Award Description
The Louise and Brett Samsky Fellowship in Educational Science and Practice provides recent college graduates with the opportunity to spend two years engaged in a unique research-practice position within the Samsky Preschool. The preschool operates as both a school and a place of research and innovation on inclusive preschool education for children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Samsky fellows spend approximately half of their time directly engaging in preschool practice as a teaching assistant, and half of their time conducting associated research activities.
Louise and Brett Samsky Fellows will lead a research project, from study design or data collection through analysis and publication of results. Over the course of two years, fellows will gain experiences with observational research methods, cutting-edge intervention research and implementation science approaches. Furthermore, they will gain in-depth practical experience through direct classroom responsibilities, as well as clinical work with children spanning the full autism spectrum. Fellows also complete an intensive summer training seminar covering clinical research in ASD (one week), ASD grand rounds meetings (twice a month), lab meetings (weekly) and ongoing didactic practica.
Samsky Fellows are co-mentored by preschool directors and Emory research faculty and are involved in a highly active and productive community of clinical/educational research practitioners and scientists who study ASD. This fellowship aims to serve as a stepping stone for entry into the professional world of early childhood education, and/or doctoral programs in education, speech-language pathology or developmental/clinical psychology.
Award Amount
$38,000 in the first year, $39,000 in the second year (with full healthcare coverage across both years)
Sponsor Institution
Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine
Program Directors
Laura A. Edwards, Sally Fuhrmeister
Eligibility Requirements
College graduates who will have received a bachelor's degree by the start of the fellowship are eligible to apply.
For the Samsky Fellowship in Educational Science and Practice, research experience within general psychology, developmental psychology, and education is highly valued.
Interests in implementation sciences and educational neurosciences is necessary. Experience with infants and toddlers or children with ASD are valued by the selection committee.
Please note that this fellowship is not offered concurrently with graduate studies. However, for fellows leaving the program, we do hope that the fellowship will serve as an important stepping-stone towards future career goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please refer to the FAQ page for questions regarding this fellowship and the How to Apply page for more information on application.
Research at the Marcus Autism Center
Marcus Autism Center is the largest center for clinical care of children with ASD and their families in the US, seeing more than 5,000 patients per year. The center also works in partnership with Emory National Primate Research Center, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Georgia Institute of Technology. These partnerships enable a multidisciplinary and translational approach to ASD research, spanning projects in behavioral neuroscience, neuroimaging, molecular and population genetics, and treatment.
The directors of the fellowship program lead the social neuroscience, spoken communication, and neuroimaging research cores within Marcus Autism Center. These research cores use eye-tracking technology, neuroimaging, computational modeling, and behavioral neuroscience methods to better understand the causes and developmental mechanisms underlying ASD and to develop new tools to improve early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of ASD.
For additional questions, please contact the Marcus Fellowship Committee at marcus.predoc-fellowships@emory.edu or (404) 785-9554.