How to Apply
 The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs is accepting applications for the Postdoctoral Award for Research Excellence (PARE award). The awards, open to postdocs in all disciplines, are designed to recognize the important contributions that postdoctoral scholars make to UNC’s research enterprise. PARE awards are for postdoctoral scholars who are showing exceptional promise, which may include excellence in scholarly or academic research, leadership, advocacy, service, mentoring, and/or teaching, during their postdoc assignment. The cash award of $1200 is given to five recipients.
Information Session
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs will host a virtual information session on Friday May 16th 2025 from 2:00 – 2:45 PM. To attend, please register here.
Eligibility
The following terms apply to the awards:
- Applicants must be full-time and fall into one of two Human Resources designations: Postdoctoral Fellow/Trainee or Postdoctoral Research Associate.
- Applicants must remain in their postdoc appointment at least until December 31, 2025, at the time of application.
- PARE awards recipients will be announced in August 2025.
- The application deadline is midnight on Sunday, June 8th, 2025 (no exceptions).
Categories
PARE Awards will be awarded in the following categories:
- Humanities & Fine Arts/Social Science and Professional Schools
- STEM, Medical, and Clinical Sciences
Application Instructions
To apply for a 2025 PARE award, postdoctoral scholars must submit all required materials via the online portal: https://go.unc.edu/PARE2025. Submissions must include the following:
- Online Submission Form (completed within the portal)
- Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Research Statement (maximum 2 pages)
Additionally, a mentor support letter must be emailed directly by the mentor to opa@unc.edu.
All materials must be received no later than midnight on Sunday, June 8, 2025. Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. Full descriptions of each component are below.
Overview of Submission Materials
Applicant Information Form
- This form, included in the submission portal, includes sections for the individual’s name, email, school, department, PI/supervisor, UNC start date, a 3-sentence research narrative in lay language, and 3-5 key words.
Current Curriculum Vitae
- Please ensure your materials are in a properly formatted CV format.
Research Statement
- Applications should be written for a non-expert audience and will be assessed by a multidisciplinary review panel.
- 2-page limit (references should be limited to 1-page)
- Broadly discuss the significance of your current work, and your research accomplishments/contributions as a postdoc at UNC. Briefly discuss short- and long-term research goals.
- Evaluation of each candidate will be primarily based on accomplishments within the context of time spent as a postdoctoral scholar at UNC.
Mentor Support Letter
A signed letter of endorsement from the applicant’s mentor on departmental letterhead. This letter should be emailed to opa@unc.edu directly from the mentor.
- Please review the selection criteria. The letter should describe the nominee’s postdoctoral research at UNC, specific contributions to research and research productivity, and the significance or impact of the work.
- Mentoring or other activities that are relevant to the postdoc scholar’s contributions may also be described.
- The letter should present a clear case, based on the supporting evidence in the nomination, for why the postdoctoral scholar merits the distinction this award represents.
- The nominator should also include the following information in the letter:
- the nominee’s total time as a postdoctoral scholar at UNC and elsewhere;
- how many postdoctoral scholars the nominator has supervised, and how the nominee ranks among them;
- an email address for further contact regarding the nomination;
Selection Criteria
Rubric Categories for Evaluation:
- Research Excellence & Recognition (Scholarly contributions, productivity, and visibility)
- Assesses the nominee’s scholarly contributions, research productivity, and visibility within their field. Includes traditional and non-traditional outputs, recognition through awards, grants, or fellowships, and evidence of influence such as citations or invited talks.
- Research Statement: Communication & Narrative (clarity, motivation, goals)
- Evaluates the clarity and structure of the research statement. Includes articulation of research significance, personal motivation, and future goals. Assesses accessibility to multidisciplinary audiences and communication of broader relevance.
- Innovation, Creativity & Broader Impact (novelty, independence, collaboration, societal benefit)
- Considers originality, independence of thought, and contributions to novel or cross-disciplinary work. Includes broader impacts such as societal benefit, public engagement, and collaborative or translational research.
- Leadership, Mentoring & Engagement (lab, campus, community, PDA, teaching)
- Recognizes meaningful involvement in mentoring, lab leadership, departmental or institutional service, and contributions to teaching or community engagement. Includes roles in postdoc associations, outreach, and professional development initiatives.
Selection Process
The award selection committee will be composed of multidisciplinary faculty and staff and will be co-led by OPA’s Faculty Advisors. PARE awards recipients will be announced in September 2025. Award recipients will be honored at the annual UNC PARE Awards Ceremony held during UNC’s Research Week (October 23, 2025). All awardees are expected to attend. After a short presentation, plaques will be presented to each awardee by Dr. Penny Gordon-Larsen, Vice Chancellor for Research.