• Letters are required to be uploaded to the secure online application system. Only references and UCB faculty hosts entered by the applicant in their online application can receive the system-generated reference email containing further instructions for registering and uploading to the secure online application system.
• The applicants are advised to inform their references and potential hosts to expect an email from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and to check spam filters/boxes if necessary. It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify the accuracy of the email addresses of their references and ability to complete and upload their letter by the October 10, 2024 deadline.
• If you find that you wish to revise your letter, you may upload a new PDF which will overwrite the one uploaded previously. The deadline for final submission of reference letters is October 10, 2024, 11:59pm (-7 GMT). To create a fair application process for all, late materials are not accepted.
• An automatic email notification will be sent to the reference or UCB faculty host and to the candidate after a PDF letter has been successfully uploaded to their online application file.(The candidate will not be able to see letters, it is a notification of upload only.) Email confirmations may take up to 24 hours during busy periods. Expect an auto-email from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and check your spam filter/folder, if necessary. Letters are not accepted outside of the secure online system or after deadline.
• The application requires three References (other than the nominator) and a UCB Faculty Host. The Nominator should not be inputted as a reference in the application. The nomination letter is automatically included in the application file when completed and submitted in the system.
• After References and UCB Faculty Hosts have successfully registered in the online application system, they may thereafter go directly to the Miller Fellowship login page for Returning Users found in the reference email or on the Miller Institute website at the Fellowship tab. (Past registration from previous years is not saved in the system. References and Faculty Hosts must register each year.)
• For your convenience, the candidate’s name and pdf upload box will be listed for each applicant who has inputted you as a Reference or a potential UC Berkeley Faculty Host.
• In addition to 3 references, applicants are required to choose a potential UC Berkeley Faculty Host(s) in each department listed in the application and request their support letter confirming their willingness and ability to host a Miller Institute Fellow should they be awarded. (*See additional UCB Faculty Host information below.)
• The Miller Institute is the Sponsor and the Administrative Home Department for each Miller Fellow Postdoc who is hosted and mentored by a UC Berkeley academic Faculty Host in the facilities provided by the Host and Berkeley department(s).
• UC Berkeley academic Faculty who are also the nominator of the applicant and agree to be their Faculty Host, should they be awarded, must still register in the online application system to upload their supplementary Faculty Host support letter containing additional information and answers to specific host/mentor questions requested by the Miller Institute Executive Committee. The four host/mentor questions are found in the online application system on the Reference/UCB Faculty Host upload page. Your original nomination letter will also be automatically added to the applicant’s online file when they complete and submit their application. (*See additional UCB Faculty Host information below.)

*Special Note to UC Berkeley Faculty Hosts:

Applicants are required to include a potential UC Berkeley Faculty Host(s) in their department(s) as a part of the application process. Only professors who have an active full- time appointment in a Berkeley academic campus department(s) are eligible for this role. (Emeritus, adjunct professors are not eligible.)

• The support-reference letter from the UCB Faculty Host is requested by the Selection Committee to solicit additional information and answers to their questions about potentially hosting and mentoring Miller Fellows.
• UC Berkeley academic Faculty who are the nominator of the applicant and also agree to be their Faculty Host, should they be awarded, must still register in the online application system as a reference and upload their supplementary Faculty Host support letter containing additional information and answers to specific host/mentor questions requested by the MIller Institute Executive Committee. (The four host/mentor questions are found in the online application system on the Reference/UCB Host Faculty upload page.) Your original nomination letter will also be automatically added to the applicant’s online file when they complete and submit their application.
• It is the choice of each UC Berkeley Faculty as to how many applicants they agree to be potential hosts for. Approximately ten to twelve Fellowships are awarded each year from about 200 applications.
• Application files are also usually reviewed by the potential UCB academic host department chairs.

Go to: https://miller.berkeley.edu/fellowship for more information about the Miller Institute Postdoc Research Fellowship on our website. On the "Fellowship" web page, choose "Members" in menu on left to view current (and past) Miller Institute Postdoc awardees.

