On March 26, 2024 the Research Corporation for Science Advancement announced its inaugural class of RCSA Fellows, including CIERA Postdoctoral Scholar Sarah Blunt. The goal of the RCSA fellowship is to help increase faculty diversity in the physical sciences through job search preparation and community building. All 8 inaugural Fellows will access professional development programming and support as part of the multiyear program that aims to help transition fellows to a tenure-track faculty position.
“I’m honored to be selected as an RCSA fellow”, said Dr. Blunt. “I applied for this initiative because I want to learn not only how to get a faculty position, but also how to be an effective researcher, educator, and advocate once I do. Modern faculty positions are demanding, and I will need a broad network of support to succeed. I am looking forward to working with RCSA and the other new Fellows!”
Dr. Blunt studies the youngest exoplanets, in the first few million years of their life, in order to probe the planet formation process. She uses both radial velocity and direct imaging detection. She is the lead developer of the orbitize! software package for direct imaging orbit-fitting, and an expert in stellar noise modeling for young stars.
The Research Corporation for Science Advancement is a private foundation that funds basic research in the physical sciences (astronomy, chemistry, physics, and related fields) at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It creates and supports inclusive communities of early career researchers through two core programs — the Cottrell Scholar Program and Scialog — as well as the newly launched RCSA Fellows initiative.