1. Overview

TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill(UNC)isacceptingapplicationsforonehybridUS-ChinaearlycareerresearcherpositionssupportedbyaD43traininggrantfromtheUSNationalInstitutesofHealth(NIH).Thispositionwillfocusonundertakingcuttingedgeresearchinthefieldofsexuallytransmittedinfections(STIs)inSouthChinaandincludeUS-basedtrainingactivitiesinordertopreparetheseindividualstobecomeindependentPIs.OutstandingapplicantswithaPhDinrelevantareasofexpertiseandwithresearchexperienceinepidemiology,biostatisticsand/ormodellingareencouragedtoapply.ResearchwillfocusonSTIs,butpriorresearchexperienceinSTIsisnotrequiredtoapply.Thefull-timepositionsprovideresearchtrainingandmentorshipopportunitiesfromanetworkofexperts.ApplicantsmustberesidentsofMainlandChina,HongKong,orTaiwan.TraineeswillreceiveaoneyearappointmentwithsalaryandbenefitspackageconsistentwithNIHstandardswithanoptiontoextendtoasecondyearcontingentonmeetingbenchmarks.

2. Uniquecomponentsof“seaturtle”researchtraining

OurUNCChinapositionsareuniquebecausetheynurturethenextgenerationof海龟“seaturtles”,includetraininginbothChinaandtheUnitedStates,andbenefitfromastrongsetofmulti-disciplinarymentorswhoarerecognizedauthoritiesintheirrespectivefields.HerewerefertoseaturtlesasbrightChinesestudentswhotrainabroadandthenreturnhometobecomejuniorfaculty.Wewillacceleratethetransformationfromearlycareerresearcherstoestablishedseaturtleswhoundertakeindependentresearch.EarlycareerresearcherswillparticipateinCentermeetingsandtrainingopportunities,workwithtrainingfacultyonexistingornewlydevelopedSTIresearchtrainingprojects,andreceivesupporttopublishmanuscriptsandwriteresearchgrants.EarlycareerresearcherswilldeveloparesearchplanoverthecourseofsixmonthsinChina,andthenhaveanopportunitytoundertakeresearchtrainingatUNC.OurprogramprovidesanopportunitytounderstandbothChineseandAmericangrantwriting,careerdevelopment,andprofessionaladvancement.Itisourstrongbeliefthatthenextgenerationofresearchleaderswillneedtohaveglobal,multi-disciplinarynetworksinordertobesuccessful.

3. Earlycareerresearchermentorshipteams

Strongmentorsarethebackboneofaneffectiveresearchtrainingexperience.OurNIHD43-supportedteamofmentorsincludesleadingauthoritieswithintheirrespectivefields.Forexample,Co-PIandmentorMyronCohenisco-leaderoftheUnitedStatesHIVPreventionTrialsNetwork(HPTN)andPIontheHPTN052studythatwasnamedbySciencemagazineasthesingle“breakthroughoftheyear”in2011.Moredetailsonmentorscanbefoundbelow.
TrainingFacultyMentors

4. UNC-SouthChinaSTIResearchTrainingCenter

OurearlycareerresearcherswillbenefitfromtherichtrainingenvironmentsinSouthChinaandattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHillaspartoftheUNC-SouthChinaSTIResearchTrainingCenter.TheTrainingCenterincludesonlinetrainingopportunitiesaswellasin-personshortcoursesandworkshops.OnlinetrainingopportunitiesareavailablethroughtheUNCGillingsSchoolofGlobalPublicHealth’sOfficeofGlobalHealth.OurTrainingCenterregularlyorganizesshort-termtrainingworkshopsonthefollowingtopics:1)grantwritingforChineseandNIHapplications;2)scientificmanuscriptwritingforsubmissiontohighimpactEnglishlanguagejournals;3)qualitativeresearchmethodologyforearlycareerinvestigators;4)infectiousdiseaseepidemicmodelingforearlycareerinvestigators;5)othertopicsbasedontraineeneeds.

5. DefiningSuccess

OurresearchtrainingprogramiscommittedtopreparingthenextgenerationofSTIresearchersinChina.Successislayingthefoundationformeaningfulsexualhealthresearchasmeasuredbyhighimpactpublicationswithtraineesasfirstauthors,majorgrantswithtraineesasPIorco-investigators,andfacultypositionsatleadinguniversities.

6. Howtoapply

EligibleChineseapplicantswillhavecompletedaPhDinepidemiologyormodellingwithinthepast10years.Overseasexperienceispreferred,butnotrequired.Minorityandwomenapplicantsareencouragedtoapply.InterestedapplicantsshouldsubmitEnglishversionsoftheirCV,coverletterexpressinginterestintheposition,andnamesofthreeprofessionalreferencestoYeZhangattheemailaddressbelow.ClosingdateisOctober1st2014andapplicantswillbeinterviewed.Startdateisnegotiable.InterviewswillbearrangedviaSkypeorinperson.

YeZhang
UNC-SouthChinaSTIResearchTrainingCenter
Email:cetacean.413@hotmail.com
Tel:(86)13763304075