University of Texas at Austin
Peter O’Donnell Jr. Postdoc Fellowship

Peter O'Donnell Jr. Postdoc Fellowship

Postdoctoral researchers are vital to the Oden Institute’s world-renowned work in interdisciplinary education and research. Each year the Institute seeks outstanding researchers trained at the interfaces of computer science, mathematics, statistics, high performance computing, and applications across science, engineering, and medicine for the prestigious Peter O’Donnell, Jr., Postdoctoral Fellowship. O'Donnell Fellows perform interdisciplinary research with exceptional faculty in areas such as computational mechanics and computational oncology, among many others. They also have the opportunity to participate in external collaborations and access world-class computational tools at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, such as Frontera, one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers and the fastest supercomputer on a university campus. The Oden Institute has a number of strategic partnerships with other institutions, including MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Alan Turing Institute, and several European universities. Depending on the particular circumstances (research area, research advisor, and Oden Institute center/group of affiliation), there may be opportunities for Peter O'Donnell, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellows to participate in exchange programs with these partners.

Fellowship salaries are $74,000 a year and include a relocation stipend of up to $1,000. Applications are accepted September – December and can be accessed here (PDF file). Fellowships are for the period September 1 — August 31, and dependent upon funding availability and performance. They may be extended for an additional year.

Fellowship Requirements

  • Candidates must display a significant ability to contribute to Oden Institute interdisciplinary research efforts in broad areas across computational science and engineering. In general, fellowship recipients collaborate in research under the supervision of one or more Oden Institute core faculty members for one year. The fellowship may be extended for an additional year depending on performance and availability of funds.
  • Teaching is discouraged. However, especially compelling requests must be presented to the Oden Institute Director for approval before any teaching offers are accepted.
  • Without prior approval from the Oden Institute Director, applicants must not concurrently hold another fellowship or similar award from the University of Texas System or any other entity.
  • Must not have received your PhD more than two years prior to the Fellowship start date in September.

Fellowship Deadline & Submission Instructions

Applications are due December 1, 2023 (late submissions will not be considered). All applicants will be notified of the evaluation committee's decision by the beginning of February.

Instructions for Submission

Your O'Donnell Postdoc Fellowship application requires the following documents:

Fellowship Application Materials

  1. Oden Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship application form
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. Letter of interest addressed to the Director of the Oden Institute, Dr. Karen Willcox
  4. Narrative of proposed work in interdisciplinary research in computational science, engineering and applied mathematics, including the name(s) of the Oden Institute core faculty member(s) with whom you are interested in working. This statement should not exceed two pages. (Candidates are encouraged to contact Oden Institute core faculty members regarding research interests in their area of expertise — browse a full list of core faculty.)
  5. Three letters of recommendation

For questions regarding this program please contact the Program Coordinator at kelly.tagle@oden.utexas.edu.