YSM Science Fellows Info Session 2023
September 22, 2023ID10734
To CiteDCA Citation Guide
- 00:15Hi, everybody.
- 00:16Thanks so much for joining.
- 00:17You are all welcome to to turn
- 00:20on your cameras if you want.
- 00:21We're really hoping this
- 00:22to be a discussion.
- 00:23We've made some slides, but
- 00:27this will be I think more useful the more
- 00:30each of you feel free to to to join in.
- 00:37Absolutely. Hi everyone.
- 00:41I'm, I'm sorry.
- 00:43I was gonna say we should start
- 00:44with introduction, so go ahead.
- 00:47Yeah, I was just gonna say I'm in fat Levy.
- 00:49And with me is Kristen Bernard and we're
- 00:52both the Co directors of the program.
- 00:54Would you wanna say anything
- 00:56else, Kristen? Yeah,
- 00:57I think all of you know this is
- 00:59the second year of the program,
- 01:00so you were all much less Guinea
- 01:02pigs than last year's class.
- 01:04We have a much better idea this
- 01:06year about what the application
- 01:07structure will look like.
- 01:09And I think we realized last year that
- 01:12we didn't give enough information to
- 01:14those of you who were applying to make it
- 01:17even footing in the applications, right?
- 01:20Because we just said they wanted a
- 01:22personal statement and diversity statement
- 01:24and CB and we didn't explain what we
- 01:26meant by those or why we wanted them.
- 01:28And so this year,
- 01:29we really wanted to level the
- 01:31playing ground a bit better
- 01:33and make sure that all of you,
- 01:35regardless of how good your mentor
- 01:37is or how invested your mentor is
- 01:39right now on your application,
- 01:41that you all get the same
- 01:44information from us,
- 01:45like directly from us about what
- 01:47we think these sections mean and
- 01:49why we're asking for these sections
- 01:53exactly. And we have a few
- 01:55slides to start with or
- 01:57just give you a general introduction
- 01:58to the program and some information.
- 02:01But really the main focus of this
- 02:03meeting is to let you, to give you
- 02:06an opportunity to ask us questions.
- 02:07So we just feel free to ask,
- 02:10unmute yourself and ask or write in the chat.
- 02:14Let me share my my screen.
- 02:28Everybody can see the big orange slide. OK.
- 02:35OK. So this is our agenda for today.
- 02:37We'll give you some brief
- 02:39introduction to the program.
- 02:40We'll describe the application process,
- 02:42the selection process,
- 02:44give you some advice on how
- 02:46to write a good application.
- 02:48And of course, the most important
- 02:50thing is the questions.
- 02:54So as I think you probably know,
- 02:56our goal in this program is to recruit,
- 02:58support, retain outstanding scientists
- 03:00from diverse backgrounds. So there are,
- 03:03there are two things here, right?
- 03:04We're looking for people who are really
- 03:07exceptional scientists and at the same time,
- 03:09also contribute to diversity,
- 03:12equity and inclusion.
- 03:13And as Kristen has already said,
- 03:16we're very successful the first
- 03:18year attracting 3 wonderful
- 03:20fellows that have just started.
- 03:23These are their names on the screen.
- 03:25And we are hoping to do
- 03:27the same thing this year.
- 03:30And so let me tell you a
- 03:32little bit about the program.
- 03:35And the idea is to recruit
- 03:38fellows at a very young stage,
- 03:40right out of the PhD.
- 03:41Recruit them as postdocs and give
- 03:45them mentoring sponsors, sponsorship,
- 03:47support from the university,
- 03:50from the department.
- 03:52The idea is to have that
- 03:54phase for three to five years,
- 03:56and during which you'll get
- 03:59mentoring from at least one mentor,
- 04:02maybe more.
- 04:02You'll have a mentoring committee that
- 04:04will support you and make sure that
- 04:06you're on track and that you were getting
- 04:09everything that you're supposed to get.
- 04:11You'll get support from individuals
- 04:14with similar life experiences,
- 04:17individually tailored training,
- 04:20workshops on leadership,
- 04:22mentorship,
- 04:23grant writing,
- 04:24anything that you need for your career.
- 04:29Importantly,
- 04:30there'll be generous salary research funding.
- 04:34And then after this phase,
- 04:37the plan is to transition you to an
- 04:40independent tenure track position.
- 04:41This is the goal.
