New cohort of Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows arrive at Penn for faculty mentorship, career workshops

Penn’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs recently announced its 2025-26 cohort of Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows.

The program — first designed in 2010 in collaboration with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — offers academic resources and support to early-career postdoctoral scholars. This year’s cohort will conduct research across Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, the Perelman School of Medicine, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Each fellow will receive access to faculty mentorship, travel benefits, and networking opportunities. According to an announcement from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the program also couples independent study with professional development, including “grant writing intensives, faculty job market preparation workshops, writing retreats, and research-in-progress forums.”

“We’re delighted to welcome our newest Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows to Penn,” Marta Bartholomew, Penn's Director of Postdoctoral Affairs wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Since 2010, the Fellowship has supported 100+ postdocs whose research has enriched every school, and alumni of the fellowship now thrive across academia and industry. We look forward to supporting this cohort as they pursue bold ideas and build the next chapter of their careers.”

Fellows will receive a $67,000 stipend during the first year of their role, along with opportunities to increase their stipend by $2,000 increments in the following years of the program.

Audrey Drotos, one of the five fellows honored this year, will join Perelman’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology to study auditory neuroscience. Perelman professor Maria Geffen will serve as Drotos’ faculty mentor.

“As a Penn Provost Fellow, I am excited to conduct high-impact science in Dr. Geffen’s lab while mentoring students and advancing my science outreach, which I view as a critical part of being a scientist,” Drotos wrote in a statement to the DP. 

Faculty mentors are responsible for consulting with each fellow to develop an individualized plan, track and report progress, and encourage fellows to attend workshops. According to the program’s website, the mentors are also expected to “respect the postdoctoral fellow’s individuality, working style, and career goals.”

Drotos wrote that her research at Penn will focus on “the thalamic reticular nucleus” — a “group of inhibitory neurons, directs attention to behaviorally relevant sounds.”

Before coming to Penn, Drotos attended the University of Michigan, where she received her Ph.D. in a program fully funded by predoctoral fellowships associated with the National Health Institutes and the National Science Foundation.

In addition to her research, Drotos emphasized her “commitment to advancing science both within and beyond academia” through nonprofit work and by serving as a mentor to new scholars.

Postdoctoral fellow Rama Hagos, who will conduct sociological research at Penn’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Immigration, will also join the program. Hagos will study under the guidance of sociology professors Chenoa Flippen and Jason Schnittker.

“We're very excited to be hosting a scholar of Dr. Hagos's caliber,” Schnittker wrote in a statement to the DP. “We look forward to what she produces next, with all the resources the Penn environment can provide.”

Other 2025-26 fellows include Marquise Bell, who will collaborate with engineering professor Kevin Turner to design and program wearable robotic materials, and Malcolm Nelson, who will investigate empathy and cultural norms in ancient Greek society as part of Penn’s Department of Classical Studies.

Bell wrote in a statement to the DP that he is “excited about continuing my academic career, especially at such a supportive and prestigious university.”

“I plan to focus on integrating tunable adhesion and unique mechanical functions into textile-based wearables, working toward the next-generation of compliant and comfortable assistive devices,” Bell added.

Julia Honoroff, also joining the fellowship, will contribute to the PHLHousing+ pilot program — a rental assistance project spearheaded by the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation and the City of Philadelphia in collaboration with Penn. The program recently published information on a potential new method of housing assistance in addition to evaluating the effectiveness of existing housing assistance.

The program was formerly titled the “Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship for Academic Diversity.” According to internet archives, a previous version of the fellowship’s website described the purpose of the initiative to support “Penn’s ongoing efforts to diversify the academic research community.”

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