Postdoctoral Innovation Fellows Program
Call for Applications  March 2013

Introduction

The Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (TCII) at Cornell NYC
Tech is proud to announce a new and unique postdoctoral
fellowship program aimed at nurturing entrepreneurial efforts in
deep information-based technologies in New York City. The
Postdoctoral Innovation Fellows Program is open to persons with a
PhD in a relevant technological discipline.  The TCII is a
partnership between Technion  Israel Institute of Technology and
Cornell University, selected by the City of New York to bring a
global perspective to graduate-level research and education with
an emphasis on technology transfer, commercialization and
entrepreneurship. As a key part of the new Cornell NYC Tech
campus, TCII aims to grow the tech eco-system in New York City.

The Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Postdoctoral Innovation Fellows will be provided with a stimulating
environment within TCII in which to work on R&D to transform an
existing or new technological idea into a product. No less important,
the TCII will provide a crucial interface to the emerging New York
City tech eco- system, access to industrial mentors and seasoned
entrepreneurs, connections to the local venture capital and legal
communities, and close proximity to the market itself. Our expectation
is that a successful Fellow will identify a real-world problem
requiring a deep technological solution, implement the solution,
demonstrate its commercial viability and even obtain venture- capital
funding to continue to pursue commercialization. The duration of the
program is one year, but successful Fellows may be funded for a second
year.

Application Procedure

Applications are solicited from persons up to three years after their
graduation with a PhD in an information- or data-processing discipline
relevant to at least one of the following application domains:
Connective Media, Healthier Life and the Built Environment (see
definitions below). A Fellow will receive a competitive salary, a
budget for R&D expenses, a stimulating work environment and the option
to participate in a variety of entrepreneurial training and other
activities on campus. TCII anticipates funding up to 10 Fellows
starting Fall 2013.  To apply, a qualified candidate should submit:

1. CV. In addition to the usual academic content, your CV should
contain a listing of title and date of disclosure of inventions for
which you are (co)-inventor and research institutes at which you
disclosed; list of disclosures for which patents have been filed;
and on which patents are you (co)-inventor; chronological listing
of work experiences including organizations activities and your
job title and responsibilities. The CV should include names of
three relevant references.

2. Research statement (max 3 pages). Describe your current and future
research efforts.  Focus on the real-world problem you are trying
to solve and your approach to solve it.  Describe how your research
could be applied to solve problems in the domains of Connected
Media, Healthier Life and/or the Built Environment and the possible
challenges that could be encountered. Please be as specific as
possible.

3. Essay (2 pages). Describe your personal background. Share your
passion, values and vision to apply your research and describe at
least one experience of a problem or situation that you approached
creatively.

Qualified candidates will be interviewed to determine their fit to the
program, including ability to work in a team, passion for applying
research to real-world needs, entrepreneurial personality and
communication skills. Some preference will be given to applicants with
PhD or postdoctoral experience from Technion or Cornell.

Schedule

Applications and enquiries should be submitted to
InnovationFellows@tcii.org by April 15, 2013.  Select candidates will
be interviewed soon after. Decisions will be made no later than May
15, 2013. Fellows are expected to start at TCII, located on the
temporary Cornell NYC Tech campus in Chelsea in New York City, during
September 2013. A second Call is expected to be published in August
2013, with application deadline September 31, 2013, and Fellows
starting on Jan 1, 2014.

Technological Application Domains

The Innovation Fellowship Program covers entrepreneurial efforts
related to the following applications of information processing:

Connective Media: Data mining and analysis in structured and
unstructured online media repositories and social networks. Machine
learning and big data. Media analysis for e- commerce. People-aware
and mobile computing. Media-related software.

Healthier Life: Medical informatics and healthcare information
systems. Data processing in medical devices and instrumentation for
diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Information- based technologies
to improve quality of life. Sensor-based systems for home monitoring
and remote diagnosis.

Built Environment: Comprehensive building design. Building,
infrastructure, and urban scale information processing. Transportation
systems optimization, operation and management.  Sensor- and
data-processing for smart buildings.