Postdoctoral Fellowship
Andrew W. Mellon Sawyer Postdoctoral Fellowship at Indiana University
Call for 2010-11 Mellon Sawyer Fellowship - Rupture and Flow: The
Circulation of Technoscientific Facts and Objects

Receipt deadline: March 1, 2010

The Sawyer Seminar and the Institute of Advanced Study at Indiana
University will award one Andrew W. Mellon Sawyer Postdoctoral Fellowships
for a one-year appointment beginning July 1, 2010. The Fellow will receive
a stipend of $40,000 per year, as well as health insurance and an allowance
for relocation. This Sawyer Seminar is based in science and technology
studies and focuses specifically on how facts and technologies circulate
among diverse communities of producers and consumers, acquiring or losing
credibility and utility as they move. We will explore questions including:
How has the treatment of failure and errors changed the practice of science
across disciplines and over time? How and why do cultural, social and
material forces interrupt or thwart the circulation of technoscientific
knowledge and objects, and with what consequences for what kinds of
communities? How do social, cultural, political, and legal barriers
influence technological change historically and geographically? How is the
increasing use of lay-produced science shifting what is acknowledged and
implemented in scientific practice and policy? Applicants for this
postdoctoral fellowship must have research projects that speak to the
concerns raised by the circulation of technoscientific knowledge and
objects, and the possibilities and consequences of interrupting,
reorienting, or preventing this circulation. Besides pursuing his or her
own research, the fellowship recipient will play an active role in the
intellectual life of the Sawyer Seminar by helping to organize an ongoing
seminar series and four workshops. There will be no teaching
responsibilities.

Selection Process
Each proposal will be evaluated by the conveners of the Sawyer Seminar, an
interdisciplinary group of IU faculty. The primary evaluation criteria will
be intellectual fit with the core ideas of the Seminar, and the promise of
the proposed research project, including prospects for publication and
significant advances in tangible research. We strongly recommend applicants
read the full proposal, available at http://sawyer.indiana.edu before beginning their
application. Applicants will be notified of fellowship decisions in May
2010.

Requirements
Applicants should have completed the Ph.D. in STS, Sociology, Informatics,
Geography, History, English, Anthropology, Philosophy, Comparative
Literature, or other related fields no earlier than June 30, 2005 and no
later than August 1, 2010. We require proof that the fellow has received a
Ph.D. degree before taking up residence. Applicants are welcome to send
paper copies by mail or delivery to -

Ivona Hedin, Institute for Advanced Study,
Poplars 335, 400 E. 7th Street , Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405

The application should include:
1000-word research project proposal and one-page bibliography, in language
appropriate for a multi- disciplinary panel. Please double-space and use
12-point type.
250-word statement of the project's potential contribution to Indiana
University's Sawyer seminar
Curriculum vitae
Three letters of recommendation

Fellowship recipients cannot currently hold a tenure-track position.

Indiana University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer.
Scholars who are members of traditionally under-represented groups are
encouraged to apply. There is no citizenship requirement or restriction for
this fellowship. Non-U.S. nationals are welcome to apply. Employment
eligibility verifications requested upon hire.