LVJ Visiting Academic Scholarship

Vision

Throughout his long and distinguished career, Lyle V. Jones (LVJ) was deeply committed to supporting and enhancing the intellectual climate for both students and faculty in the Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory (the Lab). A key component involved hosting established scientists and researchers drawn from a range of academic and industry settings to visit for meaningful amounts of time to study, conduct research, and interact with members of the Lab. Given this commitment, Lyle desired that a portion of his bequest provide financial support to renew the long tradition of hosting external visitors to the Lab. This is the motivating purpose for the creation of the LVJ Visiting Academic Scholarship.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the LVJ Visiting Academic Scholarship is to provide financial support to help offset costs associated with established scholars visiting the Lab for a meaningful period of time. Details of the length-of-stay and associated financial support are flexible and in part depend on the availability of funds in any given year. In general, visits can range from a minimum of four weeks to a maximum of a nine-month academic year and financial support is proportional to the length of stay. The intention of the LVJ Scholarship is to benefit both the external visitor and the members of the Lab as the visitor becomes an active member of the intellectual community, pursues collaborative research endeavors, or engages in a variety of other types of interactions. The external visitor might be on sabbatical leave from a home institution or might simply be available for a period of time to work as part of the Thurstone Laboratory. Whatever the circumstances might be, there is a clear expectation that the visitor will in some way be an active part of the intellectual community of the Lab.

Award

A typical visitor will receive up to $2,000 per month of visit to help offset travel and living expenses, with the amount depending on both the level of anticipated expenses by the visitor and the availability of funds during the time of the visit. Funds are provided as a payment made directly to the visitor and are not linked to specific reimbursement of expenses and are not paid directly to a home institution to offset salary. In addition to the monthly financial award, the visiting scholar will be provided with a small but private office with telephone, computer, and internet access. The typical visitor will not be granted a formal University appointment but is simply a guest of the Lab.

Expectations

There are no specific requirements imposed on the visiting scholar beyond the expectation that the individual will be an active and contributing member of the intellectual community within the Lab. The form of this engagement will vary by individual and by length of stay; however, at a minimum, during their stay, visitors are expected to be present and working regularly in the physical space of the Lab, be available to meet with students and faculty, and attend and present at the weekly quantitative speaker series “Quant Forum”. Beyond this, engagement may take many forms. A few possibilities are to engage in collaborative research with faculty and students in the Lab, participate or provide guest lectures in relevant graduate seminars, or lead a weekly reading group or journal club on a particular topic of interest or expertise. These activities can often be structured to both support the visitor’s goals for sabbatical / leave as well as benefit the Lab.

Application

Because this program is explicitly designed for established scholars, it is required that applicants must be at least five years past reception of their doctoral degree. No specific requirements are imposed on the type or placement of position held. A visitor might work in a traditional academic faculty line, or hold a medical school appointment, or work in any of a variety of industry positions. The common element for any professional affiliation is that the individual be in some way actively involved in novel research, innovative methods development or advanced applications, teaching, or dissemination within the quantitative sciences, broadly defined.

The application process is online and consists of a brief statement (500 words maximum) summarizing current research interests and describing how the candidate might benefit from spending time in the Lab and how they might contribute to the existing intellectual community during the time of their visit. Candidates are asked to provide a specific plan of activities they would engage in within the Lab as part of their application. In planning for these activities, it may be useful to initiate discussions with Lab faculty or with the Lab Director (Dan Bauer) prior to applying (e.g., discussing a potential collaborative research project with the participating faculty or students). We also ask that you submit a PDF of your current curriculum vitae.

Submission due dates are March 1st (for consideration for the following fall semester) and August 1st (for consideration for the following spring semester). Decisions will be made in as timely a manner as possible, typically falling in less than two weeks. Note that applications will be considered after these due dates if funding remains available. Applications may also be considered earlier under special circumstances (e.g., to permit Visa processing for international visitors). Contact Dr. Dan Bauer (dbauer@email.unc.edu) with questions on the availability of funds.

Application Submission and Further Information

Applications can be submitted here. Contact Dr. Dan Bauer for further information.