CADRE is now accepting applications for the 2022 CADRE Fellows program. We invite early career scholars to apply. If you are a more senior scholar and know someone who may be a good fit for the program, we encourage you to invite them to apply. Applicants can be a member of an NSF research project team, someone in an education department, or a researcher at a non-profit. More specifically, applicants should:
- Be a doctoral student, postdoc, or similar early career professional at either an academic or non-academic institution.
- Demonstrate the desire and potential for advancing the field of preK-12 STEM education.
- Have professional experience and career goals that contribute to diversity, inclusion, equity, and/or justice in preK-12 STEM education.
- Have research experience in education and exhibit evidence of leadership.
- Have the capacity to commit and contribute to the Fellows program by fully participating in all activities.
CADRE aims to establish a cohort of 15 Fellows that represent diverse backgrounds, experience, interests, professional goals, institutions, and geographic regions. Special consideration will be given to applicants who have not had similar professional development opportunities and are from institutions that have not previously had a CADRE Fellow.
Applications are due by 5:00 PM ET on Friday, November 19, 2021. Please direct any questions to cadre@edc.org.
The CADRE Fellows program provides professional growth opportunities for early career professionals in the field of preK-12 STEM education research. Through a series of capacity-building activities, the program offers Fellows the opportunity to gain insight into what it takes to be successful and effective in this field, become more familiar with National Science Foundation (NSF) practices, and network with experienced researchers and other early career researchers from across the country. For more information about the Fellows program, please visit the CADRE Fellows webpage. There, you will find an overview of the program, the calendar of activities for the upcoming year, Fellows’ bios, and more.
This year the program will be held virtually and run from January-July 2022. Program activities will focus on career pathways, research use and dissemination, community building, and research funding. As part of the program, CADRE Fellows will:
- Attend a virtual orientation on January 10-11, 2022 (all synchronous meetings will be held after noon ET to accommodate West Coast participants).
- Participate in discussion with DRK-12 awardees and other STEM education researchers during a series of interactive, topical webinars;
- Take advantage of informal networking opportunities;
- Collaborate with other Fellows on activities designed to meet the needs of early career researchers;
- Meet NSF program officers, learn about the NSF proposal review process, and participate in a mock review led by an NSF program director; and
- Advance a career-development project specific to their interests (e.g., developing job application materials, a manuscript for publication, a grant proposal, or their research agenda), resulting in a formal presentation at the end of the program.
Comments from previous Fellows on the experience include:
“Being a CADRE Fellow has bolstered my confidence in general and in my ability to be a funded STEM Ed researcher. I met so many helpful PIs who pointed me toward colleagues of theirs at the university where I accepted a faculty position.”
“I think that I feel more confident to approach other researchers and faculty members who have similar interests across different domains… and engage in dialogue with them. I think this will help my confidence in the long run.”
“I think the networking and ‘inside look’ at grant writing for NSF provides me with great advantages for my future career.”
“The whole experience definitely has helped and will continue to help me in building my career as a researcher and educator. I am very impressed by the experiences we were given and the connections with professionals in the field that were made available to us.”
“The biggest thing for me was building my identity as a STEM Ed Researcher, and learning different ways to communicate what is important to me within STEM education contexts. Networking with NSF colleagues was also incredibly invaluable – I feel like I am a part of a super special family now!”