- 04:43So, yeah, I'm going to jump in
- 04:45with a few more details here.
- 04:47One, you don't have to have named this
- 04:49prospective mentor when you apply.
- 04:51That's all part of the interview process,
- 04:53right? So what we want you to
- 04:55describe is what you're going to do.
- 04:57We'll talk more about that.
- 04:59But the, the mentor and the mentoring
- 05:01committee are both things that you,
- 05:04you know that the the finalists will
- 05:07kind of put together in the new year.
- 05:10I want to talk about generous salary.
- 05:12We're talking 90K a year,
- 05:13so substantially better than
- 05:15the average postdoc. Sorry.
- 05:17Can you go back about one more thing?
- 05:20Oh, and then transition to independence.
- 05:25The the previous fellows had
- 05:27a lot of questions about this.
- 05:29They were really worried that we were
- 05:31trying to trick them that by transition
- 05:33to independence we were talking about.
- 05:35We will be looking for any excuse
- 05:37not to give them a promotion
- 05:41to to an independent track.
- 05:43And they wanted to see,
- 05:44you know from their future chairs in
- 05:46writing exactly how many papers and
- 05:48exactly what amount of funding was the
- 05:51minimum that they would need to be promoted.
- 05:53And the chairs were actually really
- 05:55reluctant to write that down,
- 05:56but not because they were trying
- 05:58to trick the the the trainees,
- 06:00but rather because they wanted the
- 06:02flexibility to keep these people that
- 06:04they had picked as complimenting
- 06:06their department,
- 06:07even if the paper was just owned
- 06:09by archive and not accepted,
- 06:10or if the grant had gotten really good
- 06:13scores but hadn't been funded yet.
- 06:15And so it really is about the chairs
- 06:18are picking out scientists that they
- 06:20want to be in their faculty 5 years from now.
- 06:24We are requiring of our department
- 06:26chairs to hold a hiring slot,
- 06:29startup funds and space in reserve
- 06:32on the expectation that the fellows
- 06:34will win like so not win that the
- 06:36fellows will will earn them and
- 06:39achieve this position.
- 06:40And so I want to stress that this
- 06:42is not about us looking to find any
- 06:45loophole to keep you from transitioning.
- 06:48The goal here is the assumption
- 06:50of transition.
- 06:51Sorry, I thought you can go ahead now.
- 06:53Yeah, it was great and really,
- 06:54really important.
- 06:55So going back to the funding
- 06:57during the fellow stage,
- 06:59as person said that general salary
- 07:0390,000 a year plus benefits,
- 07:06in addition 10,000 and discretionary
- 07:09funds for things like moving expenses,
- 07:13a lot of things you know extra
- 07:15childcare that you you require
- 07:19anything really to support you.
- 07:21In addition, the department will give you
- 07:2550,000 a year for your research funds,
- 07:27and again, that could be used for
- 07:30different things to find your research.
- 07:33It could be paying your research
- 07:35assistant salary.
- 07:36It could be animals, human subjects,
- 07:39materials, reagents,
- 07:40anything that you need.
- 07:42Anything above that your mentor
- 07:44is not already providing, right?
- 07:45Like this is that you don't
- 07:46have to ask for permission.
- 07:48Your mentor, of course,
- 07:48is going to make the same available reagents
- 07:50to you as everybody else in the lab.
- 07:52We want to allow you to be able
- 07:54to fast track and not have to
- 07:56ask if you wanted a Sun RN,
- 07:58A/C or a Sun data set, right?
- 08:00Like you don't have to convince them,
- 08:01you could just do it
- 08:04exactly. And if you need more than that,
- 08:08the program will have a funding for
- 08:12additional research funds for you,
- 08:14which you will have to apply
- 08:16to get up to 100,000 a year
- 08:23okay So application process.
- 08:24The deadline is November 1st
- 08:26and this is really important.
- 08:29There are 4 components for the application,
- 08:31one of them is the letters of recommendation,
- 08:333 confidential letters that you.
- 08:36If you haven't done that already,
- 08:37you should arrange for these
- 08:39letters as soon as possible.
- 08:41Let your letter writers know that
- 08:43you're applying and they should
- 08:45submit a letters by November 1st.
- 08:48I would say on average,
- 08:50one of these letter writers is
- 08:52going to be your PhD mentor,
- 08:54and the other two are probably going
- 08:56to be either current collaborators.
