Complete Details: ICDS Junior Researcher Collaborations

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Important Dates

  • April 21:  Distribute call for proposals
  • May 9:    Deadline for Stage 1 (ICDS Research Project/Opportunity) Proposals
  • May 19:  Selected ICDS Junior Researcher Opportunities made public
  • June 16: Deadline for Stage 2 (ICDS Junior Researcher) Proposals
  • June 30: Proposed PIs submit their evaluations to ICDS Hub/Area Directors
  • July 7:    ICDS Hub/Area Directors submit proposal reviews and their recommendations
  • July 15:  ICDS leadership begins negotiating details with Junior researchers and PIs
  • July 31:  ICDS announces results

Dates are subject to change.
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Stage 1:  ICDS Research Project/Opportunity Proposal Guidelines

When are proposals due?
Stage 1 proposals must be submitted via InfoReady by EOB May 9, 2025.

Who may submit research project proposals?
All Penn State faculty are eligible, including tenure-track and research faculty. Proposals from faculty who have not previously engaged with ICDS should include a plan for how the proposed research plan would help them engage with and benefit the ICDS mission in the short-term. Additionally, ICDS technical staff may propose an opportunity (e.g., contributing to the RISE team) via ICDS Leadership.  Graduate students or postdocs interested in suggesting an ICDS Research Project should contact a faculty member who could propose and oversee the project.
Faculty are encouraged to submit ~2 or more projects if they have distinct needs (e.g., they are looking for expertise in both spatial statistics and time-series analysis).
Faculty may submit a project proposal related to research of an existing student or postdoc as long as the project has a substantive inter or cross-disciplinary research component and is connected to the ICDS Mission.

What details must be included in the proposal?

  • Principal Investigator (PI) who would oversee the proposed project and reporting.
  • Any other senior or junior team members who would contribute to the project (e.g., a faculty member in another department who would provide expertise complementary to that of the PI).  Indicate which members are willing to serve as mentors for an ICDS Junior Researcher.
  • Departments and Units of PI and team members.
  • The ICDS Hub/Area (s) most relevant to the proposed project (to assist in organizing reviews).  Choose from: AI, Computational Sciences, Data Science, Digital Twins, and Quantum)
  • State if any ICDS-affiliated Centers are relevant to the proposed project (this will not be weighted in evaluation but is only to assist in the reviewing process)
  • The level of effort appropriate for the proposed project (e.g., 2 semesters at 25% RA).  An average of 25% of the ICDS Junior Researcher’s effort is recommended for contributions to another research project, ICDS service and/or engagement in ICDS activities.
  • Plan for funding tuition (for graduate students) or the remainder of the researcher’s salary (for postdocs or research faculty)
  • A brief (up to 1 page) description of the proposed project.  There should be sufficient detail that potential Junior Researchers can recognize if they would be interested in contributing to this project. They will be required to write a more detailed proposal describing how they would contribute to the project.
  • A list of specific areas of computational and/or data science expertise or skills that the current team is particularly interested in recruiting to support the project. This could be fairly general (e.g., applying machine learning to time series) or very specific (e.g., experience building, training and validating neural networks built using Flux.jl or JAX; experience parallelizing numerical C/C++ code using OpenMP; etc.)
  • Any other requirements or expectations of potential ICDS Junior Researchers (e.g., currently a post-comps graduate student in a related field; regular availability for group meetings Wednesdays 10-11am).
  • A list of specific objectives for work supported by this call (e.g., generating preliminary data to inform an upcoming decision or to support a grant proposal, submitting a scientific paper). Potential Junior Researchers will be encouraged to draw from any/all of these objectives for their proposal.
  • At least one medium to long-term goal (e.g., a successful proposal to a specific call).
  • A short statement (1 sentence to 1 paragraph) explaining the connection of the project to ICDS’s mission.
  • A paragraph summarizing team member’s recent and/or planned engagement with ICDS.

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Stage 2:  ICDS Junior Researcher Proposal Guidelines

When are proposals due?
Stage 2 proposals must be submitted via InfoReady by EOB June 16, 2025.

Who may apply?
Current Penn State graduate students, current or incoming Penn State postdocs and research faculty may apply.

What details must be included in the proposal?

