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Eligible postdoctoral applicants must meet the following requirements:

• This fellowship is available without regard to the applicant’s U.S. citizenship status (i.e., Visa holders, Permanent Residents, and U.S. citizens are welcome to apply).
• Must reside in Texas, USA, at the start of the fellowship.
• Must have a Ph.D. or other equivalent doctoral degree by the start of the fellowship. Graduating doctoral students must provide a letter stating the date of conferral and upload a copy of the letter with the application. The conferral date must be before the start of the postdoctoral fellowship. 
• Must have a doctoral degree in public and population sciences, including health promotion/health education, behavioral or social science, epidemiology, biostatistics, economics, health services research/health policy, communication, or other related areas of study.  
• Must express a commitment to a career as a cancer and obesity researcher in their personal statement and throughout the application.

• Postdoctoral fellows receive stipends starting at $56,484 per year as per the NIH Kirchstein-NRSA stipend postdoctoral levels based on postgraduate years of experience.
• Stipends are subject to required federal taxes.
• Postdoc positions are full-time, 40 hours per week, and paid monthly per MD Anderson payroll. 
• Stipends include benefits (e.g., health insurance, paid institutional holidays, and sick leave).
• This postdoctoral fellowship award includes additional funding support for supplies, books, software, professional development, and travel to present research at conferences.
• No funds are available for relocation/housing subsidies.
• The length of fellowship appointments are up to three (3) years, renewed annually pending successful progress towards research and training goals.
• All postdoctoral fellows are appointed as on-campus/hybrid and will be required to check-in with the Office of Research Trainee Progams (RTP) in-person on the first day of employment. The fellow will also be required to return to MD Anderson campus to pick up a leased MD Anderson laptop, complete an offsite agreement, and return the laptop at the conclusion of the fellowship.  

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Use the link in the box located at the top of this web page to start an application in the Slate system. The application process consists of four parts: 1) Student Inquiry Form, 2) Slate account creation, 3) Slate application., and 4) Unofficial transcript emailed to the review committee.

2. Application Disclosures. After clicking the application link at the top of this web page to begin your application, scroll to the top of the page to read the following three (3) sections before completing the Inquiry Form: 1) Please Read Before You Apply, 2) Additional Documents Required If Selected As A Final Candidate, and 3) Onboarding Contingencies That Require Early Action. 

NOTE: The Additional Documents Required If Selected... section includes a statement regarding 'Immigration Documents'. This statement is included in the Slate system for all fellowships at MD Anderson however, this NCI U54 Acres Homes Fellowship is open to U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents only. We regret Visa holders are not eligible to apply. 

3. Complete the Inquiry Form and upload the required documents:

3.1 Personal Information (e.g., name, demographics, personal email). 

3.2 List the names and emails addresses of two individuals who will provide you with professional recommendations (i.e., letters of recommendation). Please inform the referees in advance that they will be invited to upload their letters directly into the application portal in step 5 below.   

3.3 Upload Resume/CV.

3.4 Provide your ORCID ID and eRA Commons ID. Register for an ORCID ID.

3.5 Provide a Statement of Research Experience and Interest (i.e., personal statement). It is recommended that you draft this statement in Word or another word processing software, using the Word count feature to ensure that you do not exceed the 700-word limit. You can then copy and paste the text into the form field.  Please address the following three (3) areas within your statement of interest:

1) Your research interests, experience, and future goals in cancer and obesity research.

2) Your reasons for seeking research training from this program. Please include any life experiences or motivating factors related to your career interest.

3) How the fellowship will contribute to your future career plans in cancer and obesity research.

3.8 Please provide at least one and up to five of the most relevant and impactful manuscripts that have already been published. For each publication, you will be required to enter: 1) authorship position, 2) publication type, 3) journal name, 4) publication title, 5) publication date, and 6) upload a pdf version of the publication. At least one publication is required to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship position.

3.9 Double-check all aforementioned items before clicking the SUBMIT button. The Slate system will not accept revised documents. 

4. Create your Slate Account. After clicking the SUBMIT button, you will receive an email from MD Anderson Education & Training (trainee@mdanderson.org), subject line: "Complete your Trainee Position Inquiry Request". Follow the instructions and click the hyperlink in the email to create a Slate account and request your letters of recommendation.

5. Complete the Application:

5.1 Read the Application Instructions in the Slate system. 

5.2 Two (2) Letters of Recommendation:  In the Recommendations screen, enter the contact information for both individuals who will write your letters of recommendation. Ideally, recommenders should be professors or faculty mentors who know you well. Candidates are encouraged to work with references to ensure that letters are: 1) on institutional letterhead, 2) signed, and 3) recently dated. Note: Please ignore any text in the SLATE system specifying that MD Anderson faculty cannot write letters of recommendation---this is false and hopefully will be corrected soon. After the applicant enters the recommender's information in the Slate system, the recommender will receive an email notification from trainee@mdanderson.org, subject line "Recommendation Request from YOUR NAME for MD Anderson Cancer Center" and a link to upload the letter of recommendation to your account. You will receive an email when the letter has been successfully uploaded. 

5.3 Complete any additional forms (e.g., Additional Demographics and Future Plans, Academic Awards and Honors).

6. Email your last unofficial transcript of the qualifying degree to the NCI U54 Acres Homes Review Committee at Apply@CancerPreventionTraining.org. This step is in addition to the upload of the proof of the qualifying degree in step 3.5 (above). Please add your first and last name in the subject line.

3.5 Upload a copy of the Diploma of the doctoral degree (certified translation if not in English). 3.6 (For graduating doctoral students) Provide proof of enrollment in a doctoral degree program AND a letter of recommendation from the doctoral committee chairperson/advisor stating the anticipated date of degree completion and confirming that the student is currently in good standing in the doctoral program and at the university. Proof of enrollment and committee chairperson letters are ONLY REQUIRED for applications from individuals who have not yet completed their doctoral degrees at the time of application submission.

Note: There is no submit button in the "Complete the Application" stage. To check the status of your application, log on to your Slate account and select 'Status' from the menu. Your application is complete when all sections are complete and both letters of recommendation have been uploaded to your account. 

Candidates invited for the second phase of applicant review will be contacted to provide short responses to a series of questions and a list of preferred potential mentors selected from a list of Acres Homes mentors comprised of faculty from multiple universities participating in the Acres Homes Cancer Prevention Collaboration.