- 08:58In all likelihood, the chair of your
- 09:00thesis committee is a typical one.
- 09:02We want them to people who have known
- 09:04you for more than a summer, right?
- 09:05We're not looking for that
- 09:07summer undergrad research mentor.
- 09:08We're looking for people who've
- 09:10known you your whole grad school
- 09:12time on rare occasions,
- 09:13and we've seen this for like the
- 09:15regular faculty interviews too.
- 09:17There are trainees who have had a
- 09:20disastrously catastrophic relationship
- 09:21with their mentor and they can't
- 09:24use those letters. That is Okay.
- 09:26We've all seen this, right?
- 09:27Like, in those cases,
- 09:28trainees will often need a letter
- 09:30from their chair who will discreetly
- 09:32kind of hint at there being something.
- 09:35Or like I don't want you not to
- 09:37apply because your PhD mentor and
- 09:39you have had something right?
- 09:40Like that is not necessarily reflection
- 09:43on your future and your potential.
- 09:46But don't just skip a letter,
- 09:48right Like your letter.
- 09:49We all as faculty know the drill on letters.
- 09:52We can put things in letters that
- 09:54you guys can in no way politely
- 09:55put in a personal statement so
- 09:57you don't have to talk about it
- 09:58in your personal statement.
- 09:59The letter writers will if
- 10:01they know they need to.
- 10:02And if you're in a position where something,
- 10:04either your daily mentor has gotten ill,
- 10:07passed away, or there's no relationship,
- 10:10this is not the first time
- 10:11this has happened in science.
- 10:13It is negotiable.
- 10:14And somebody in your community should be
- 10:17able to help guide you through that too.
- 10:22And then the other parts are
- 10:26pretty straightforward and
- 10:28simple research statement,
- 10:30one page where we want you to
- 10:33tell us what you've done before,
- 10:35what you're currently doing and what
- 10:37your vision is for your future at Yale.
- 10:40Why don't you go one slide forward
- 10:41and we'll go into more detail on
- 10:43both of those if you thought, OK,
- 10:46so I want to really talk about research
- 10:49statement because this is where we saw the
- 10:52most variability in quality last year.
- 10:54I think some people saw this and
- 10:56thought that they should just describe
- 10:58their current research for a page.
- 11:01Some people thought they should just
- 11:03describe their future research for a page.
- 11:05And what you really need to do is both of
- 11:08these, and you have to contextualize why.
- 11:11Why is this an important problem?
- 11:14Why did your PhD training prepare
- 11:16you to address it?
- 11:18How will your future experiments
- 11:21with expected outcomes address it?
- 11:23Right. So what have you done?
- 11:26What will you do?
- 11:27And why is it important that you're doing it?
- 11:30All of that has to fit into one page.
- 11:32I think we put 11 point font
- 11:35.5 margins in the application.
- 11:38So it's a dense page.
- 11:39One page though.
- 11:40Paul, I see a question.
- 11:44Yeah, so usually these are 12 pages.
- 11:47How is this going to be
- 11:49like a two step process?
- 11:51We're going to be applying for
- 11:53like just with the one page of
- 11:55research statement right now and
- 11:56then it'll be like a second round,
- 11:58it'll be more like 10 pages or something.
- 12:00Or do you like, I just don't
- 12:02know how to really cover enough
- 12:04information off of just one page past,
- 12:06present and future?
- 12:08Well, I mean this is a part
- 12:09of the challenge, right?
- 12:10Like maybe you haven't had to do this before,
- 12:12but it will look a lot like
- 12:13an aims page potentially where
- 12:14you have summarized it right.
- 12:16And so keep in mind, last year we had
- 12:20six committee members screen 120 apps.
- 12:23I believe our goal is to have
- 12:26everybody read all the apps, right?
- 12:28So if you each give us 12 pages,
- 12:31we are we're we're screening
- 12:33them in a different way.
- 12:34We are trying to take a lot of the bias
- 12:37and the randomness out of this process.
- 12:39And so yeah,
- 12:40it is a challenge to do this in one page.
- 12:44And I'm really trying here to give you
- 12:46the insight, don't skip on premise,
- 12:48don't skip on why feasibility,
- 12:51that's your past and don't
- 12:53skip on impact in the future.
- 12:56I see another question in
- 12:58the chat references.
- 13:00I don't really care.