Please note:

• An applicant cannot hold a paid/unpaid appointment at UC Berkeley at the time of nomination or throughout the competition and award cycle (generally from mid-May and can continue into following March). A campus appointment begun before award notification could nullify the award.
• Candidates, UCB Faculty Hosts, Department Chairs and Nominators will be notified by email of results between mid-December and end of February.

The Miller Institute expects the UCB Host Professor and Department to help Miller Fellows in the following ways:

• Host Faculty agrees to be available to the Fellow, and to discuss research progress with them. Although Miller Fellows are granted more independence than other postdocs, they do benefit from your guidance and your role as a mentor.
• Host Faculty agrees to support the general research related expenses of the Fellow.
• Host Faculty & Department personnel shall anticipate the arrival of the Miller Fellow and have space and other facilities available, including animal care if appropriate.
• Host shall introduce the Miller Fellow within the department to faculty, postdocs, students and administrative staff. Host shall provide necessary instructions for interactions with administrative persons who will handle business needs for the Fellow. (e.g., receipt of mail, photocopying, setting up computers, workstations and accounts, etc.)
• Host Faculty and Department shall include the Miller Fellow in any departmental orientations or welcome events for other postdocs so that they can feel a part of the departmental community.
• Host Faculty shall encourage the Fellow’s participation in their group meetings and events and encourage their participation in Miller Institute activities and events, including weekly luncheons every Tuesday.
• Host Faculty will provide feedback to the Miller Institute about the Fellow and will discuss their feedback with the Fellow annually as part of the Fellow’s review process. Host Faculty are also encouraged to communicate with the Fellow and the Miller Institute if issues or concerns arise at any time.
• Host Faculty should ensure that the Miller Fellow is included on departmental rosters, picture boards for postdocs, and emergency procedure lists. As part of emergency & business resumption plans, be sure to include Miller Fellows in local department plans.
• Host Faculty are required to inform the Miller Institute of the physical work location of the Fellow. Should the Fellow need an accommodation for their workspace, the Host Faculty agrees to work with campus, the Institute and the Fellow on an appropriate accommodation.
• Host must ensure that the Miller Fellow receives appropriate and required safety training.
• If a sabbatical or other obligation is planned that may impact the ability to host the Fellow, Host shall discuss this with the Miller Fellow in advance and suggest an appropriate alternate Host during absence. Host will also communicate this to the Miller Institute in advance.

The Miller Institute will email the Host Professor to request a chartstring, the email address and name of the dept.’s financial admin contact for the $1,000 per year departmental administrative support funds provided by us. These funds are to cover indirect costs and may include computing costs, photocopying and mail charges, etc.

 

The Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science is pleased to host the Kathryn A. Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. This award, established in 2019, was started through a major pledge to the Institute by Professor Randy Schekman (Miller Senior Fellow 2008-2013) and Professor Sabeeha Merchant in honor of retired Chief Administrative Officer Kathy Day's dedicated service to the Institute over her 30 year career.

This award is intended to support an outstanding early career scientist through a 3-year Miller Fellowship. Eligible recipients are considered annually and are selected through the established Miller Fellowship program competition. Priority consideration will be granted to candidates who have demonstrated efforts towards community building and outreach in support of science. The Institute intends to make a new award each year. The first Kathryn A. Day award was made in 2022 to neuroscientist Raul Ramos (Miller Fellow 2022-2025).

Kathy Day began her University of California career at UC Santa Barbara where she simultaneously obtained her Master’s Degree in Education. Following her 5 years in Southern California, she moved to the Bay Area with her family and was hired by Professor Fred Wilt to be the administrative head of the Miller Institute. Over the three decades of her service to the University and the Institute, she helped foster the overall growth of the program. Miller Fellowships expanded from 2 to 3 year terms, the Miller Senior Fellowship Program began, and the Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium was created. Kathy was dedicated to building a sense of community, particularly among the Miller Fellows. Picnics, hikes, field trips and social gatherings were key to developing these long-lasting relationships.