  • Name, home department/unit(s)
  • Their selection of at least one and no more than three ICDS Junior Researcher Opportunities that they would like to contribute to. Ideally, an ICDS Junior Researcher would include one research Project related to their primary area of research (e.g., cross-disciplinary research that enhances and complements their dissertation) and a second Research Project/Opportunity that goes beyond what they would likely do in the absence of ICDS support (e.g., contribute their expertise in methodology to another research group, provide service to the ICDS community).
  • For graduate students: current status and timeline of degree requirements, and which semester(s) (or summer months) they are available to contribute to the proposed Opportunities.
  • For non-graduate student applicants: which months they are available to contribute to proposed Opportunities and any other constraints (e.g., need to devote 100% effort on current grant until the end of September 20xx, committed to perform fieldwork or offsite campus research during certain months, etc.).
  • Description on how they would contribute to each ICDS Research Project/Opportunity.  ICDS anticipates this would typically be 1-2 pages of text (per Project/Opportunity), not including figures, tables, references, etc.
  • A proposed primary point of contact for each ICDS Research Project/Opportunity (the point of contact might be the PI or another member of their lab).  Prospective Junior Researchers are encouraged to reach out to the PI and proposed point of contact while preparing their proposal, so as to ensure that they will be supportive.
  • Requested level and duration of support and effort (e.g., full time effort during Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, with 25% RA allocated for project #1, 20% RA allocated for project/opportunity #2, and 5% allocated for general ICDS engagement)  What pay grade is appropriate given the home department and career stage?
  • A description of any formal training or other experiences that make the applicant well-suited to contributing to each of the proposed ICDS Research Opportunities.
  • A description of the specific objectives that the Junior Researcher aims to accomplish for each research project/opportunity.
  • A brief CV or resume that can be shared with potential advisors.

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Examples of potential ICDS Junior Researcher Projects/Opportunities

  • Analyze data collected by Prof. ABC’s lab using machine learning methods that their lab does not yet have significant experience applying.
  • Evaluate the utility of applying numerical algorithms and software developed by Prof. DEF’s lab to multiple problems relevant to the research of Profs. GHI’s lab.
  • Refactor a code commonly used in Prof. JKL’s lab and parallelize it to run on GPUs with a goal of reducing wall-times by 100x.
  • Supporting the ICDS RISE team for 8 hours/week.
  • Organize a workshop that contributes to the ICDS Mission.

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Support and Funding for Junior Researchers

The typical support for graduate students will be the stipend for a graduate research assistantship at the pay grade typical for the student’s department and stage of progress towards the degree. Formally, this would be a 50% RA, where 50% effort (20 hours a week) is for tasks described in the proposal and the remainder of their time is available for the student to work on their dissertation and completing their degree. Of the 20 hours a week directly supported by ICDS, an ideal allocation of effort would be: (a) an average of 10 hours a week allocated to cross or interdisciplinary research that enhances their dissertation research and aligns with the ICDS mission; (b) an average of 8 hours a week should be allocated for research and/or service that contributes to the ICDS community (e.g., contributing their expertise and experience to support a research project in another lab, supporting the ICDS RISE team, assisting with the organization of an ICDS-supported workshop); and (c) an average of 2 hours a week for engagement in ICDS activities (e.g., seminars, lunches, ICDS symposium). Note that ICDS is not covering tuition. Supervisors are expected to arrange for paying any required tuition via grants, other PI-controlled funds, their department or their college (see below). Graduate students proposing to be supported by ICDS only during summer 2026 may propose to contribute to a single project and 2 hours per week of ICDS engagement during the summer. They are not expected to include contributing to a second research project or service to the ICDS community.

The typical level of support for postdoctoral researchers (or research faculty) will be 25%-50%. The intent is that postdoctoral researchers will be supported by grants or other faculty-controlled funds for the balance of their appointment. A typical ICDS-supported postdoctoral researcher proposal would include: (a) an average of 8 hours a week should be for research and/or service that contributes to the ICDS community (e.g., contributing their expertise and experience to support a research project in another lab, supporting the ICDS RISE team, assisting with the organization of an ICDS-supported workshop); and (b) an average of 2 hours a week for engagement in ICDS activities (e.g., ICDS seminars, ICDS lunches, ICDS symposium). ICDS-supported postdocs requesting support at more than 25% effort are expected to propose cross or interdisciplinary research projects that would enhance their own research agenda and contribute to the ICDS mission.

Will ICDS pay tuition for ICDS Junior Researchers funded by this call?
Unfortunately, that is not practical at this time. Policies and procedures for departments and colleges funding tuition is likely to differ across units. Therefore, faculty PIs submitting a research project proposal should to make plans to fund tuition for any graduate students to be supported via either faculty-controlled funds, their department or their college. If you and your unit are unable to cover tuition, then you may need to limit your proposal to: (a) 8 hours a week (so students have time to contribute to another project that does provide tuition support); (b) effort from graduate students over the summer; and/or (c) non-student researchers.

Can Junior Researchers request support during summer 2026?
Yes. ICDS could provide support just during the summer or in combination with support during the academic year. This may be a valuable option for any research groups that can not cover tuition during the academic year. For Junior researchers requesting support only during the summer, it would be appropriate for them to focus on a single researcher project.

Can Junior Researchers request support during summer 2025?
No. Graduate student support will begin with the Fall 2025 semester. Postdocs and junior faculty may request support to start as early as August 1, 2025.

