope this experience takes them professionally.

Applicants are encouraged to use their research statement primarily to outline their forward-looking proposed plans for scholarly work as a Cornell Rose Postdoc, not primarily as a summary of their dissertation work or other past accomplishments and skills. The research statement is limited to two pages, and it is permissible to put cited references on a third page. Research statements extending substantially beyond this limit will be penalized by our review criteria.

For background and suggestions on preparing a statement of contribution to diversity, equity, and inclusion, please see the Cornell University statement supporting diverse communities.

The selection committee is chaired by Dr. Irby Lovette, Fuller Professor of Ornithology. We look at all application packages. Please use these instructions as a guide, but at the same time, please do not be overly concerned about things like margin or font size. If your formatting approach seems reasonable and appropriate to you, it likely will to us too.

We ask that applicants provide contact information for three people who can potentially write letters of recommendation. Those individuals should not send a letter at the time of initial application, as we reach out to those contacts to ask for letters only on the later set of finalists. We let the finalists know in advance so that they can inform their recommenders that this request will be forthcoming. In general we ask that applicants not use as recommenders members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology faculty or staff.

Any appropriate Lab staff member or Cornell faculty can sponsor or cosponsor a postdoc as part of our Lab-wide competitive program. The Lab’s scholarly community includes a broad and collegial mix of Cornell faculty, Lab program directors, scientific staff, and other accomplished experts.

Yes. In fact, dual sponsorships by a Lab-based mentor and a campus-based mentor may foster useful connections among Cornell’s many areas of intellectual leadership. A caveat is that the postdoc’s project and activities need to have a close and fundamental connection to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Rose Fellow needs to be based primarily at the Lab of Ornithology.

You should network with colleagues and professional contacts, browse our websites, and think about whether there are Cornell people whose work is relevant to your own areas of interest. See a list of Cornell Lab faculty researchers.

This is recommended but not required. Each individual sponsor has their own personal style of engagement; some people like to correspond extensively with potential applicants in advance, whereas others prefer to review a range of applications after they are formally submitted.

Yes. Fieldwork is an important component of the research programs of many Lab postdocs. At the same time, balance is important: we consider the postdoctoral scholars supported through this program to be a very important part of our Lab community, and that internal engagement is harder to accomplish if the person is away from the Lab for the great majority of their time as a postdoc.

At present these Rose Fellow appointments are intended for individuals who will work primarily on-site at the Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, not including any necessary fieldwork periods spent elsewhere.

We strive to make final offers of these postdoctoral positions by December of each year, after several rounds of review and online interviews of a cohort of finalists. At each step in this process, we notify all applicants of their status, including those who are not progressing into the later review rounds.

We typically receive about 50-70 complete applications for 2–4 available positions.

The most common start date for a postdoc selected in the late fall of Year 1 is in August or September of Year 2, but we usually have great flexibility in tailoring start dates in consultation with the awardee.

Candidates in their final Ph.D. year are very welcome to apply. However, by Cornell University rules you must have formally completed all requirements for your Ph.D. before actually starting here in any postdoctoral position. We understand that in some cases it may then take substantial time for some Universities to formally award a Ph.D. diploma, and in those circumstances, we would work with you to obtain alternative documentation of your Ph.D. completion, pending your actual degree diploma.

 Yes. We welcome repeat applications from strong candidates, and this has been a successful strategy in the past. We recommend consulting with your intended Lab sponsor for their advice.