- 13:02They can go on a separate page.
- 13:03Figures are included,
- 13:04yeah,
- 13:04so you're probably not going
- 13:05to get to put them in.
- 13:10I'm also going to add that the research
- 13:14statement and the diversity statement,
- 13:15the initial round of screening
- 13:17is done just on these two things,
- 13:20blind to where the papers are,
- 13:22right? Like, so I think
- 13:26we really want you to in one page.
- 13:29What is the punchline about why you
- 13:31can do this cool research and why you?
- 13:34Why should we invest in you as a person? And
- 13:40then the next thing is
- 13:42the diversity statement.
- 13:43One more question,
- 13:44the background expertise of the committee.
- 13:46So we've got four people who have
- 13:49been involved in the El fellas.
- 13:51From the beginning. I fought myself,
- 13:54Darren Lattimore who is the head of
- 13:56CEI and Neil Med and Tony Kolesky,
- 13:59the Dean of Basic Research.
- 14:01So it's that.
- 14:02And then we are going to have
- 14:04departmental representatives,
- 14:06probably one per department that is
- 14:08most invested in the program this year.
- 14:10So we've had a handful of departments
- 14:13say they very much expect and
- 14:15want to take a fellow this year.
- 14:17And so we will have those representatives.
- 14:19So we can of course can't have
- 14:21one faculty from every department
- 14:22that's like 30 departments.
- 14:24The committee would never get anything done,
- 14:26so we wanted to buy it in terms of
- 14:28departments that were really vested.
- 14:30So again, you should write this.
- 14:32If you're a cancer biologist,
- 14:34write it like me as a neuroscientist
- 14:36is reading it right.
- 14:37I don't know why anything
- 14:38is important in cancer.
- 14:39You better make sure you spend
- 14:40a little bit of language telling
- 14:42me why it's important.
- 14:44Darren.
- 14:46Go ahead Paul,
- 14:48one more question.
- 14:49Do we have to make it as a as an aims
- 14:51page in this context because or can we,
- 14:53you know, be a little creative in
- 14:55a way that we actually categorize
- 14:56and separate all of the topics to
- 14:59discuss in the research section.
- 15:00You know, like your plans for the future,
- 15:04what are we currently doing and etc.
- 15:06As opposed to you know like AIM 123,
- 15:10the only criteria are one page 11
- 15:13point aerial half inch margins.
- 15:15However structure it just
- 15:17get those goals across.
- 15:18Why is this important?
- 15:19What are you doing?
- 15:21Thank you.
- 15:27Yes, I just, yeah,
- 15:30I was just wondering if the
- 15:32departments that are really invested,
- 15:35if that has any weight on the
- 15:39selection process in some way.
- 15:41Let's say that you're from a department
- 15:44that maybe is just hearing about this
- 15:46or it's not like fully get there.
- 15:48I'm just curious about how that
- 15:50works in and if also just like what
- 15:53departments are those that are,
- 15:55you know, heavily invested.
- 15:56Yeah, so that's a good question.
- 15:58I just put on the screen the departments
- 16:01that already explicitly said that
- 16:03they are interested or invested.
- 16:05They want to hire fellows this year.
- 16:08This doesn't mean that other
- 16:10departments are not interested.
- 16:11So if your research is in
- 16:14line with other departments,
- 16:16definitely still apply.
- 16:18But if you can align your research or
- 16:21present your research in a way that
- 16:24is consistent with these departments,
- 16:26we encourage you to do so.
- 16:28Remember that we are requiring the
- 16:30departments to have a faculty slot,
- 16:32so not all departments this year
- 16:35have a faculty slot, right?
- 16:36So the IT it's not that they've
- 16:39just heard about Yale fellows,
- 16:40they've they've heard about Yale fellows.
- 16:42We've presented to them a couple
- 16:43times a year for the last few years.
- 16:45They're all aware of it.
- 16:46It's about who's got money in the bank
- 16:48or space in the bank because they
- 16:50don't have to also hold space, right.
- 16:52And so this,
- 16:53this process is really a matching process.
- 16:56I want to say that last year,
- 16:58and I think we'll get into this later,
- 16:59we had, you know, maybe 15 semi finalists.
- 17:02And from there we picked finalists
- 17:05that were both the scientifically
- 17:06strongest but matched with
- 17:08departments that had good interest.