Randy Schekman, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2013, was appointed the first Miller Senior Fellow in 2008. He has long been associated with the Miller Institute as a host to both Miller Fellows and Visiting Miller Professors.

Professor Sabeeha Merchant, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and Plant and Microbial Biology, was a Miller Institute invited speaker at the 2019 annual symposium.

Through their generosity, this new fellowship program has been established to continue their desire to support scientific research at the highest levels.

Nominations for the Kathryn A. Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship award will be accepted during the Fall competition cycle for awards in the following Academic Year. Complete instructions will be made available on the Miller Institute website at: https://miller.berkeley.edu/fellowship.

2024-2027

Name	Undergraduate Institution	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
* Mark Carrington	Stanford University	University of Cambridge	Chemistry	F. Dean Toste
Mohammad Farhat	American University of Beirut, Lebanon	Sorbonne University - Paris Observatory	Astronomy, EPS	Eugene Chiang, Bruce Buffett
Katherine Fraser	Harvard University	Harvard University	Physics	Benjamin Safdi
Matthew Kustra	University of Virginia	UCSC	IB	Christopher Martin
Kate Reidy	Trinity College Dublin, Ireland	MIT	MSE, Physics	Andrew Minor, Michael Crommie
Ryan Unger	University of Tennessee	Princeton University	Mathematics	Sung-Jin Oh
Nguyen Thuy Duong (June) Vuong	MIT	Stanford University	EECS	Alistair Sinclair
Ian Waudby-Smith	University of Waterloo, Canada	Carnegie Mellon	Statistics	Michael Jordan
Jonathan Wolf	Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU), Germany	Yale University	EPS	Weiqiang Zhu, Barbara Romanowicz
Sarah Zeichner	University of Chicago	Caltech	PMB	Patrick Shih

* Kathryn A. Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellow

 

2023-2026

Name	Undergraduate Institution	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Olatubosun Fasipe	Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria	University of Benin, Nigeria	CEE	Evan Variano
Augusto Ghiotto	Columbia University	Columbia University	Physics	James Analytis
Ioannis Kipouros	Middlebury College	Stanford University	Chemistry	Michelle Chang
Ethan Lake	University of Utah	MIT	Physics	Ehud Altman, Mike Zaletel
* Calvin Leung	Harvey Mudd College	MIT	Astronomy/Physics	Aaron Parsons, Wenbin Lu, Liang Dai
** Molly McFadden	Indiana University, Bloomington	Caltech	Chemistry	John Hartwig
Rohil Prasad	Harvard University	Princeton University	Mathematics	Michael Hutchings
James Santangelo	University of Toronto	University of Toronto	IB	Rasmus Nielsen
Ewin Tang	University of Texas, Austin	University of Washington	EECS	Umesh Vazirani
Yuhan Yao	Peking University, China	Caltech	Astronomy	Wenbin Lu, Raffaella Margutti
Xueyue (Sherry) Zhang	Tsinghua University,China	Caltech	EECS/Physics	Alp Sipahigil

** Kathryn A. Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellow
* 2024-2027 Cohort

 

2022-2025

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Lijie Chen  Kelian Dascher-Cousineau Boryana Hadzhiysk  Raul Ramos  Chadi Saad-Roy  Carly Schissel Georgios Varnavides Mengshan Ye Elena Zavala Lingfu Zhang	MIT UCSC Harvard University Brandeis University Princeton University MIT MIT MIT University of Leipzig Princeton University	EECS  EPS Physics MCB IB Chemistry MSE / Physics Chemistry MCB Statistics	Avishay Tal  Roland Burgmann  Martin White  Ellen Lumpkin, Diana Bautista  Michael Boots  Alanna Schepartz  Mary Scott, Joel Moore Jeffrey R. Long Priya Moorjani Shirshendu Ganguly

 

