Yes, if you meet the eligibility requirements then candidates from any university may apply and be selected. 

Yes. Successful applicants must present documents demonstrating that they are legally authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship and work authorization is possible for successful applicants through a process which would be managed by the International Student and Scholar Services Office with the support of the faculty mentor and department.

Yes, if you meet all of the eligibility criteria and if you are selected, visa sponsorship is possible. The University of Minnesota International Student and Scholar Services office would evaluate your current status to determine if a transfer or extension of your current status or a change of status is possible. 

Yes. Successful applicants must present documents demonstrating that they are legally authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship and work authorization is possible for successful applicants through a process that would be managed by the International Student and Scholar Services Office with the support of the faculty mentor and department.

For anyone who would be moving from an international location, relocation to the Minnesota Twin Cities metropolitan area would be required. See FAQ for moving expenses provided.  IonE Postdoctoral Fellows may not work remotely from a different country.

Yes, anyone who is planning to graduate this calendar year can apply.  If you plan to graduate in 2026 or later you will be able to apply to one of our future cohort calls.

It depends. You are eligible if you completed or received your Ph.D. after December 31, 2019.

Ph.D., DDS, DVM, JD, MD, or equivalent is required.

You will need to have your defense completed before the start date, and generally we ask for the conferral before your start date as it is required for approval for your start with IonE. It often takes a few weeks after someone's defense / dissertation submission for it to show up in UMN systems. In some instances with tight turn around times, we will need an official letter from the Registrar's Office confirming the conferral date and that can be used by HR to approve your start date. Upon completing your defense, we need you to communicate with the registrar's office as soon as possible to request the letter, which will be used to successfully approve your background check. 

updated 7/8/25

In the application you will be asked for a CV, 3 short essay questions (250 words or less), a dissertation abstract, 3-4 references, and you will have the opportunity to include examples of impact products should you so desire.  Please note: an "impact product" does not need to be submitted. This year, we ask that if relevant, include a separate section in your CV titled "Impact Products" and list them there, including hyperlinks if available (which can be to a google folder that has pdfs). 

updated 1/10/25

In your application we are only looking for contact information. If you advance to the final interview stage we will then reach out to references at the same time as when we invite you to your Zoom interview. Your references will be given an option to fill out a short google form that has a few brief questions, with the longest question giving them the option to instead upload an already written (so don't need to tailor to us) letter. We know their time is valuable and we want to make it easy for them to provide a reference on your behalf. Please note, in the case that they wish to provide a pre-written letter of recommendation, we still ask them to attach the letter through the google form and answer a few other brief questions. 

updated 7/8/25

You can find screen shots of the 2025 application questions here.

Yes - as long as you are signed into a Google account. The application will prompt you to sign in to complete the form and Google form now has a user autosave feature that will automatically save your entries for 30 days when you are signed into your Google account. 

We aren't asking for your PhD abstract as writing sampleather we are trying to get a sense of you and your research. If you want to send your manuscript abstract that would be fine, but we don't need the whole article. 

updated 1/23/25

A brief narrative would be useful in addition to title, date, location, and partners (generally you don't have to list actual names - organizations/institutions are sufficient).

updated 1/23/25

The impact product is not a necessary requirement, but be sure to highligh how your work has had - or how you want to build skills in - society impact (Question #2 in the PDF upload).

updated 1/23/25

Each year we improve upon our processes. We decided that a more streamlined approach to our review makes more sense for efficiency and coordination amongst our reviewers.

The evaluation process will include 3 phases: 1) application review, 2) 1-way interview of qualified candidates, and 3) 2-way zoom interview of finalists.

Phase 1:

Initial applicants will be reviewed for eligibility requirements and assigned to at least three IonE team members. These reviewers will evaluate the applicants in all fields according to their potential for success within IonE’s impact focused research portfolio. Special consideration given to potential contributions to the diversity and equal opportunity goals of IonE. Reviewers will decide which candidates are qualified to move forward to a semi-finalist stage. Candidates will be notified of their status for the semi-finalist stage by February 14th.

Phase 2: 

The semi-finalist stage is a 1-way, asynchronous recorded video interview (Spark Hire). Each candidate will respond to 3-5 questions. Candidates will be given the questions ahead of time and have 3 minutes to answer each one; you will be given one opportunity to re-record your response if you wish. The reviewers will review these responses and indicate which candidates will be selected as finalists to move forward into Zoom interviews. Candidates will be notified of their status for Phase 3 interviews by March 10.

Phase 3:

ALL Zoom interviews will take place March 17and 18. We will work with the finalists to schedule a 45-minute time slot for their 2-way Zoom interview; times are not guaranteed until scheduled, so we encourage all candidates to reserve March 17 and 18, 2025 on their calendars. We will provide finalists with the interview questions in advance. 

