DBER 3-C's Post-Doctoral Fellowship

Application Review Date: June 9, 2025

Start Date: August 2025

Salary: $70,000/year

Description of Work

The Discipline-Based Education Research in Engineering (DBER-E) faculty group in the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is accepting applications for a cohort of three Postdoctoral Fellows for the NSF funded 3-Cs DBER-E Fellows Program (Award #2430498). The overarching goal of this two-year postdoctoral fellowship program is to provide participants with the training and practice necessary to navigate the early years of an engineering faculty career. More specifically, the program is designed to train individuals who consciously and confidently span the disciplinary boundaries between engineering education, engineering, social sciences, and DBER (in STEM more broadly) using effective communication, collaboration, and coordination (3-Cs) skills to elevate research, teaching, and service activity in traditional engineering academic settings. As a cohort, fellows will join a thriving DBER-E community in which the faculty are embedded in their disciplinary departments. At the completion of this program, fellows will be prepared to apply for faculty positions where they will be engineering education researchers embedded within engineering disciplines. 

It is expected that during Year 1, the fellows will spend most of their time working on a structured research project with one of the DBER-E mentors while developing a plan for an independent, DBER-E project that they can execute during their two-year fellowship. In Year 2, fellows will: (1) launch their research agenda with a project that will put them on an accelerated track to research funding success, (2) build boundary spanning skills while working with one or more faculty in the engineering departments to conduct research, and (3) generate preliminary data for an early-career grant proposal (e.g., NSF CAREER, IUSE, RFE, etc.). Over the course of two years, fellows will have the opportunity to participate in the following activities: 

• Work with mentor on an active research project 

• Design and implement an independent research project 

• Mentor graduate and undergraduate researchers 

• Engage in disciplinary teaching 

• Engage in future faculty professional development activities (e.g., 3-Cs fundamentals, job document development, writing a research grant, develop a research network nationally and internationally) 

• Present research nationally and internationally 

Fellows will receive a competitive compensation package that includes benefits, travel to a national conference each year, travel to an international conference in year 2, up to $6,000 in moving expenses, and computer and supplies.  

 As an EO/AA employer, the University of Nebraska considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See https://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination. 

Minimum Required Qualifications

• U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident  

• Ph.D. in engineering education or Ph.D. in another field with an engineering education dissertation topic (complete by August 2025 and not prior to August 2022) 

• Interest in Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) 

• B.S. or M.S. in an engineering field 

• Experience conducting qualitative and/or mixed methods research 

• Strong writing and organizational skills 

• Ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently 

• Ability to be a self-directed researcher 

How to Apply

1. Check that you meet the minimum required qualifications

2. Prepare required documents

   • Cover letter (max 2-pages)

   • CV

   • Research statement (max 2-pages) focused on current assets, research vision, alignment to the Fellows Program Research Areas, and future goals

   • Teaching Statement (max 2-pages), focused on philosophy, past experiences, and desired experiences at UNL 

   • Contact information for three references 

3.  Apply for this job via the UNL website - https://employment.unl.edu/postings/94378