2021-2024

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Iwnetim Abate  Anna Barth Michael Celentano  Dimitrios Fraggedakis  Shashank Gandhi  Aaron Joiner Andrew Rosen Ellen Vitercik Yao Yang Yi Zhang	Stanford Columbia Stanford MIT Caltech Cornell Northwestern Carnegie Mellon Cornell Princeton	MSE / Chemistry  EPS Statistics CBE MCB MCB MSE / Chemistry EECS Chemistry EPS	Kwabena Bediako, Mark Asta, Alessandra Lanzara  Michael Manga  Martin Wainwright  Bryan McCloskey, Kranthi K. Mandadapu  Richard Harland, Megan Martik  James Hurley  Kristin Persson, Omar Yaghi Jennifer Chayes, Michael Jordan Peidong Yang William Boos

 

2020-2023

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Adair Borges Grayson Chadwick Emily Davis Anna Ho Michael Kim Antoine Koehl Vayu Maini Rekdal Nayeli Rodriguez Briones Veronika Sunko Guo (Alfred) Zong	UCSF Caltech Stanford Caltech Stanford Stanford Harvard U. of Waterloo U. of St Andrews MIT	ESPM/MCB/BIOENG MCB Physics Astronomy EECS Statistics BIOENG/IB/PMB Chemistry Physics Chemistry	Jillian Banfield, Dave Savage, Adam Arkin Dipti Nayak Norman Yao Eliot Quataert, Daniel Kasen Shafi Goldwasser Yun Song Jay Keasling, Britt Koskella, Michi Taga & Matt Traxler K. Birgitta Whaley Joseph Orenstein Michael Zuerch

 

2019-2022

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Allison Gaudinier Reza Gheissari Yu He Daniel Ibarra Pengfei Ji Seyedeh Mahsa Kamali Naomi Latorraca Aavishkar Patel Ekta Patel Danqing Wang Qiong Zhang	UC Davis Courant Institute, NYU Stanford Stanford University of Chicago Caltech Stanford Harvard University of Arizona Northwestern University University of Maryland, College Park	PMB / Statistics Mathematics / Statistics Physics EPS Chemistry Bioeng / EECS MCB Physics Astronomy MSE Bioeng / PMB	Benjamin Blackman Alistair Sinclair Robert Birgeneau Daniel Stolper John Hartwig Aaron Streets / Connie J. Chang-Hasnain Susan Marqusee Ehud Altman Daniel Weisz Junqiao Wu John Dueber / Brian Staskawicz

 

2018-2021

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Michael Abrams Lou Barreau Soonwon Choi Alison Feder Xiaojin Fu Samuel Hopkins Ambika Kamath Georgios Moschidis Nicholas Rodd Rebecca Tarvin Yong Zheng	CalTech CEA-NCRS Paris Harvard Stanford MIT Cornell Harvard Princeton MIT University of Texas Austin Columbia	Molecular and Cell Biology Chemistry Physics Integrative Biology EPS EECS ESPM Mathematics Physics Integrative Biology Astronomy	Nicole King Steve Leone / Dan Neumark Dung Hai Lee Oskar Hallastchek / Montgomery Slatkin Michael Manga Luca Trevisan / Prasad Raghavendra Damian Elias Maciej Zworski Surjeet Rajendran Rasmus Nielsen Daniel Weisz

 

2017-2020

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Nikhil Bhatla Cara Brook Thibault de Poyferre de Cere Amy Goldberg Rebecca Jensen-Clem Louis Kang Farnaz Niroui Grant Remmen Sho Takatori Alexander Turner Peter Walters	MIT Princeton Ecole Normale Superieure Stanford CalTech UPenn MIT CalTech CalTech Harvard University of Illinois	HWNI / Molecular and Cell Biology Integrative Biology & Plant & Microbial Biology Mathematics Integrative Biology & Statistics Astronomy Physics & HWNI MSE / Chemistry Physics Bioengineering Chemistry / Earth & Planetary Science Chemistry	Hillel Adesnik Mike Boots & Britt Glaunsinger Daniel Tataru Rasmus Nielsen James Graham Michael DeWeese Paul Alivisatos Yasunori Nomura Dan Fletcher Ron Cohen / Inez Fung Eric Neuscamman