What pay grade will graduate students be paid at?
Graduate students will be paid at the same grade as they would be based on their home department and career stage. Junior Researcher proposals should specify the intended pay grade.

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Effort Percentage Expectations

Is 25% effort enough to make meaningful progress on a project?

A typical case would be a graduate spending 50% on their time on research towards their dissertation (and completing any other tasks necessary to make satisfactory progress towards their degree), 25% on cross disciplinary research that enhances their dissertation, and 25% to research or service that is not obviously relevant to their dissertation.  If the graduate student chooses 25% is service to ICDS (e.g., contributing to RISE), then it’s similar to them funding their PhD via a teaching assistantship, but instead they are gaining experience in cross disciplinary research and supporting computational research.  If the graduate student is selected to contribute to a second research project, then it is up to the PI and graduate student to develop a plan for how they can have a meaningful impact within the time available.  E.g., they might be paired with other members of the research group who already have experience collecting and cleaning data, but would benefit from expertise in applying advanced AI/ML models to interpret the data.

For postdocs and research faculty, ICDS anticipates that they will already have substantial funding from a grant (or other PI-controlled fund).  ICDS recommends that their primary ICDS-supported research project be designed to complement their grant-funded research, so that it enhances their research, rather than distracts them.

Is there flexibility in the percentage of effort requested?

For graduate students, each semester there should be either 0%, 25% or 50% RA with corresponding level of effort.

For postdocs and research faculty, the percentage of ICDS-funded effort may vary from month-to-month if that would allow for better leveraging and enhancing external grants.  Applications should specify any such constraints, so projects and junior researchers can be matched appropriately.

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Expectations of ICDS Junior Researchers

  • ICDS is working to build a community of researchers and will organize some events (e.g., ICDS talk series, ICDS Symposium).  ICDS Junior Researchers will be expected to engage in these events on a regular basis while they are supported by ICDS.  These activities will count as ICDS Service.
  • ICDS Junior Researchers should plan to engage with each of their Research Opportunities primarily in-person unless otherwise agreed upon.
  • Junior researchers are responsible for contributing the agreed upon level of effort each week.  With some advance planning and approval of projects’ PIs , it is usually possible to shift effort from one week to the next (e.g., so they can attend a conference).  In these cases, researchers will be expected to put in the agreed upon level of effort each month.
  • Submit a short mid-semester progress report.
  • Submit a short written report (~1 page) describing progress towards the proposed objectives and goals for each project/opportunity within two weeks of the end of their ICDS-supported appointment.  These reports may be shared with the ICDS community and/or made publicly available.

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Expectations of PI and team sponsoring an ICDS Junior Researcher

  • Direct mentoring and/or ensuring that other members of the project opportunity proposal team provide regular and appropriate mentoring.
  • Substantive engagement in interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary research
  • Ensure that their units cover graduate students’ tuition or that non-graduate student junior researchers are fully funded.
  • Complete mid-semester feedback survey on advisee’s progress.
  • Complete requested post-award Reporting
  • Engagement in ICDS activities averaging ~1 hours per month

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Review Process and Rubric

Review Process

  1. ICDS Research Project/Opportunity Proposals will be reviewed for alignment with this call and the ICDS Mission, plan to ensure complete funding, and appropriateness of expectations, effort and objectives.  ICDS anticipates most proposed Projects/Opportunities will be advertised.
  2. For ICDS Junior Researcher proposals, ICDS will request an evaluation from the proposed PI or primary point of contact.  In parallel, proposals will be evaluated by an ICDS Hub/Area or ICDS-affiliated Center (either leadership or their designee).
  3. ICDS Center and Hub/Area Directors will forward all proposals that they recommended for funding to ICDS leadership.  ICDS leadership will weigh these recommendations along with considering programmatic balance, needs of ICDS, and funding availability when making selections.

Criteria for Evaluating ICDS Research Opportunity Proposals

  • Alignment of project with this call and the ICDS Mission
  • Realistic expectations of potential ICDS Junior Researchers
  • Realistic match between proposed effort and objectives
  • PI/Team’s plan to ensure complete funding of Junior research (e.g., tuition for graduate students during academic year, remainder of effort for postdocs or research faculty)

Criteria for Evaluating ICDS Junior Researcher Proposals

  • Academic preparation and track record of Junior Researcher.
  • Relevance and extent of Junior Researcher’s expertise and experience with Computational & Data Sciences techniques particularly relevant to the selected Opportunities.
  • Anticipated benefits of proposed research to the primary Research Project/Opportunity.
  • Anticipated benefits of proposed research to additional Research Projects/Opportunities.
  • Anticipated benefits of proposed activities to ICDS and/or other members of the ICDS community.
  • Realism of objectives, given the level of effort for each project/opportunity and timeline.
  • Substantiveness of interdisciplinary and/or cross-disciplinary collaborations proposed.
  • Level of team’s engagement with ICDS.

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