- 17:09And a lot of the final selection we made
- 17:11at the department's reciprocally prepare a
- 17:13plan to ensure the success of the trainees.
- 17:16And the final decision actually came down
- 17:19to which departments had the best plan.
- 17:21Now I know that can feel chaotic to you.
- 17:23That's out of your control.
- 17:24But the flip side being you don't
- 17:25want to go to a department that
- 17:27doesn't have a good plan.
- 17:28You want them scored on this.
- 17:29If you're admitted,
- 17:30you want to know that somebody vetted this.
- 17:33And so, yeah,
- 17:34there's a bit of this process
- 17:36that's independent of you,
- 17:38but that's cuz we don't want
- 17:39to hang anybody out to dry.
- 17:42Exactly. Paul, do
- 17:43you have another question
- 17:44or is your hand still up?
- 17:48I actually just forgot to put it down.
- 17:50Sorry about that. OK.
- 17:53I also we wanted to talk about the
- 17:56diversity statement because not all of
- 17:57you will have written one of these before.
- 18:00What we don't want to hear so much
- 18:03is what you feel about diversity,
- 18:05what your beliefs are about diversity.
- 18:07What we want to know is what your actions
- 18:11have been and will be around contributing
- 18:14to a diverse and inclusive environment.
- 18:20Any questions?
- 18:23Just to add one thing to this.
- 18:25This includes both your actions,
- 18:28what you have done to contribute
- 18:31to diversity, what you're planning
- 18:33to do to contribute to diversity,
- 18:35and also anything about your own
- 18:37background that is relevant and will
- 18:40increase diversity among faculty. Attl.
- 18:47Any questions? What's in
- 18:49the chat? I saw a two. Now,
- 18:52you're better than if the research
- 18:55areas about behavioral health,
- 18:56behavioral science,
- 18:57is it appropriate to apply?
- 18:59At this point,
- 19:00I would not tell anybody not to apply.
- 19:03I will point out that if you're
- 19:05writing to the School of Engineering
- 19:06or the School of Public Health,
- 19:08these are not part of the School of Medicine.
- 19:10So unless there are clear faculty
- 19:12who are both in engineering and
- 19:14the School of Medicine or in public
- 19:16health and the School of Medicine,
- 19:19it's not going to fit the
- 19:20School of Medicine specific
- 19:24you know, program. And so if you're
- 19:26coming on the boundary of that,
- 19:29make sure. And so I guess
- 19:30that's both Allison and Thomas.
- 19:32If you're coming on the boundary of what you
- 19:34think is part of the School of Medicine,
- 19:36make sure there are faculty in the School
- 19:37of Medicine who would be appropriate mentors.
- 19:39I think here the onus is on you a little
- 19:41bit more to show that it's relevant,
- 19:43but there's the department and
- 19:45some faculty mentors who exist
- 19:47in the School of Medicine.
- 19:49There is another question about
- 19:52MD candidates without PhD.
- 19:54So unfortunately this program
- 19:56is for PhDs or MD PhD.
- 20:00Yale does have a strong
- 20:02physician scientist program,
- 20:04so MDS are encouraged to
- 20:07check out that program.
- 20:13On a on a similar question for
- 20:15that for MDPH D's in particular,
- 20:17is there a particular timeline
- 20:19in which they should apply?
- 20:21For example, once we finish our PhD,
- 20:23we we still have to finish our
- 20:26our medical school training.
- 20:28We usually go back to finish that
- 20:30and then apply to residency.
- 20:32So I wasn't sure how you know where
- 20:37in that timeline might be the most
- 20:39appropriate time to to apply to to this.
- 20:43That's a good question.
- 20:46I don't think we've talked about
- 20:48this one yet to be honest.
- 20:49I think you'll force us to talk about
- 20:52it this year if you apply this year.
- 20:54I can't see you not being eligible
- 20:56if you decide to wait a year because
- 20:58your hands were too full as well.
- 21:01OK, thank you.
- 21:05And candidates with more than
- 21:07five years posted experience.
- 21:08Still algebra. No. We're
- 21:11looking at. There's not a hard line,
- 21:13but I would say one to two years Max.
- 21:15We're really looking at.
- 21:17I'm about to graduate in 2024,
- 21:19I graduated in 2023 and and
- 21:23maybe I graduated in 2022,
- 21:25but that's kind of the window
- 21:26that we'd like to keep it to.