 

2016-2019

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Rebecca Duncan Shirshendu Ganguly Benjamin Good Christopher Lemon Kelly Nguyen Alejandro Rico-Guevara Sarah Slotznik Lian Xue Yang Yang	University of Miami University of Washington Harvard University Harvard University University of Cambridge University of Connecticut Caltech University of California Santa Cruz MIT	Integrative Biology Statistics and Mathematics Physics and Bioengineering Molecular and Cell Biology Molecular and Cell Biology Integrative Biology Earth & Planetary Science Earth & Planetary Science Chemistry	Noah Whiteman Alan Hammond Oskar Hallatschek Michael Marletta Eva Nogales Robert Dudley Nicholas Swanson-Hysell Roland Burgmann Jeffrey Long

 

2015-2018

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Ryan Dalton Simon Ferraro Douglas Hemingway Peter Hintz Cassadra Hunt Jeffrey Martell Andrew Moeller Jessica Ray Julian Shun Rachel Zucker	UCSF Princeton UC Santa Cruz Stanford University of Illinois: Urbana M.I.T. Yale Washington University Carnegie Mellon University M.I.T.	MCB Astro/Physics EPS Math Physics Chemistry IB CEE Stat/EECS Materials Science/Math	Diana Bautista Uros Seljak Michael Manga Maciej Zworski Alessandra Lanzara Jeff Long Michael Nachman David Sedlak Michael Mahoney Mark Asta

 

2014-2017

Name	Ph.D. Institution	Department	Host
Elaine Angelino Michelle Antoine Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal Carson Bruns Kestutis Cesnavicius Tijmen de Haan Sebastian Höhna Ryan Trainor Da Yang Norman Yao	Harvard University Albert Einstein College of Medicine University of Chicago Northwestern University M.I.T. McGill University Stockholm University California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology Harvard University	EECS MCB/HWNI Psychology Chemistry Mathematics Physics Statistics Astronomy EPS Physics	Michael Jordan Hillel Adesnik Dacher Keltner Matthew Francis Kenneth Ribet William Holzapfel Rasmus Nielsen Mariska Kriek David Romps Dung-Hai Lee

The FAQ provides answers to recurring questions concerning the fellowship application and the selection process.
 

Q. What is the Kathryn A Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship?

This award, named for the former Chief Administrative Officer of the Institute, is intended for an outstanding Miller Fellow who has also demonstrated efforts towards community building and outreach in support of science. Eligible recipients for the Kathryn A. Day Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship will be selected through the established Miller Fellowship program competition. For consideration for this Award, please indicate by selecting the corresponding checkbox located on the Fellowship Application Form and briefly state your previous work in the areas of community building and outreach in support of science. This award may confer a small additional budget to the awardee for outreach and community building activities during the Fellowship.

 

Q. My Ph.D. advisor will be away, so will not able to meet the nomination deadline. Can it be submitted late?

No. All nominations must be received by the deadline of September 12, 2024.

 

Q. Can I be nominated more than once?

Only one nomination is required to get into the current competition cycle. Once you are nominated any subsequent nominations will be rejected. If you have multiple faculty members wishing to nominate you, ask them to rather serve as a reference.

There is only one competition per year. Should your application be unsuccessful, you may be nominated in another competition year provided you still meet all the eligibility criteria listed in the guidelines.

 

Q. I have already been working in my host's laboratory for 8 months, am I still eligible to be nominated?

No, if you are already on campus or plan to start on campus between now and the time that the competition cycle closes (typically by the end of February), you are not eligible. The intent of the award is to bring new people to campus, so if you have already found a way here, you are not eligible.

