Job Description

NYU Shanghai is now inviting applications for its new Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

About the Program

NYU Shanghai (“the University”) recognizes that the training of postdoctoral fellows is an essential component of our research mission and the postdoctoral fellowship program is established with the following goals in mind:

1. Support Emerging Scholars: Offer talented early-career researchers opportunities to develop their academic profiles, leading to future faculty positions and research funding.
2. Enhance Research Capacity: Provide funding and support for postdoctoral research that aligns with the university's strategic goals.
3. Foster Collaboration: Encourage partnerships among scholars, between research centers, across NYU’s global network, or across fields, to promote diverse perspectives and methodologies.

To know more about NYU Shanghai’s research centers, institutes, faculty, please visit https://research.shanghai.nyu.edu/.

Awards

NYU Shanghai awards up to twelve fellowships each year. Full-time residence in Shanghai is required. Appointments are for one- or two-year terms, beginning in January or September each year. Renewal is possible. Fellows must have an assigned mentor, who is a full-time NYU Shanghai faculty. This is the case even when affiliated with a research center/institute. The fellows are expected to develop their individual training plan with their mentor and annual review is required.

Terms of employment at NYU Shanghai are comparable to NYU New York and other U.S. institutions.

Fellowship Terms

The NYU Shanghai’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Fellows are expected to:

• Successfully complete their fellowship assignment at NYU Shanghai
• Dedicate their scholarship towards producing high quality research
• Regularly meet and collaborate with their mentors
• Actively participate in research and professional advancement events and NYU Shanghai campus life
• Teaching opportunities may be available but not required

Qualifications

The fellowship program is open to all areas of study at the University. Individuals who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

• Must have received a PhD degree when their employment contract with NYU Shanghai starts;
• Must be within three years of PhD degree conferral when their fellowship starts at NYU Shanghai, with the aggregate amount of time spent as a postdoc not to exceed three years;
• Strong research potential and evidence of scholarly excellence.

Application Instructions

Proposals should be submitted electronically as a single PDF document, including:

• Preferred start date and fellowship length (1 or 2 years)
• A cover letter with research interests, skill set, and career goals
• Curriculum vitae
• Prospective mentoring faculty and hosting research centers/ institutes (indication of their acceptance is pre-requisite)
• A personal statement detailing reasons for applying for the fellowship at NYU Shanghai
• Contact information for three references.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to research NYU Shanghai's website and reach out to specific centers and faculty members who might serve as strong mentors.

Application deadline

• April 15th, 2026 for decisions April 25th, start date as early as 8/1/2026 [For current NYU Shanghai postdocs seeking renewal only]
• September 1st; for decision November 1st, for start date as early as 1/1/2027
• January 1st, for decision February 20th, for start date as early as 9/1/2027

Review Procedures

Applications will be reviewed by an internal faculty panel, selected and chaired by the Vice Provost for Research.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Candidate academic background, publications and awards
2. Alignment in research and mentorship with hosting faculty/ center
3. Alignment with university strategic goals and prior support to the hosting faculty/ center is a consideration, if the prior two criteria are equal.

Inquiries

Please direct inquiries to shanghai.postdoc@nyu.edu.

About NYU Shanghai

NYU Shanghai is the third degree-granting campus within New York University’s Global Network. It is the first higher education joint venture in China authorized to grant degrees that are accredited in the U.S. as well as in China. All teaching is conducted in English. A research university with liberal arts and science at its core, NYU Shanghai resides in one of the world's great cities with a vibrant intellectual comemmunity. NYU Shanghai recruits scholars of the highest caliber who are committed to NYU's global vision of transformative teaching and innovative research and who embody the global society in which we live.

NYU’s Global Network includes degree-granting campuses in New York, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi, complemented by thirteen additional academic centers across the world. Faculty and students may circulate within the Network in pursuit of common research interests and cross-cultural, interdisciplinary endeavors, both local and global.

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NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, reproductive health decision making, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. All interested persons are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.

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