Project NExT Fellows and friends at a Project NExT reception
Project NExT is a professional development program of
the MAA. The Project NExT Fellowship
year must be the applicant's first or second year of post-Ph.D.
full-time college/university teaching. Fellows must
attend the three meetings in their Fellowship year. See the
information page on applications.
Also see
background information on Project NExT.
Index: [home]
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[This FAQ is updated for applicants applying for the
2013-14 Fellowship year.]
Most questions that applicants to Project NExT have are answered by this
FAQ. If you have a question that is not answered here, please ask
Aparna Higgins, Director of Project NExT,
<aparna(dot)higgins(at)udayton(dot)edu>. You
may also ask Gavin LaRose, <glarose(at)umich(dot)edu>,
who maintains these pages.
Answer:
Project NExT is designed for faculty for whom the Fellowship year will
be their first or second year of post-Ph.D. teaching. If you received
your Ph.D. in
December, 2011,
or later, then you are automatically
eligible to apply to Project NExT in
2013
(assuming that you meet the other eligibility criteria).
If you received your Ph.D. before
December, 2011,
then you might be eligible, but you might not. In determining
eligibility, we do not count:
However, we do count:
Therefore, if you received your Ph.D. before December, 2011, and you decide to apply to Project NExT, your application materials (vita or personal statement) must clearly explain why you are eligible. In particular, you must indicate the classes you have taught (and how many sections of those classes) since receiving the Ph.D., and when you taught them.
Please note that these remarks apply only to the national Project NExT. Section NExTs are regional versions of Project NExT, and generally they have less stringent eligibility criteria.
Project NExT seeks to help new faculty to launch their careers. If you haven't yet received your Ph.D., then finishing your dissertation is the most important thing you can do, in order to have a successful academic career. Thus we expect the 2013-2014 Project NExT Fellows to have completed all the requirements for their Ph.D.s no later than September 1, 2013. If you don't expect to meet that deadline, then you should finish your dissertation first and apply to Project NExT the following year. You should note that because eligibility is determined by number of years of full-time teaching post-Ph.D., this is unlikely to have an impact on your eligibility.
Answer:
Yes. Your Ph.D. can be in any one of the mathematical sciences,
which include statistics, operations research, and mathematics
education, as well as all fields of pure and applied
mathematics. [Please see also if in non-math
dept FAQ.]
Answer:
No. Since the workshop program deals primarily with teaching and
research in the mathematical sciences, Project NExT is not
appropriate for someone with a Ph.D. in computer science who
teaches only computer science.
Answer:
This is a tricky one. The Project NExT program is designed
primarily for people who teach in departments of mathematics or
statistics. If you have a joint appointment, we would ordinarily
expect at least half of it to be in a math/stats
department. Other configurations are possible, however,
including appointments to multidisciplinary departments or
divisions. If you are uncertain about whether you meet this
criterion, please contact us directly. [Please see also
for stats PhD FAQ.]
Answer:
Yes, provided you will be teaching in
2013-2014
at a college or university in the United States or Canada (which
are the countries served by the Mathematical Association of
America).
Answer:
Yes, provided you meet the other eligibility criteria. In fact,
it is possible to "use up" your eligibility while you are in a
postdoctoral or non-tenure-track position. If you will have a
postdoctoral position in
2013-2014
that involves no teaching at all, however, then we recommend
that you wait until you have a job that does involve some
teaching. If your postdoctoral appointment ends
before the third meeting that you must attend as a Project NExT
Fellow, your institution may not be able to support your costs for
the third meeting. In such a case, your application will be deemed
as not having sufficient financial support and will not be
successful. If you have not used up your eligibility, you may wish
to apply the following year.
See also the FAQ on eligibility in one's second year of teaching, above, for more information about how we interpret eligibility after teaching for a year (or more). In general, if you are in a postdoctoral position with a teaching load of more than one course per term it is likely that this is equivalent to a full teaching load, and you may therefore not be eligible after completing the post-doctoral position.
As noted in the attendance FAQ, attending the first summer workshop and Mathfest in the Fellowship year is absolutely essential to be a Project NExT Fellow, because it is there that the majority of the Fellowship activities take place. Therefore, if something comes up that results in an accepted applicant being unable to attend the first summer workshop and Mathfest, it is unfortunately the case that s/he cannot be a Project NExT Fellow for that year.
In the event that an accepted applicant is, because of some emergency, unable to be a Project NExT Fellow, s/he should consider applying to be a Fellow the following year (if s/he is eligible then). Applicants who are applying a second time should see the FAQ question addressing this. Project NExT does not allow deferments. Because it remains a very popular program (see the acceptance rate FAQ), we try to ensure that as many people as possible are able to participate, which makes allowing deferments very difficult to manage.
If you are aware of a personal situation or professional commitment that will prevent you from attending any of the three meetings during 2013-2014, then you should not apply to Project NExT this year.
Answer:
You can check to see whether there is a Section NExT in your
region. Section NExTs are regional versions of Project NExT that
are sponsored by the MAA's geographic Sections. Their
eligibility criteria are usually less stringent than those of
the national program. You can find information about MAA
Sections on the
Section webpage
and a list of Sections that currently have Section NExTs on the
Section
NExT webpage.