 

Q. I am a foreign national, am I eligible?

Yes, you are eligible. If you are currently a student or postdoc within the US on F1 status, you may be eligible for F1-OPT or a STEM extension. If you are currently outside of the US, you will be eligible for J1-Scholar status. We do not support H1B status. We will assist with your immigration processing upon award.

 

Q. Potential Faculty Hosts: I am a potential faculty host for a Miller Fellow applicant. Where can I send my letter of support?

Potential faculty hosts should be included as a reference. The online system will then send an email inviting the faculty member to upload a letter of support into the candidate's record.

 

Q. Is it possible to have two host faculty members in two different departments?

Yes, the online application allows you to enter a host in up to three potential host departments. We realize the distinction between departments and hosts listed may be very slight.

 

Q. Can my potential host support more than one candidate?

A potential host faculty member may support the applications of multiple candidates. While it is not common for a faculty member to ultimately host more than one candidate, it has happened.

 

Q. My proposed host is also the person who nominated me for the fellowship. Should I list them as a reference in the application?

Yes, if the nominator is also the proposed host, the applicant should list the host/nominator, and the host/nominator should upload a host letter in the application phase that addresses the items required for the host letter. The original nomination letter will be automatically added to the application file.

 

[FOR PROPOSED HOSTS]

Q. I nominated a candidate for whom I am also the proposed host. I already submitted a nomination letter. Should I upload another letter as the host or can I upload the same letter?

Yes, you should upload an additional letter as the proposed host. In the host letter, please address the items required for the host letter. The original nomination letter will be automatically added to the application file.

 

Q. The reference I registered will not be able to meet the submission deadline. Can the letter of recommendation be submitted after the deadline?

It is not possible to submit material after the deadline.

 

Q. What are the requirements for the research statement?

Your research statement should be a clearly articulated one page statement of the research you will pursue at UC Berkeley if awarded a Miller Research Fellowship as a pdf file. Research statements should be no more than one page including any figures, with margins no smaller than 0.5 inch and font no smaller than 11 point. Research statements must include a title. It is not necessary to include references with this statement. Do not include CV, reprints or any other materials as they will be removed.

 

Q. Is it possible to change a reference?

Yes, the online system allows applicants to change a reference (or the faculty host) up to the submission deadline.

 

Q. Can my nominator also submit a letter of reference?

The letter of nomination is already included in your file. There is no prohibition for the nominator to also submit a letter of recommendation.

 

Q. Can I submit my application before all of my references have uploaded their letters of support?

YES! Once you have completed your part of the application you can submit your file. Letters will be included as they arrive.

 

Q. I do not have any publications. Am I eligible to apply?

Yes, you can still apply. If you have no publications yet, upload a PDF stating "None".

 

Q. I updated my PDF File but I'm still seeing the old PDF file when I view it online. Is the new PDF file uploaded?

Make sure you uploaded a PDF formatted file. Make sure you did NOT use Firefox browser to upload the file. Refresh your browser AFTER you open/view the new PDF file in the browser. If these steps do not help, please go to your browser settings and clear your browser cache and try again.

 

Q. Can I submit my application while still finishing my Ph.D. thesis?

Yes, but you must have obtained your Ph.D. by the time the Miller Fellowship begins.

 

Q. I took parental leave during my first postdoc, should I list this in my application? The reviewers might think I'm not serious about my research.

It is very important to list any breaks in the "research experience/other activities" section of the application so that the reviewers can take this into consideration when assessing productivity. The review committee will not be biased against applicants who have taken breaks to have and care for children.

 

Q. What are my chances of success?

The Miller Fellowship is very competitive. The overall success rate averages around was 4-5%. Given budget limitations, only applications that clearly reflect the overall objectives of the Miller Fellowship program and that receive outstanding marks by the reviewers will be funded. The University of California and the Miller Institute are Equal Opportunity Employers.

