Distinguished Staff Fellowship Program

Apply Now

Our application window is now open (January 1–31). Please click the Apply Now button to respond to our job opening. You are encouraged to review the application requirements on FAQs #6–9 before applying. Please contact ornlfellows@ornl.gov for any issues you may encounter during the application process.


The Distinguished Staff Fellowship (DSF) program offers outstanding early career scientists and engineers a unique and prestigious entry to a career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Of more than 7,000 staff, just a select few are DSFs.

Fellowship highlights

  • Freedom to explore research interests.—Our Fellows are encouraged to explore new lines of scientific discovery while also pursuing their proposed work and participating in ongoing Laboratory projects. Along the way, they make a big impact, often developing new lab capabilities and programs.
  • Funding security.—The fellowship offers 3 years of guaranteed funding with assistance from divisions to identify funding and research opportunities to position them for successful roll-off.
  • Long-term employment opportunity.—We envision that our DSFs will pursue a long-term career at ORNL and strive to provide an experience that supports this. The Office of Research Education, which administers the DSF program, works with hiring divisions to support our fellows’ needs and implements programming to build a strong community among current and alumni DSFs.
  • Purposeful mentorship.—Divisions seeking to hire a DSF develop mentoring and integration plans that facilitate the Fellow’s successful integration into ORNL’s scientific mission and alignment of their research activities with US Department of Energy (DOE) missions. Hands-on mentorship by a team of senior research staff ensures DSFs build robust networks and are well-acquainted with ORNL’s wide-ranging resources and facilities.
  • Professional development.—DSFs are included in a specialized early career professional development program that grows their knowledge of Laboratory and DOE funding mechanisms for career success and of our research directorates and leadership to facilitate cross-disciplinary work.

Application windows

There are three application cycles per year (January, May, and September). Applicants can apply using the Apply Now button on the DSF landing page or directly on  jobs.ornl.gov when the application window is open. Applicants should be available to start their DSF fellowship within a year of the application window open date. Please refer to FAQ #9 for more information.

Qualifications

Applicants must have received their PhD or equivalent in a STEM field before beginning their fellowship and can be no more than 5 years beyond receiving their highest terminal degree on the date of application. Demonstrated leadership skills, ability to cultivate diversity of thought, a track record of scientific excellence, and a proposal addressing ORNL's scientific mission are also integral to applicant success. Please see FAQ #5 for detailed information.

Application procedures

Please refer to FAQ #6 for detailed instructions for submitting your application to ORNL’s Distinguished Staff Fellowship Program. 

Notification

Several steps in the application review process take place after the application window closing date. It may take several weeks for candidates to be notified of their application status. Please refer to FAQ #9 for more information.

Current Research