Career Development

A successful postdoctoral experience requires not only progress in your research endeavors but development of your career plans. We are available to assist you in reviewing CVs, cover letters, and research statements for job applications and welcome your requests for an appointment. More importantly, however, you should be prepared to devote significant time and energy into mapping out your career and acquiring the skills necessary to succeed. Please try to take advantage of the many resources below.

Annual Evaluations
Postdoctoral Scholar
Travel Fund
Graduate Career Services
Grant Writing
Scientific Writing

Responsible Conduct of Research
Yale Biotechnology and
Pharmaceutical Society
Yale Business Cards
Online Career Resources
and Job Postings
Postdoc Fellowship Websites

Annual Evaluations (Central Campus Only)

As part of the annual reappointment process the postdoc and faculty mentor are expected to write an evaluation or progress report of the postdoctoral appointee’s activities in a manner that is clear and timely. The postdoc and faculty mentor fills out his/her part of the evaluation, discuss the progress made and future plans, and both sign the form. The form is then returned to the relevant Postdoctoral Affairs office via the postdocs's departmental administration.

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Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Fund

Attending academic conferences is extremely important for postdocs to network, present their work, and begin to think about what the next step will be in your career path. Your faculty mentor should agree to sponsor you to attend a conference. If, on rare occasions, your faculty mentor does not have the funds to send you to such a conference, you can apply to the Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Fund. 2008-2009 was our pilot year for this program. We have received the funding to continue the program during the 2011-2012 year. Please note: The fund is only available to postdocs in departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Please click here for the information sheet and application. Good luck!

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Graduate Career Services

Part of the McDougal Center, Graduate Career Services (GCS) is a comprehensive career center for students and alumni/ae of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Note that GCS seminars and workshops are available to postdocs too! Please click here for their calendar of events. GCS sends a weekly newsletter, GCSNews, with ongoing programs and career tips. To sign up, go to http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/gcsnotes.

The McDougal center also offers other services available to postdocs.

Graduate Teaching Center: click here

Family Life Calendar: click here

While individual tutoring is NOT available to postdocs, postdocs can attend some writing workshops. To find out more about the writing center, go to http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/writing/index.html.

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Grant Writing

Yale's office for Grant and Contract Administration maintains searchable databases listing funding opportunities. These include funding for postdoctoral fellowships and postdoc-faculty transition grants, as well as standard research grants for faculty. The office also offers programs to train investigators in the use of these resources and can also help with searches. Their website maintains links to funding agencies, information on internal grant competitions, information on grant preparation and review, links to Yale policies, and links to resources for scientists seeking funding. They also offer annual workshops on seeking funding, applying for grants, and preparing postdoctoral fellowship applications.

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Scientific Writing

Our Scientific Writing course for postdocs is a comprehensive, 8 week program that teaches the basic principles of scientific writing and applies them to one's own scientific document, such as a research paper. Participants learn and practice technical style, word choice and location, sentence structure, and paragraph structure, and apply the presented writing principles to their own research paper or grant. Emphasis is on practical application to achieve logic, good style, and maximum impact with the reader and reviewer in mind. This course is taught by a scientific writer and editor and is designed for native and non-native English speakers alike. The course is offered twice per year, and postdocs will be alerted by email when the course will next be available.

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Responsible Conduct of Research

This 8 week course trains postdocs in the responsible conduct of research and will cover topics recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity. It is usually offered in late spring and is given by University faculty and administrators.

Topics include:
Animal Subjects
Human Subjects
Data Management
Publication/Authorship/Peer Review
Conflicts of Interest
Research Misconduct
Lab Dynamics & Conflict Resolution
Mentoring

Go to http://www.yale.edu/training/, Postdoctoral Affairs for more information.

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Yale Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Society (YBPS)

The Yale Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Society (YBPS) brings together graduate students and postdocs in the biomedical sciences, business, medicine, public health, and law for educational and career-related opportunities in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The YBPS offers postdocs valuable experience, whether you plan a career in academia (how will you patent or develop a new technology?), as a researcher in industry (where can you make the best contributions to medical advances? what type of company fits your personality? how can you meet people who will hire you?), or in another role within industry (e.g., patent law, regulation, marketing, business development). The YBPS organizes several types of projects: 1) pro-bono consulting with local biotechnology companies; 2) investment analysis; 3) life sciences career fair; 4) seminar series on the private research sector. Topics of seminars and "biotech chats" range from patent law, drug regulation, venture capital, technological advances and consulting to concerns of entrepreneurs. The YBPS interacts with companies of all sizes, from five person start-ups to large pharmaceutical companies. For more information, and to sign up for weekly email announcements, visit the YBPS website.

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Yale Business Cards

Yale offers a simple and cost-effective way for you to generate official Yale business cards that you can use for networking at conferences, meetings, and other career events. Go to http://www.yale.edu/ris/sub_design_buscard.html to begin the process