- 21:28I think by the time you've
- 21:29done five years of postdoc,
- 21:30you're not eligible for a lot of these
- 21:33transitionary fundings that we're
- 21:34hoping to be preparing the fellows for.
- 21:38Another question about next year.
- 21:40So yes, the plan is to have this
- 21:42program for at least five years.
- 21:44We are now at year two,
- 21:46so we're planning to continue.
- 21:49And then is there a minimum limit
- 21:52to publications and citations?
- 21:53No, there is no hard limit on anything.
- 21:57It's the quality of your research,
- 21:58not how many publications
- 21:59you had and where they were.
- 22:01The School of Public Health is not under YSM.
- 22:04Neither is the School of Engineering.
- 22:06Does it matter if a faculty member
- 22:09has multiple appointments? Nope.
- 22:10They just have to have an appointment
- 22:13into the School of Medicine.
- 22:14It can be a primary or a secondary.
- 22:17That's fine.
- 22:23Any other questions?
- 22:33My current Yale postdoc, Year one.
- 22:36What level of independence from the
- 22:38faculty's research are you looking for?
- 22:40I mean, we're really looking for a
- 22:43plan here. So I think if you are.
- 22:49So last year in fact,
- 22:51one of our accepted fellows was
- 22:55currently a Yale postdoc and she did an
- 22:58amazing job of talking about how she
- 23:00was going to take her PhD research,
- 23:03which was different and her postdoc
- 23:05research at Yale and combine
- 23:06them in a new direction. Right.
- 23:08So that's why you can have past,
- 23:09present, future.
- 23:10And I think here you.
- 23:12I mean in all cases you want
- 23:13your future to be different than
- 23:15your postdoc research, right?
- 23:16Like you, you can never duplicate
- 23:19your postdoc mentor and and expect
- 23:21to be funded by the NIH or to be
- 23:24hired at the same institution.
- 23:26A part of the plan really has to be
- 23:29how are you going to differentiate yourself.
- 23:38Any other questions about the
- 23:42proposal? Just to give you, Oh
- 23:45yes, a letter can be from
- 23:46your current post doc mentor.
- 23:48No problem. Absolutely.
- 23:50And just to give you a little
- 23:53more information about the OK,
- 23:54so we talked about this.
- 23:56The only thing we didn't talk about
- 23:58was the NIH style BIOS sketch.
- 24:00Some of you have written this
- 24:02already for grant applications.
- 24:04If not, we have pretty
- 24:07detailed instructions on
- 24:09this because it's a known format.
- 24:12It's very consistent.
- 24:13We were fearful that if we asked for CVS,
- 24:16we would get 100 different
- 24:17sets of information.
- 24:18So again, in order to minimize bias,
- 24:21this is the format we're going with.
- 24:23No CVS to allow everybody the exact
- 24:25same opportunity to present themselves?
- 24:29No, The application also has
- 24:33fields for entering potential
- 24:35departments and potential mentors.
- 24:37Now potential departments we ask you to
- 24:40insert at least one would be more than one,
- 24:43and that will help us in the review process
- 24:45to know who should review your application.
- 24:48For mentors, you don't have
- 24:50to enter any faculty mentors.
- 24:52If you think of people.
- 24:53If there are names that you have in
- 24:55mind that could be good mentors for you,
- 24:58do mention them.
- 24:58You don't have to contact them.
- 25:00You don't have to coordinate
- 25:02anything with them.
- 25:03It just again,
- 25:04helps us to know more about
- 25:05your research and what will be
- 25:07a good fit for your research.
- 25:10Please don't go asking them to
- 25:11be a letter if they've never
- 25:13met with you or worked with you.
- 25:14It is not going to advantage
- 25:16your application at this point.
- 25:17We want letters from people who
- 25:19know you and know your potential,
- 25:21not a vague letter who's never met you
- 25:23saying they're open to hosting you.
- 25:25We're assuming if you're free to them,
- 25:27they're going to be open to hosting you,
- 25:28right? You don't have to demonstrate
- 25:30that to us.
- 25:35We have no issues with visas.
- 25:39All comers are eligible.
- 25:42We
- 25:46went over the departments already.
- 25:48Any other questions on
- 25:50the application process?
- 25:55Have you a little bit about
- 25:57the selection process?
