ALS Doctoral Fellowships in Residence

The Advanced Light Source (ALS), a division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is a national user facility that generates intense x-ray radiation for scientific and technological research. As the United States’ first third-generation synchrotron radiation source, the ALS offers outstanding performance in the vacuum ultraviolet to soft x-ray energy range and excellent performance in the infrared and hard x-ray regions. The facility welcomes researchers from universities, industry, and government laboratories around the world. Berkeley Lab is also home to a number of other world-class facilities, including the Molecular Foundry, which offers a multidisciplinary suite of nanoscale science capabilities. The ALS and Molecular Foundry are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences program.

Join Us to Shape the Future of Synchrotron Radiation Science

Synchrotron radiation is now an established and essential tool in many research areas. The ALS Doctoral Fellowships allow early-career researchers to work at the frontier of synchrotron radiation research and to help advance state-of-the-art techniques and applications. Starting in 2017, a new fellowship track has been created to support up to two researchers interested in leveraging the complementary capabilities of the ALS and Molecular Foundry.

The fellowships enable students who have passed their Ph.D. qualifying or comprehensive exams, and advanced to candidacy, to spend a year in residence at LBNL working closely with a staff member at either or both facilities. The students acquire hands-on scientific training and develop professional maturity to complement their doctoral research. Applicants must be full-time students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the science or engineering disciplines, and pursuing research that will benefit from ALS and/or Molecular Foundry capabilities.

The fellowships are offered as one-year appointments with the possibility of renewal. Both new and renewal appointments require submitting an application, as discussed below. Successful applicants will be compensated with a $20,000 annual stipend, which will generally be augmented by funding from their home institution or thesis advisor. Fellows are expected to remain enrolled in the graduate program at their home institution, to live in or near Berkeley, and to work primarily at the ALS for the entire year. They will have an opportunity to present their results at the end of the fellowship year. In addition to acknowledging the ALS (and Foundry, if applicable), Fellows are asked to acknowledge partial support from the ALS (or Joint ALS/Molecular Foundry) Doctoral Fellowship in Residence Program in any publications resulting from work done while stationed at Berkeley Lab.

Please contact ALS Division Deputy for Science Steve Kevan or Molecular Foundry Acting Deputy Director Branden Brough for more information.

Applications are due by June 30 each year, for an appointment to coincide with the following academic year.

“The ALS doctoral fellowship has provided me an amazing opportunity to develop complex experiments on my beamline that require significant preparation and offline testing at the lab, enabling me to collect exciting new data to further the understanding of materials processing in the field of structural materials. Also, through working with ALS scientists I have been able to expand my network of scientists working in my field and related fields, which has allowed me to develop new interdisciplinary collaborations and learn new scientific analysis techniques.”
–Natalie Larson, 2015-2016 Fellow

Application Process Timeline for the 2017-18 Fellowship Cycle

“The unique infrared spectromicroscopy setup at the ALS, especially the high intensity and tight focus of the synchrotron beam, is critical for my research on optical properties of graphene. Working with Mike Martin, I not only learned many important techniques of infrared spectromicroscopy, but also learned numerous exciting research topics in various disciplines that are enabled by synchrotron-based infrared microscopy. The ALS doctoral fellowship enabled me to successfully finish our study on graphene and publish two nice papers in Nature Physics and Physical Review Letters, which are important for furthering my career. Moreover, the knowledge, vision and experience I obtained at the ALS will benefit me for my entire career in future.”
–Zhiqiang Li, 2006-2008 Fellow, currently Prof. of Physics, Sichuan University, China

How to Apply

Interested applicants should first locate an ALS or Molecular Foundry staff member to discuss the possibility of working with them in this program, and, when agreement is found, to discuss a plan for research activities during the fellowship year. A completed application form, a two-page description of the research plan, and a resume with publication list should then be submitted to Yeen Mankin using the ALS Doctoral Fellowship web form. In addition, letters of recommendation from the student’s PhD advisor, from the staff member with whom they propose to work, and optionally from a third person of their choosing should be sent directly by the letter writers to Yeen Mankin.

Individuals from under-represented groups, as well as those from outside the local Bay Area, are encouraged to apply.

“Being an ALS Doctoral Fellow in Residence provided me access to resources, knowledge, and expertise that are not combined in such a way anywhere else in the world. The skills that I learned from my mentors and other staff scientists while at the ALS as a doctoral fellow were critical in experimental interpretation and maximizing the structural information obtainable from experiments. Being an ALS fellow led to my next steps as an ALS postdoc and then ALS-Foundry project scientist because I knew how much I enjoyed working here at ALS and LBNL.”
–Mike Brady, 2012-2014 Fellow, currently Project Scientist at ALS and Molecular Foundry, LBNL

2016–2017 Fellowship Recipients

The selection committee selected the following award recipients for the 2016–2017 academic year: