General Information and Goals

Under a grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Science (NIH/NIGMS), the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Minorities Affairs Committee (MAC) is pleased to provide funding opportunities for faculty from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to participate in a variety of professional and student development activities with the ASCB MAC. Called the “ASCB MAC Linkage Fellows Program,” funding is provided for Fellows to support outreach and activities that promote cell biology at their home institutions.

The major goal of this program is to increase participation of faculty from MSIs to “serve as a link between the institution, its students, faculty and administration, and the ASCB MAC. The Linkage Fellows program is expected to be instrumental in the identification of applicants at the undergraduate and graduate level for MAC programs.

Selection Criteria

To be eligible for this award, prospective Fellows must be faculty from MSIs and must submit an application, as well as complete a 1000-word proposal on why the applicant wants to become an ASCB Linkage Fellow. The proposal should include professional goals, defined proposed activities that include a budget, and a statement that expresses the applicant’s desire to serve as a mentor to young minority scientists. Also, if you are reapplying, please submit a progress report of the previous year’s activities. 

Applications will be judged utilizing the following criteria:

• Evidence of commitment to achieve the program goals
• Value of proposed activities
• Outreach plan to other local MSIs

The program allows for one-year renewable terms. Applicants will be notified of selections in May 2010.

Financial Disbursement

Institutional checks for up to $10,000 are sent each summer in July or August. Fellows are allowed to use the funds as institutional PIs to meet the various goals of the grant.

Fellows must sign an agreement that stipulates they will do the following:

• Advertise and promote ASCB MAC programs on their campuses by developing and disseminating fliers and/or by hosting departmental brown bag or info sessions on how to create a poster/abstract or other topic of interest to students.
• Recruit and provide guidance to students and faculty on how to apply for other ASCB MAC programs (Visiting Professorship, Marine Biological Laboratory, Friday Harbor Laboratories, Cold Spring Harbor and MAC Travel Awards). 

Program Requirements and Awardee Responsibilities

Annual Linkage Fellows’ responsibilities include:

• Promoting cell biology education on the Linkage Fellow’s local campus and area campuses

• Attending the ASCB Annual Meeting in December and participating by: 

1. Bringing one or two student poster presenters to the ASCB Annual Meeting
2. Attending the MAC Mentoring Symposium, MAC Poster Session, MAC Poster Awards Lunch, and E.E. Just Lecture
3. Attending the Linkage Fellows meeting
4. Participating in an appropriate developmental workshop

• Completing an annual Linkage Fellows evaluation/report

Fellows will be invited and encouraged to attend the MAC Programs. MAC annually hosts a Junior Faculty and Postdoctoral Developmental Workshop on topics of importance to this group.

If you or your colleagues are interested in participating in this program, please complete a 1000-word proposal on why you want to become an ASCB Linkage Fellow, including your professional goals, defined proposed activities that include a detailed budget, and a statement that expresses your desire to serve as a mentor to young minority scientists. Also, if you are reapplying, please submit a progress report of the previous year’s activities.  The application should be sent electronically as a PDF or Word Document.

The deadline is March 31, 2010. If funding is available, applications may be considered after the deadline.

Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Senior Manager, Minorities Affairs, with questions.

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Note: The Linkage Fellows program reserves the right to make final awards based on the responsiveness of the applications to the program announcement, availability of funds, and NIH policies related to allowable costs.