Scholarship : Mary Elvira Stevens Traveling Fellowship, USA

Study Subject: Traveling

Employer: Wellesley College

Level: Post Graduate

Fellowship Description: The Mary Elvira Stevens Traveling Fellowship, established by the will of Alice Alvira Stevens, Class of 1891, carries a stipend of up to $25,000 (taxable according to law) for up to a full year of travel or study outside the United States. It is available to a Wellesley graduate who is at least 25 years of age in the year of application, 2010. There is no limitation as to field of interest, but the applicant’s detailed plan must be approved in advance by the Fellowship Committee. Candidates seeking to explore either academic or non-academic fields are encouraged to apply. Except under unusual and compelling circumstances, the committee has not chosen in recent years to fund graduate study or PhD dissertation research.

The will states that “preference shall be given to persons with good temper and a natural generosity of view when confronted with alien conditions, common sense in observing and comprehending social, economic, and political situations, a strong desire to travel, and a deep love of beauty.” It also expresses the expectation that the Fellowship will provide for Wellesley alumnae and the United States “well-balanced young women who may or may not teach, write, or lecture, but who in any event will live in a spirit of knowledge and understanding that will assure a reasonable degree of wisdom.” We invite proposals for purposeful travel into unfamiliar territory that will inspire reflection and growth and lead to more fulfilling and productive personal and professional lives.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 1 December 2010

Further Scholarship Information and Application:

http://www.wellesley.edu/cws/stevensapp.pdf

PhD position in geomagnetism and rock magnetism, Zurich

The knowledge of the geomagnetic field evolution during archeological time is well constrained starting from the Roman period. In this project, we try to extend this knowledge to older periods: the Mesolithic, the Neolithic, the Copper and the Bronze Age (about 8000 to 3000 BC).

For this purpose we will perform a field campaign to three different sites in Switzerland and Northern Italy, and sample well stratified burned soils (fumiers) and villages.
Measurements of the basic rock magnetic parameters, directions and intensities of the geomagnetic field will be measured at the Laboratory for Natural Magnetism in Zurich, and tied with 14C dates that will be available through the ETH Zurich.
The results will help analyzing the firing conditions under which the burned soils formed, decipher the dynamics leading to the collapse of the buildings during the fire, and help reconstructing the geomagnetic field evolution between 8000 and 3000 BC. These results will also be tied with an ongoing study on the magnetic properties of Swiss lake sediments that cover the same time-span.

The candidate should have a good knowledge of geophysics (in particular rock magnetism), and archeology. Computer programming such fortran, matlab, or python are also preferred. The project is three years long.

Please submit your application including CV, motivation letter, and copies of academic qualifications and references to fabio.donadini@erdw.ethz.ch. The deadline for applications is 15 August 2010.