- 25:59You've heard clinical departments,
- 26:03Yeah, yes. Then definitely absolutely
- 26:06anything in the School of Medicine.
- 26:10So you've heard about
- 26:12the selection committee.
- 26:13We expect to invite between 10 and
- 26:1615 applicants to give short zoom
- 26:19to to for short zoom interviews
- 26:23with the selection committee,
- 26:24and out of those we'll select a few,
- 26:26probably 7 to 8,
- 26:28and invite them for in person visits.
- 26:31Again, this is not just
- 26:33based on the interviews,
- 26:34not just based on the applications.
- 26:35It's also based on matching
- 26:38with available departments
- 26:43and we hope to make up to
- 26:45four offers this year.
- 26:53OK. I think we're done with the slide.
- 26:56So now we're just open for only questions.
- 26:58Whatever you want to know.
- 27:02I thought maybe you want to stop sharing
- 27:03and we can see more of the window.
- 27:07Yeah, feel free to raise your
- 27:08hand if you've got questions.
- 27:10We have about 30 minutes that
- 27:12Thought and I are both free.
- 27:14We are happy to talk about anything.
- 27:18I we are mindful that that
- 27:20you know there's some similar
- 27:23fellowship opportunities out there.
- 27:25The Gilliam, so I know the Hannah Grays
- 27:27announced they'll also be due in the spring.
- 27:30The F-90 Nines are due December 1.
- 27:33We're hoping our N1 deadline will
- 27:36facilitate those of you getting
- 27:38organized for those other ones
- 27:40but also not hit all of you with
- 27:42too many deadlines all at once.
- 27:44So I know last year we had an extension
- 27:47that was because the first year there
- 27:48will not be an extension on this one.
- 27:50Do not expect us to delay
- 27:52till December or January.
- 27:53We've already got our
- 27:54committee meeting scheduled.
- 27:55It will be a N1 deadline.
- 27:58Alan,
- 28:00hi. Just as a follow up on
- 28:03my question in the chat.
- 28:05So I work in an infectious
- 28:06disease department as a PhD
- 28:08simply because my mentor
- 28:09is an MD PhD and she has a clinical
- 28:11role as well.
- 28:12I think it's somewhat unlikely for
- 28:15a PhD to be hired in a clinical
- 28:17infectious disease department.
- 28:18So do you know if that's the case?
- 28:22Or is it possible for for someone like
- 28:24that to be hired in a clinical department?
- 28:26Or would it be like a
- 28:28slightly different department
- 28:29that I might be transitioning into
- 28:30if I were to go through this program?
- 28:33Well, infectious disease probably
- 28:35fits in like ibio or micro.
- 28:38So I I don't know whether it would
- 28:40necessarily be infectious disease
- 28:42or like I said ibio or micro.
- 28:46But there are certainly do not
- 28:48limit yourself based on working
- 28:49currently today with a mentor
- 28:51who is in a clinical department.
- 28:53It doesn't mean that's your only fit.
- 29:06Yes, absolutely.
- 29:07Psychiatry and child study center count.
- 29:09I don't feel like I'm in this
- 29:12department of psychiatry
- 29:13primary and I'm a PhD only.
- 29:15I please don't think you have to have
- 29:16an MD to be in a clinical department.
- 29:23So just public health. Maybe a
- 29:26confusion about public health is
- 29:28that it used to be part of the School
- 29:30of Medicine until very recently and
- 29:33now it's an Independent School.
- 29:34So This is why it's not
- 29:35included, unfortunately.
- 29:39Question for ibio, is it?
- 29:41I know it wasn't listed
- 29:42on as one as one of the,
- 29:45I guess heavily interested ones,
- 29:47but I was just wondering if if
- 29:49there were slots there or not,
- 29:51you know, or yeah,
- 29:52if one were applying to that department.
- 29:56Ibio took 2 Yale fellows last year.
- 29:58They're very committed to this program.
- 30:01So I would not rule it out,
- 30:04but I think there's some thought
- 30:05that we should share the wealth,
- 30:19structure of the mentoring support.
- 30:21So one of the things that, you know,
- 30:24I have felt like is that we
- 30:27necessarily aren't very good at having
- 30:30consistent mentoring between labs.
- 30:31And so when the department's
- 30:33putting together their proposal,
- 30:35the area proposal includes questions
- 30:36about who the lab mentor will
- 30:39be during the postdoc years.
