A Membership Committee reviews new applications for membership on an ongoing basis. This five-member committee is appointed by the Director and is representative of the Center's research programs. Its members are appointed to staggered 3-year terms to provide continuity. The Committee is advisory to the director, who makes all final decisions about membership. All appointments are through the end of the 5-year NICHD Mental Retardation/Developmental Disability Research Center core grant cycle. All membership appointments are reviewed prior to submission of the core grant renewal on a 5-year cycle.
The two categories of faculty membership are Investigators and Members. Membership in both categories is based on relevance of a faculty member's research to the mission of the Kennedy Center and to NICHD research priorities, and the quality of that research. Graduate students may be nominated as predoctoral or postdoctoral Trainees.
An Investigator is a Vanderbilt faculty member who has extramural funding for a research program that is relevant to NICHD research priorities and is approved for access to core support services in the Center's P30 Developmental Disabilities Research Center core grant from NICHD. An Investigator has priority access for research support services provided by the core grant (see kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/researchers/facultyservices.html for description of services) and access to research support such as postdoctoral stipends and funds for pilot research. In return, Investigators are expected to commit time to Center activities in a variety of ways of the Investigator's choosing (see examples in criteria below).
View list of VKC Members and Investigators
Criteria for appointment as a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Investigator include:
A Member is a Vanderbilt faculty member who has extramural or intramural funding for a research program that is relevant to the Center's mission or who engages in clinical activities relevant to the Center's mission. Generally, members are faculty who will be seeking extramural funding for research related to NICHD priorities. A Member has access for research support services supported by the Center's university budget (see kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy/researchers/facultyservices.html for description of services) and access to research support such as postdoctoral stipends and funds for pilot research. In return, Members are expected to commit time to Center activities in a variety of ways of the Member's choosing.
Criteria for appointment as a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Member include:
Application for Investigator or Member may be submitted at any time during the year. The application consists of:
Materials should be submitted to attention of Jan Rosemergy, Communication Services, Peabody Box 40. When application materials are complete, they will be forwarded to the Membership Committee for review and recommendation to the Director, typically within two weeks of receipt of application materials. The Director's decision will be communicated to the applicant.
Criteria for appointment as predoctoral and postdoctoral Trainees include:
Applications may be submitted at any time during the year. An application consists of a vita and a letter from the applicant describing the candidate's research project, co-signed by a Kennedy Center Investigator or Member who is an advisee to the candidate or with whom the candidate is conducting research. Materials should be submitted to attention of Jan Rosemergy, Communication Services, Peabody Box 40. Applications supported by a Kennedy Center Investigator or Member will be submitted to the Kennedy Center Director for approval. The Director's decision will be communicated to the applicant.
A faculty member from an institution of higher education other than Vanderbilt University must have a Vanderbilt adjunct faculty appointment or Visiting Faculty appointment to be considered for membership (a requirement of NICHD). All other membership criteria above apply.
Revised by Kennedy Center Membership Committee, January 2004