Associate Faculty Application

Overview

Associate Faculty are critical members of the Kempner’s faculty and community, and are expected to participate actively in the Kempner’s programs. This includes helping to shape its scientific direction, select students, and develop programs that advance its mission. They collaborate with other institute members to advance research, make fundamental discoveries, and teach others. Kempner Associate Faculty receive access to the Kempner Institute compute cluster and may receive research funds. 

Eligibility

All applicants must have a primary, full-time faculty appointment at Harvard University and must be paid by, and run their research operation through, Harvard. The sole exception are faculty paid directly by HHMI who would otherwise meet all of the criteria. Individuals with hospital-based appointments or research operations and/or non-profit, independent corporations are not eligible. The application is open only to ladder faculty members (assistant professors, associate professors, and professors) with principal investigator rights at a Harvard school.

Faculty who are considering applying are strongly encouraged to have ongoing interactions with the Kempner community, as demonstrated by some combination of being an affiliate faculty member, attending Kempner events, participating in Kempner programs, and collaborating with existing members.

Faculty must be actively pursuing research that is aligned with the research mission of the Kempner Institute: to advance our understanding of the basis of intelligence in natural and artificial systems.

Applicants must have a demonstrated track record in one or more of the following areas:

• Foundations of intelligence, including mathematical and computational models of intelligence, cognitive theories of intelligence, and the neurobiological basis of intelligence.
• Research and development of new AI or ML methodologies or models from an engineering perspective, as well as scientific studies focused on understanding deep learning. This includes the development of novel applications of artificial intelligence, covering areas such as LLMs, generative AI models, computational biology, and the analysis of high-dimensional neural and behavioral data.

Applicants who cannot demonstrate research alignment are unlikely to be selected for appointment.

Benefits

Associate Faculty appointments are for a 3-year term which will begin on July 1. Appointments may be renewed for additional terms following the first 3-year period.

A primary benefit of appointment as a Kempner Associate Faculty, in addition to a closer connection to the institute’s community, is access to the Kempner’s compute resources and engagement with its team of research scientists and engineers.  

Thus, if appointed, associate faculty may select either:

• A modest share of compute access for three years and up to $50,000 per year of research funding to be used over three years to support mission-aligned research;  
• Or, a significantly larger share of compute access for up to 5 years with no additional research funding to support mission-aligned research.    

Faculty may make a final selection following the interview process and discussion with Kempner Institute leadership. 

Expectations

Associate Faculty are expected to participate in Kempner Institute activities in significant and meaningful ways. This represents a time commitment which may vary based on the skills and interests of the Associate Faculty and the needs of the Institute. These activities may include, but are not limited to:

Participation in Kempner Events

• Participating as a presenter or moderator at Kempner events
• Serving on committees to help plan events

Participation in Kempner Educational Activities

• Teaching in workshops, giving lectures, or talks
• Providing input in planned or proposed activities 
• Serving as a mentor to students or fellows

Participation in Kempner Core Activities

• Participating in Kemper committees or groups (e.g. cluster governance committee) 
• Service on undergraduate, graduate, post-bac, or fellow selection committees
• Sitting on faculty selection committees or interviewing faculty candidates
• Meeting with current or prospective donors

No faculty member is expected to participate in all of the above activities. However, all Associate Faculty are expected to participate in some of these activities. Associate Faculty who do not maintain an ongoing and active relationship with the Kempner Institute may be asked to evaluate and increase their participation.

Aside from the above activities, all Kempner Institute appointed faculty, including Associates, are expected to:

• Actively participate in the Kempner Institute Annual Retreat
• Attend faculty meetings 
• Attend Kempner events whenever possible
• Honor the spirit of the Kempner Institute by modeling its values

Award Terms

If appointed, faculty may select either a modest share of compute access for three years and up to $50,000 per year of research funding (funded award) to be used over three years or a significantly larger share of compute access for up to 5 years (compute award). 

All faculty who receive support from the Kempner Institute, including funding or compute access, will be required to adhere to the Open Science Policy. This policy addresses areas such as research integrity, data access, intellectual property, developed software, non-software inventions, publication, and collaboration. Projects that cannot adhere to the policy cannot be supported by the institute, its engineering team, or its GPU cluster.

If faculty select a funded award they will be required to complete a detailed budget proposal (a template will be provided). Typical expenses include costs for research personnel carrying out a project directly related to the Kempner Institute mission. These costs may include salary, travel, research project expenses, and educational expenses.  A portion of the award may be used for faculty salary support commensurate with effort dedicated to a Kempner related research project not otherwise funded, for example summer-support (% effort, time-period required).

At no time may funds be used for:

• Expenses for research not directly related to the mission of the Kempner Institute.
• General salary support for faculty or staff who are not working directly on Kempner related projects.

• Purchase of GPUs or related hardware, or cloud computing credits.
• Salary support for faculty cannot be used to replace or buy-out existing funding (e.g. departmental or school support, pre-existing grant funding). 
• Meetings, travel, or events unless the activity is directly related to Kempner Institute activities and is for people supported on the funded award. 

Faculty may carry forward unused funds from years 1 and 2 into year 3. At the end of the 3-year funding period, Associate Faculty will have 90 days to use any remaining funds. Any unused funds following the 90-day grace period will revert back to the Kempner Institute.

Faculty must maintain their appointment at Harvard and as an Associate Faculty member of the Kemper in order to be able to use Kempner funding and retain compute access. Upon termination of a faculty appointment at Harvard or early termination of a Kempner Associate Faculty position, unused funds revert to the Kempner Institute and compute access is removed.

Associate Faculty who have a material change in their relationship with Harvard, to the extent that it would impact their ability to interact in a regular and meaningful way with the Kempner Institute and fulfill the obligations outlined above, may, at the discretion of the Faculty Directors, have funding reduced or eliminated, and compute access reduced or removed.

Reporting Requirements

Associate Faculty are required to submit an annual progress report of not more than 3 pages which typically includes:

• How funding supported the mission and vision of the Kempner Institute.
• A list of all presentations, manuscripts (submitted or published), meetings or courses related to Kempner Institute activities.
• A list of and links to any work products (e.g. code or data) created, developed or curated using Kempner funding. 
• A brief summary of Kempner Institute activities the faculty member participated in over the course of the previous year not otherwise described above.

Progress reports are due no later than August 1st  each year. Failure to submit a timely report will result in a pause in funding (if selected) and compute access. 

Application

The application will be open until April 1, 2025.  

Selected candidates will be invited for in person interviews to take place in late May 2025.