The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine offers awards for highly qualified candidates including recent doctoral recipients (接受者) and senior researchers. Applications are accepted during four annual review cycles (with deadlines of May 1, August 1, November 1, and February 1).

Awardees have the opportunity to:

●devote full-time effort to research and publication

●access the excellent and often unique facilities of the federal research enterprise

●cooperate with leading scientists and engineers at the sponsoring laboratories

Benefits of an NRC Research Associateship award include:

●1 year awards, renewable for up to 3 years

●allowances ranging from $ 45,000 to $ 80,000, higher for senior researchers

●Health insurance, moving benefits, and a professional travel allowance

Desired skills and experience:

Applicants should hold an earned doctorate in science or engineering. Degrees from universities abroad should be equal to a degree from a U. S. institution. Some awards are open to foreign nationals as well as to U. S. citizens and permanent residents.

About the employer:

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Fellowships Office has managed the NRC Research Associateship Programs in cooperation with federal laboratories and other research organizations since 1954. Through national competitions, the Fellowships Office recommends and makes awards to outstanding postdoctoral and senior scientists and engineers for tenure (终身聘用) as guest researchers at participating laboratories. A limited number of opportunities are available for support of graduate students in select fields.

One spring morning many years ago, I had been prospecting for gold along Coho Creek in southeastern Alaska. Suddenly, no more than 20 paces away was a huge Alaskan timber wolf-caught in a trap.

From her appearance, I guessed she had been trapped for several days. She needed my help, I thought. But if I tried to release her, she would turn aggressive to me. The wolf was clearly suffering. The trap's steel jaws had imprisoned two toes. They were swollen and lacerated, but she wouldn't lose the paw (爪子) — if freed. Yet each time I moved closer, she would make a frightening growl. If I could only win her confidence, I thought. It was her only hope.

Over the next few days, I divided my time between prospecting and trying to win the wolf's trust. I talked gently with her, throwing her some meat. Gradually, I kept edging closer — though I was careful to remain beyond the length of her trap chain.

At dusk on the fifth day, I delivered her dinner. Suddenly, I saw a slight wagging of her tail. I moved within the length of her chain. She remained sill. As a towering man, my heart was in my mouth, though. Within her reach, I wrapped my blanket around myself and slowly settled onto the cold ground. It was long before I fell asleep.

The next morning, I slowly placed my hand on the wolf's injured leg. Unexpectedly; she made no threatening move. Then I applied pressure, the trap sprang open, and the wolf pulled free.

My experience told me the wolf would vanish into the woods quickly. But cautiously, she crept toward me and sniffed my hands and arms. This went against everything I'd ever heard about timber wolves. Yet, strangely, it all seemed so natural.

Every year, the Palace of Fine. Arts Theatre in San Francisco fills up with dance lovers. They come to take in experimental works of art that all have one thing in common — hip hop. This weekend the San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest, the mission of which is to encourage the evolution of hip hop dance culture while preserving its legacy, celebrates 20 years of presenting exciting hip hop performances.

Each DanceFest has diversity of style and group size, and a balance of local and out-of-town companies. The festival has drawn impressive international talents. In fact, outstanding technical dance skills are only a basic standard that the festival organizers are looking for. They look for much more groups or solo artists that think outside the box. Artists that use hip hop in a theatrical way or use it to address social issues are sure to stand out. For instance, the 2010 performance “Tables and Chairs” served to highlight the negative effects of alcoholism on society, warning people against the addiction to alcohol.

It would be terribly irresponsible not to mention the founder, Micaya, in any introduction to DanceFest. A popular hip hop dance instructor, Micaya began producing high energy dance shows in the heart of San Francisco in 1993. Students love her classes so much that a San Francisco newspaper once called her “Best Dance Instructor”.

However, Micaya was concerned about the doubtful reputation of hip hop. She made it her goal to get hip hop the same recognition and respect as other dance forms. In 1999 she started DanceFest. It was the first festival of its kind to honor the creativity of hip hop dance in a non-competitive atmosphere. To Micaya, competitive formats leave little room for the magic that comes from true expression. One review said, Micaya's festival challenges us “to reconsider just how diverse ... and embracing hip hop can now be.” Indeed, Micaya brings out the best in dancers, and has given San Francisco one of its finest festivals.

I'm on the phone with a frustrated customer, and a note appears on my computer screen: You are speaking slower than usual. Speed up. I do, and the message disappears, only to be replaced with another: Continuous Speaking — Finish your thought.

This is Cogito, an artificial intelligence program designed to help customer service workers communicate more clearly, empathize (产生共鸣) with frustrated callers, and improve their overall performance. Cogito listens to the tone, pitch, word frequency and other factors in customer service conversations. When it detects something wrong-an irritated customer, a call center agent taking too long to respond — it displays a note on the agent's computer telling them how to improve.

For anyone who's spent hours of their lives stuck on the phone with an unhelpful or very rude customer service agent, Cogito may seem. like a godsend. And some customer service agents using the software generally say they find it helpful. One employee says that Cogito helped her cut her average call time nearly in half, while another says it helped her speaking slow down.

Cogito has been launched to more than sixty call centers across the U. S. over the past year. The company behind the software, Cogito Inc., has raised more than $ 70 million. “We were 45 people a year ago,” says Cogito CEO Josh Feast, whose. company now has 150 employees. At MetLife, managers say that the program improved customer satisfaction by 13%，and helped agents (who take an average of 700 calls a week) to have more “human” conversations.

Such software as Cogito is unlikely to stop at the meeting room. But like other enterprise software, it could soon spread well beyond call centers and other offices and into our daily lives.