Simons Fellowships in Design Engineering

Award Description

The Simons Fellowship in Design Engineering will select highly qualified college graduates to participate in cutting-edge autism research at the Yale Child Study Center. The Yale Child Study Center is a leading institution for clinical research on autism and related social disabilities, with a multidisciplinary approach spanning projects in cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, molecular and population genetics, and treatment. Successful applicants will be immersed in a 2-year program aimed at the integration of design engineering with cognitive neuroscience research.

We seek highly motivated candidates who, along with demonstrated expertise in design (such as industrial design, product design, or mechanical engineering), have an interest in the application of those skills to a field of research with direct clinical impact. Successful applicants will be expected to develop innovative design solutions to answer experimental research questions. These solutions offer an opportunity to explore human factors engineering, product prototyping, and the design of environments for neuroscience research.

The Fellowship is an opportunity for creative engineering in which basic design challenges are defined but the routes to solutions are open-ended. The selected Simons Fellows will be mentored by the program directors and involved in a highly active research community. Fellows will learn about neuroscience and autism while applying their own design skills to answer future experimental questions.

Training curriculum includes instruction in basic machining (if needed), participation in a weekly seminar on autism (1 semester), weekly science meetings (year-long), weekly social neuroscience lab meetings (year-long), and a didactic peer network at the Yale Child Study Center, Developmental Disabilities Section. The training is inherently interdisciplinary as we are interested in fostering a community in which issues of design are integral to clinical research. The Fellowships will also provide additional opportunities to participate in conferences and colloquia.

Sponsor Institution: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University

Program Directors: Warren Jones and Ami Klin

Additional Faculty: Brian Scasselati, Fred Volkmar, Kasia Chawarska, Rhea Paul, Matthew State, George Anderson, Lawrence Scahill, Kathleen Koenig, Katherine Tsatsanis, and Celine Saulnier

Award Amount: $35,000 per year (plus full healthcare coverage)

Term of Award: 2 years

Submission Deadline: January 9, 2009

U.S. Citizenship: Not Required

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible are college graduates who will have a bachelor's degree by June 2009. Candidates are expected to have a background in design and a facility for creative problem-solving.

Please note that this fellowship is not offered concurrently with graduate studies. However we do hope that for fellows leaving the program, the fellowship will serve as an important stepping stone towards future graduate studies or careers in design.

Application Information

For more specific questions, interested applicants should contact Jennifer Cochran at (203) 785-3565 or jennifer.cochran@yale.edu.

A complete application includes 1 copy of each of the following items:

1. A completed application form
2. A resume
3. A portfolio of design work
4. Transcripts, undergraduate and graduate (if applicable)
5. A 2 page personal statement containing biographic material, relevant experience, and career goals - can be single or double spaced
6. Two letters of recommendation which speaks directly to the candidate's potential

Mailing Your Application

If sending by regular mail address your application to:

Jennifer Cochran
Senior Administrative Assistant
Yale Child Study Center
P.O. Box 207900
New Haven, CT 06520-7900
(203) 785-3565
(203) 737-4197 (fax)
jennifer.cochran@yale.edu

If sending by FedEx address your application to:

Amy Margolis
40 Temple Street
Suite 6B
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 785-6237

Links to Recent Publications

Klin, A., Jones, W., Schultz, R.T., Volkmar, F.R., & Cohen, D.J. (2002). Defining and Quantifying the Social Phenotype in Autism. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159 (6): 895-908.

Klin, A. Jones, W., Schultz, R.T., Volkmar, F.R., & Cohen, D.J. (2002). Visual Fixation Patterns During Viewing of Naturalistic Social Situations as Predictors of Social Competence in Individuals with Autism. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59: 809-816.

Klin, A., Jones, W., & Schultz, R.T. (2003). The Enactive Mind, or From Actions to Cognitions: Lessons from Autism. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 358: 345-360.

Klin, A., Chawarska, K., Paul, R., Rubin, E. Morgan, T., Wiesner, L., & Volkmar, F.R. (2004). Autism in a 15-month-old child. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(11), 1981-1988.