Final Selection:

After the Zoom interviews, principal investigators will submit their recommendations to the Knowledge Initiatives Director for final selection and notification. All candidates will be notified of their final status in early April 2025.

Candidates who advance to the finalist stage will be contacted about projects that they have matched to given their expressed project interests in the application and the determination of the project PIs (who are part of the review team). All finalists will be able to learn more about the projects they matched to and can choose not to interview for a project if they are not interested. 

(Although we would encourage you to be open to all possibilities and to learn more through the finalist interview process, where you will be able to personally meet mentors, colleagues, and project team members and ask questions about the projects.)

The projects that we anticipate that postdocs will be matched to as part of the 3rd IonE Postdoctoral cohort are listed on website on the Postdoctoral Projects page.  Additional projects may be added over the course of the application and review period.

No. All IonE Postdoctoral Fellows will be matched to 1-2 projects. There will be opportunities as part of all projects to shape the intellectual direction of the work with the project team.

The IonE Postdoctoral Fellowship program creates a community of postdocs working on specific projects connected to our IonE researchers. We have these projects listed on our website and want to make sure we do our best matching the interests and skills of our applicants to the project needs. To do this we are asking applicants to pick up to three projects as part of their initial application. However, we are also asking “If we think you’re a strong candidate for another project can we consider you for that?”. If you answer Yes, we might consider you for projects outside your list. 

However, our fellowship is more than just project fit, it is about you as a system thinking, interdisciplinary, impact orientated, team scientist.

Each project description on the projects page includes a video interview with the PI about the project and what they are looking for in a postdoc.

 If there is a commonality between the two that make you interested in both, we recommend  that you mention this and then get into more specifics on the one that to which you are most drawn. If you are interested in projects for separate reasons, then give at least a sentence to your second choice (or two) but talk more about the first. What we are really looking for here is an understanding of your skills and interests (almost like the cover letter aspect of your CV) so you want to make sure that we see why you'll be a great fit for the project(s) you indicated. 

updated 1/10/25

Thank you for your continued interest.  If you responded “Yes” to the question "If we think you’re a strong candidate for another project can we consider you for that?" then we will automatically consider you for all the projects where we see an overlap in your skills, interests, and project needs.

We have tried our best to list all projects upfront, but there are new opportunities that arise that we want to be sure to include. If you have already submitted your application and a new project is then added that you are interested in and you wish to communicate your interest directly to us, please email ione-research@umn.edu with your full name and the newly added project(s) you are interested in and we will add them to your application. 

There is no expectation that applicants will contact PIs prior to submission. 

First and foremost, follow the instructions in the application form.

Secondly, we look for written questions to be focused on concrete examples. 

If you'd like to reference a "Tips & Tricks for Applying" webinar we created last year, we recommend starting midway. This particular recording speaks to the questions asked in last year's application, but some of the broader questions about IonE are still relevant. 

Yes, IonE implements inclusive hiring practices.  This means we share interview questions ahead of time so that you can prepare and put your best foot forward. 

The finalist interviews will be over Zoom and will be scheduled for on March 17 and 18 between 9 am - 5 pm US CDT. If you are selected as a finalist you will be given an interview time on one of those days in early April. We will be mindful of time zone differences so that everyone can be their best, but will not be able to accommodate interviews scheduled on different days or during different time windows. We recommend holding both of these days on your calendar.

The specific start date is negotiable, if you are selected. We anticipate that IonE Postdoctoral Fellows selected in 2025 have a start date between June - December 2025.  

If the work is part of the research project as field work or professional development, then yes, and logistics will be project specific. However, all postdocs must be based in the U.S, whether in-person or remotely.

updated 1/23/25

IonE postdoc salaries have been updated, given RIO approval, to the following pay bands:

Years of Experience (as a postdoc or relevant prior professional experience) Starting Annual Salary

0-1 $63,500

2-3 $66,000

4-5 $68,500

> 5 years $71,000

In special circumstances, in addition to prior professional experience, consideration for starting salary can consider skill, technical background, specialty, or other qualifications. In addition to the initial annual salary offered to postdocs given their prior experience, continuing postdoc employees would be eligible for in-range adjustments given years of experience.  

last updated 7/8/25

IonE postdocs will be offered, as part of standard postdoc employment packages, 20% time to devote towards their postdoc professional development plan activities, $1500 per year of professional development and/or conference expenses, office space, computer equipment, office supplies needed to accomplish their work, and moving expenses, if relevant.