 

Q. What criteria are used for selecting Miller Fellowship awardees?

The Miller Institute seeks to discover and encourage individuals of outstanding talent with a keen curiosity about all science. Nominees should have a demonstrated record of outstanding research and a commitment to pursuing basic research. Candidates are judged on their potential.

The ability to describe one's research in a way that can be understood and valued is critical in the competitive selection process. Successful applicants have demonstrated that they have made significant intellectual contributions to the published work (the reference letters should elaborate on this) and have a clear goal for their proposed research.

It is important to show a departure from the applicant's previous research by proposing new ideas or methodologies. Proposing a new approach to a research problem which may make a major contribution to the research field is highly valued.

Candidates should also address their interest in an interdisciplinary experience.

 

Q. Who reviews the applications?

All eligible applications are first evaluated by members of the potential host departments. Following receipt of a culled subset of applications, the Miller Institute's Executive Committee reviews all files and makes the final awards. The current members of the Executive Committee are posted at: miller.berkeley.edu/contact

 

Q. Two of my references never received an email containing the access information to submit letters on my behalf. Why?

First, please check the email addresses you entered in the "Reference" section to verify if they are correct. Another possibility is that the email from the Miller Fellowship application server was sent to a spam filter on the receiving end. Please inform your host and references to check their spam filter for messages with the subject line: "Reference Request for Miller Fellowship Applicant".

 

Q. Why can't I format the text in the different sections of the online forms?

The Miller Institute uses an online web application which standardizes the formatting of the application for everyone and packages the submitted forms into one PDF document for our review for each applicant.

 

Q. Do I need to select and contact the potential host department and faculty advisor prior to the nomination and application?

You should not expect to be placed with any potential host that you have not communicated with. You will be asked to name a potential host and department in the application, and it is required of you to contact this host to ascertain their interest in hosting you should you be granted an award. They must be listed as a reference to secure their interest in writing.

 

Q. Should the nomination be by the potential host department chair/faculty advisor at Berkeley or can it be by any other institute? If both are acceptable, which one is preferred by the committee?

The nomination should be submitted by whomever can write a compelling letter for you. No preference is given to a Berkeley nominator vs an outside nominator. Others can be named as references in the application process to submit letters of support.

 

Q. I received my Ph.D. a few years ago, worked for industry for about a year, then started a postdoc position in Canada. Am I qualified for the fellowship? Does my postdoc period count as "substantial postdoctoral training"?

Postdocs cannot have had more than two years of postdoctoral experience from other institutions at the time of their proposed fellowship start date.

The further away you are from your Ph.D. the less competitive you may be.

 

Q. I've been a postdoc for 4.5 years already, am I still eligible?

No. You cannot have more than 2 years of postdoc experience before starting the Fellowship, per campus policy.

 

Q. I have been working as an Assistant Professor for the past two years. Am I eligible?

No. According to the University of California definition of a postdoc, "the postdoc may not have been employed as an assistant professor, associate professor, or professor."

 

Q. I received my Ph.D. degree 6 years ago. Am I eligible to apply?

No.  In order to be eligible, the candidate cannot have received their PhD before January 1, 2023.

 

Q. For the "Publications List" PDF, can manuscripts in review or in prep be included?

Please include only publications that are published or in press.

 

Q. I am a current UC Berkeley Graduate Student, am I eligible?

The terms of the gift establishing the Miller Institute stipulates that anyone already on campus in a paid or unpaid capacity is not eligible. The intention was to bring new people to campus. If someone found other means to be at Berkeley, all the better for Berkeley.

 

Q. I'm a PhD student in my final year considering application for the Miller Fellowship program. I see for the application that I must be sponsored by and have a reference letter from a faculty member at Berkeley. Does an emeritus or adjunct professor qualify for this requirement?

Only professors who have active, full-time appointments in the Berkeley academic campus department are eligible to host. Emeritus, adjunct professors, and professors of the Graduate school are not eligible.

 

Advice to Prospective Miller Fellows from Greg Bowman (Miller Fellow 2011 - 2014)

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