In addition, the MAA Committee for Early Career Mathematicians
sponsors activities at the national meetings that are open to all
early career mathematicians.
Answer:
The first objective of the one-page vita is to tell us who you
are and where you've been, so that we don't have to piece
together your life history from your personal statement. It also
helps us to decide whether you meet the eligibility requirements
for the national Project NExT [See for 2nd
year teaching FAQ.] Beyond that,
we're interested in whatever you consider important - teaching
experience, papers and conference presentations, awards, etc.
Answer:
We realize that most people can't give a detailed description of
their research in only 250 words. We're interested in knowing
what you've been working on in the past and what your plans are
for future scholarly work.
Answer:
Your chair (/department head, or other person writing a letter of
support for you) is automatically notified by e-mail when you submit
your application to Project NExT. S/he can submit her/his letter by
uploading it at the site as requested by the Project NExT
application system. Please note: because this notification is
not sent until you submit your application, you should be sure to
contact your chair well in advance so that s/he knows the request
will come and has the required time to write the letter of
support.
Answer:
Since we don't want Fellows to drop out of the program because
of lack of travel money, the first thing we look for in the
letter of support is a firm and clearly stated institutional
commitment to pay the applicant's travel expenses to the three
meetings that participation in Project NExT entails [See
meeting cost FAQ]. We also want to know
whether the applicant will be permitted and encouraged to
implement new teaching strategies in the classroom. Beyond that, we
are interested in knowing how the applicant's participation in
Project NExT would contribute to the department's goals and about
its potential effect on the department as a whole. We also have an
instruction sheet for
chairs of prospective Project NExT Fellows.
Answer:
See the application page.
In recent years we have received 100 to 150 applications per year. We expect this year to accept about 80 Fellows.
Previous groups of Fellows have told us that the sense of community that develops among the Fellows is one of the most important aspects of Project NExT. Increasing the number of Fellows might make it harder to establish and maintain that sense of community. Costs are also a consideration.
Answer:
Our goal is to tell applicants on
June 1, 2013,
whether they were selected as Project NExT Fellows. Note that
we expect to send notices on
June 1, 2013.
It is not impossible, but very unlikely that you will hear before
then. (Whether you
are selected or not, you will hear from us.) Please make sure
that you give us a good postal mail address and a working e-mail
address on your application form, so that we can notify
you. Then be sure to check your e-mail (we usually
send notifications by e-mail) on
June 1, 2013.
If you apply for Project NExT and are not accepted, you may be eligible the following year and therefore be able to apply then. See the discussion of eligibility in your second year of teaching, above. If you are eligible and choose to re-apply the following year, your application will be read without prejudice, along with all the others—being turned down this year will not negatively influence your chances next year. If you are not a brand-new Ph.D., make sure that your application explains why you are still eligible when you apply next year. It is also a good idea to re-write your personal statement—not because there was necessarily anything "wrong" with it, but because, a year from now, you will have almost a full year of full-time teaching experience, and your perspective on teaching will probably have changed. You will also need an updated letter of support, of course, since we can't assume that this year's commitment will carry over to next year.
Yes. Starting last year we expect Fellows' institutions to cover all lodging costs for all meetings (in the past Project NExT has paid for 3-4 days of participants' lodging costs for the first Project NExT workshop). This change was made because of the changing sponsorship of Project NExT and is part of its transition to becoming an ongoing program of the MAA.
Answer:
The
2013-2014
Project NExT Fellows will have to attend three national meetings:
[Department chairs are usually interested in the fact that these three meetings are spread over two fiscal years.] Thus you will need:
(Project NExT Fellows often choose to cut hotel costs by sharing rooms with each other.)
Depending on transportation costs, this usually adds up to about $3500 per Fellow. Note that there is no charge for participating in the Project NExT Workshops and other activities. During the first summer Project NExT Workshop in Hartford, the Fellows' meals are paid for by the grants that support Project NExT. However, it is the responsibility of the Fellows' institutions to pay all lodging costs at the Project NExT Workshop and at Mathfest, and to pay for meals during Mathfest.
Answer:
The Fellows are expected to attend all three meetings:
Hartford
(July 29-August 3, 2013),
Baltimore
(January 15-18, 2014)
and
Portland
(August 6-9, 2014).
The meeting in
Hartford
(July 29-August 3, 2013)
is absolutely essential, because it is at the first summer
workshop that the Fellows begin building the sense of community
that is such an important part of Project NExT.
Although family or medical emergencies occasionally prevent a Fellow from attending one of the other two meetings, Fellows should not schedule travel or summer school teaching that would prevent them from attending. If you already know that you will be unable to attend all the days specified for the Project NExT Workshop and Mathfest in Hartford (July 29-August 3, 2013) or one of the other two meetings (the following Joint Mathematics Meetings and Mathfest), then you should not apply to Project NExT in 2013.
Answer:
You should register for Mathfest if you are planning to attend
Mathfest regardless of your acceptance into Project NExT. This
will guarantee that you get the lowest registration rate for the
conference. If you are not going to attend Mathfest unless you
are accepted to Project NExT, then you should wait until you have
heard from us. If you register after being accepted to Project
NExT, we will work with the MAA to get you the lowest
registration rate we can.