2023 DCADS Research Fellowships

Faculty Fellowships will cover faculty and student-centric research activities for a period of 12-24 months and up to a total of $100,000. Funding restrictions apply with a primary focus on graduate assistantship and/or postdoctoral fellow funding. Proposed projects must produce academic-quality output that is suitable for dissemination and useful in pursuit of follow-on research.

Additional details can be accessed below or in a 2023 DCADS Fellowship Overview, available by emailing dcads@virginia.edu.

Faculty Fellowships will support a project at the intersection of business and data science of significance to scholars and practitioners in those domains. The ideal project is aligned with one of the above 2023 Topics and involves collaboration among multiple disciplines to address a problem or opportunity in a novel way. The intent is to highlight disciplines, develop or apply methods, and pursue approaches that may be unfamiliar or inaccessible in the individual disciplines of data science and management. The goal of the Faculty Fellowship is to produce output that demonstrates the efficacy of such collaboration in identifying novel solutions and unique pathways for continued future research.

Any full-time faculty member from the University of Virginia with any school or department and of any academic rank can apply for a fellowship. Faculty in the fields of data science or business will be given preference, as will collaborations between faculty representing multiple disciplines.  

The primary activities of the Faculty Fellows will be those research-related activities that are necessary for completion of the proposed project. They will be responsible for overseeing the work of others involved in the proposed project, including Student Fellows (e.g., post-docs, doctoral students, graduate students, etc.) and staff (e.g., research assistants or support), and others who may be hired using Fellowship funds.  

Faculty Fellows are not expected to be on site at UVA on a continuous basis. Fellows will be expected to spend 2-3 periods in Charlottesville during the duration of the Fellowship. During the rest of the Fellowship, Fellows must be accessible remotely as needed to ensure the successful completion of the proposed project.  

Fellows will be required to present their work and/or conduct public and private workshops, and participate in related events to further disseminate their work. These may include virtual and/or in-person engagements. Fellows are expected to be aware of and adhere to UVA policies and guidelines that are relevant to their work as DCADS Fellows.
 

The funds for the Faculty Fellowships are provided by the UVA School of Data Science from research funds provided by foundation and corporate supporters. Each Fellowship will receive a maximum of $100,000 in total funding. Of this amount, $75,000 must be used for student-related expenses, including funding Student Fellows such as existing or new UVA student researchers (post-doc, Ph.D., masters); covering student travel, conference fees, etc.; and providing necessary resources such as data, software, training, compute, storage, etc.  In addition, applicable fringe benefits will also be covered. The remaining $25,000 can be used for any project-related expense at the Principal Investigator's discretion. All funds must be utilized as described in the submitted and accepted fellowship proposal. 

1. Proposed projects must produce academic-quality output that is suitable for dissemination and useful in pursuit of follow-on research.
2. Proposed projects must be new work and not previously completed or published.
3. Project outputs should include, at a minimum, a paper, article, presentation, or other document that is suitable for dissemination to a scholarly audience, such as through a peer-reviewed journal in data science or business or other venue as proposed and agreed.
4. Work is expected to be sufficient in quality and other respects so as to be useful in subsequent proposals for research funding from public or private sources.
    

Applications should be submitted using the Apply Now button above. Applications should include the following:

1. An abbreviated CV (3-pages maximum) for each proposed team member,
2.  A project proposal that addresses the following at a minimum (5 pages maximum)
   1. An overview of your proposed project,
   2. A summary of the plan, timing, and approach that you intend to follow,
   3. A preliminary list of the resources (e.g., data, computing, research staff, etc.) you require,
   4. Opportunities for UVA students to take part in the project,
   5. Outputs and end-products that you will produce,
   6. Potential avenues to disseminate your work,
   7. Potential opportunities to extend or expand this work using other sources of funding.
3. A personal statement that addresses the following at a minimum (2 pages maximum)
   1. Why you are a good candidate for the Fellowship and a strong fit with the UVA Darden-Data Science Collaboratory, 
   2. Why this Fellowship and the UVA Darden-Data Science Collaboratory represent a uniquely compelling opportunity for you, 
   3. How this Fellowship supports your current professional activities, and what difference it may make to your future plans.

Applications are due according to the schedule shown under Key Dates and Deadlines.

Nominations Due

Sept. 15, 2023

Applications Due 

Nov. 1, 2023

Fellowship Recipients Announced 

November-December 2023