Our postdocs get medical and dental benefits. You can learn more here: https://hr.umn.edu/Benefits/U-M-Employment-Benefits

You can find benefits on these links:

https://policy.umn.edu/hr/postdocappoint, 

https://policy.umn.edu/hr/postdocappoint-appa (explore voluntary retirement benefits here)

https://hr.umn.edu/Employees/New-Employees/Deciding-Your-Benefits

Also helpful is UMN Enrollment Guide: https://humanresources.umn.edu/sites/humanresources.umn.edu/files/2022_new_employee_accessible_final.pdf

Important pieces include:

- UPlan medical insurance

- Optional retirement accounts

- Flexible spending accounts

last updated 7/8/25

IonE postdoc moving expenses are paid as a lump sum amount as part of the first paycheck (UMN relocation policy) given the following guidelines: 

• Move within 150 miles of campus (outside of Twin Cities metro region): $500

• Move move 151-999 miles: $1500

• Move >1000 miles: $2500

A work week is considered as 40 hours of work.  There is some flexibility around the working hours that are adopted based on people’s individual work preferences, however, regardless of the time zone where you are located, the core hours in which project meetings are scheduled for projects are Monday through Thursday 10-4 CT.  “Science Fridays” are deep work, no/limited meeting day for the entire Knowledge Initiatives team. 

Fellowships are for two years.

The Research & Innovation Office (RIO)  and IonE endorse a “work with flexibility” approach that offers a welcoming and flexible work environment where everyone is inspired to do their best. Work location options include working entirely in the office, partially remote (hybrid), or fully remote and work location options are based on the position and nature of the work. Because we are a land-grant institution that serves the state, the University will continue to - in most cases - expect employees to live in Minnesota. Given the collaborative and community aspects of IonE research projects, we will give preference for those willing to be local. We will consider fully remote positions for exceptional candidates;  those working fully remotely must reside within the United States. 

For IonE Postdoctoral Fellows who are hired as fully remote employees, there are specific times that will be specified in your contract that you are expected to travel to IonE, located on the St. Paul campus of the University of MN – Twin Cities.  Currently there is an expectation of once a semester (three times per year) to work in person for 3-5 days on specific deep engagement weeks. Please note, the majority of projects prefer and priortize candidates willing to work in-person.

For fully remote employees IonE will provide reimbursement, up to $3,000 (total and not to exceed for two events), to defray the costs of airfare and lodging to campus for two required annual events per fiscal year; including the IonE Annual Meeting/Deep Engagement Week at the end of September and attendance for one other Deep Engagement Week event (January or June). Attendance at the third required IonE Deep Engagement Week within a fiscal year cannot be paid for through university funds. The University of Minnesota will not reimburse commuting costs, including on campus parking or public transportation passes, for employees.  Read about UMN parking and transportation services.

last updated 7/8/25

Postdocs are expected to spend 50% or greater time in the office. The expectation during onboarding is that you are primarily in the office and then you can work out your schedule with your supervisor to allow you to be most productive. You will work with your supervisor directly on requests for work schedule adjustments, such as medical appointments. 

last updated 7/8/25

KI researchers are evaluated given their job classification and the goals that they annually set in collaboration with their supervisors.  For postdoctoral scholars, in addition to initial 1-month and 3-month goals set for every new employee as part of onboarding processes, IonE Postdoctoral Fellows work with the Project PI(s) to set semester goals given the project priorities.  Given our commitment to training and communication, regular feedback will be provided to team members about their performance.

IonE researchers who are part of Knowledge Initiatives group are expected to build an impactful record of research products and publications that may consist of, for example, scientific databases, reports, and white papers, training materials, decision support systems, and software and metadata documentation, policy memos, peer-reviewed publications, and patent filings. Impact-oriented public engagement and partner relationship cultivation are expected to be integrated into research and professional activities. Impact is assessed by the use of knowledge in society and can consist of a range of outcomes that are described in this guidebook. 

IonE is committed to becoming an antiracist organization, announced by our director in July of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and amidst the beginning of the pandemic. We also have made a commitment to equity and have a 2024-29 DEIJ plan that represents more than one year of engagement, reflection, and significant contributions from the Institute on the Environment (IonE) community, including affiliates, staff, students, partners, and other stakeholders. 

Yes, this is an annual postdoctoral fellowship program.  The specific projects that IonE Postdoctoral Fellows will be matched to will change annually. To get notified of the release of our 2026 postdoc opportunity please sign up here.

If you want to stay informed about the IonE Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, please fill out this google form to stay connected. Note, these are general updates, not individual application updates or notices.

We appreciate the time and effort you have invested in your application.

For general questions that are not answered in this FAQ, or if you have any difficulties completing the application form or submitting documents, please email: ione-research@umn.edu.