FY2010 - Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Introduction
Fig. 2. Distribution of Seed Money Fund by research division for FY 2010.
Fellowship Money Fund
In FY 2010, the awardees of the Laboratory’s Alvin M. Weinberg and Wigner Fellowship programs
received funding through the LDRD Program. The fellowship programs were formed to provide research
opportunities for exceptional new scientists in honor of Professor Wigner and Dr. Alvin Weinberg
(former ORNL director). The appointment of Fellows to ORNL's staff provides an opportunity for
outstanding life, physical, computer, computational, social scientists, engineers, and applied scientists to
select and pursue research in an area related to national energy problems and interests. Fellows are
exceedingly well qualified in their fields of expertise and are no more than 3 years beyond the doctorate.
There are no application deadlines for the Fellowship. Each application package, consisting of a
fellowship research plan, is considered based on how it meets the criteria for the position. Applications
are reviewed by special selection committees once per quarter during the year. The Wigner Fellowship is
full-time, LDRD-funded, 2-year appointment, and Weinberg Fellowship is a full-time, 2-year
appointment funded 25% by LDRD and 75% by program funds.
Fellowship proposals are reviewed by Fellowship committees. When candidates apply for a fellowship,
they are required to submit their research statement. Once the candidate is selected, a mentor is assigned,
who helps him/her prepare the LDRD project proposal that is aligned with the fellow’s research
statement. Wigner Fellowship proposals are reviewed by the Wigner Review Committee (WGRC), and
Weinberg Fellowship proposals are reviewed by Weinberg Review Committee (WNRC). After the
reviews are completed, the committees’ recommendations are sent to the Deputy Director for Science and
Technology for approval. The proposals also go through DOE concurrence.
9