- 30:40It includes questions about who the
- 30:42postdoc mentoring committee will be.
- 30:44So that's like having a thesis
- 30:45committee in grad school,
- 30:46but a postdoc committee.
- 30:47And it has questions from the
- 30:49department about how they're going
- 30:50to make sure you know the skills in
- 30:53lab management and grant writing are
- 30:54trained to you On the in parallel,
- 30:58we have access to a number of
- 31:01programs that focus on some of
- 31:03these other skills as well.
- 31:04And so you'll you'll know you'll
- 31:05benefit from the thought and I in
- 31:07terms of mentorship and guidance
- 31:08outside of the scientific realm,
- 31:10since we're unlikely to be
- 31:11experts in what you do,
- 31:12your department's going to be
- 31:13committing a lot of mentoring support.
- 31:15And the the big point here
- 31:16is that it's not just coming
- 31:18from your mentor or mentors.
- 31:19We had a couple last year
- 31:21shows to be Co mentored
- 31:25and I can just add that the chair of your
- 31:27department will also be part of this.
- 31:29So it is all done in
- 31:33coordination with the chair.
- 31:34The chair is the chair plays a
- 31:36very important role in this and
- 31:38is committed to your mentoring.
- 31:39And in some cases it's part
- 31:41of the mentoring committee,
- 31:42depending on what the specific arrangements
- 31:43that are made in the department.
- 31:48Yes, Camilo, I so I'm thinking
- 31:52about how granular should we be for
- 31:54the research statement in terms
- 31:56of should we go be going for.
- 31:58These are the things I'm
- 31:59interested in and I'm planning.
- 32:03I think ABC&D experiments are
- 32:04a way to answer that should be,
- 32:06this is what I'm interested in.
- 32:08And these are techniques I would be
- 32:11interested in using like how detailed
- 32:13are we thinking for describing because
- 32:15that'll also impact how many different
- 32:17projects we propose for example.
- 32:21So sorry, go ahead, well go ahead.
- 32:23You started.
- 32:24No, no, I was just going to say
- 32:25that I know that it's challenging
- 32:27in such a short document,
- 32:28but we we're basically looking
- 32:31both for your longterm vision,
- 32:34what you know, what is your direction,
- 32:36what you see is the most exciting,
- 32:38significant innovating research
- 32:40questions that you want to work on.
- 32:43And at the same time,
- 32:44something more concrete that
- 32:45will have an idea of what you're
- 32:48going to do once you start.
- 32:50There's kind of a hybrid of
- 32:52both the long term vision and
- 32:54the more practical ideas.
- 32:56Yeah, I don't wanna know whether you're
- 32:58using mass back or western blotch or
- 33:00what your favorite antibodies are.
- 33:01And with a one page limit,
- 33:03you don't have time to tell me, right?
- 33:05Like I think you're focusing
- 33:07on the overarching questions.
- 33:09You know, like even if you're
- 33:10talking about a crisper screen,
- 33:11you're not gonna be able to talk about
- 33:14necessarily the the bioinformatic
- 33:16pipelines that you're going to use, right?
- 33:18You're going to, you're sketching
- 33:19this out for non experts, right?
- 33:21At best you're going to have
- 33:22one person in in your department
- 33:24or in your field reading this,
- 33:26and potentially none.
- 33:27So you want to assume that you can
- 33:30convince a bunch of Yale faculty that
- 33:32what you're doing is important and feasible,
- 33:35but the time to convince the experts in your
- 33:37field would be the in person interviews.
- 33:47Actually, the zoom interviews
- 33:48will also will specifically
- 33:49have for every zoom interview,
- 33:51at least some at least one person
- 33:53from that perspective department.
- 33:55So there'll be somebody in
- 33:56your field for sure then too.
- 34:02Julio,
- 34:04Julio. But that's OK.
- 34:07So I think it probably goes
- 34:10along with Pam Pam Rios's
- 34:12question but in the chat.
- 34:15But essentially I was just
- 34:16curious about whether or not the
- 34:20OR like the mentoring committee
- 34:22if that it could include the the
- 34:25person that you did your PhD with
- 34:27and like how how that you know
- 34:30demonstrating your independence.
- 34:31I guess in in or like your work
- 34:33toward independence in the letter,
- 34:35but whether or not that that
- 34:37person can serve as as you know,
- 34:39one of your your mentors during this process.
- 34:45So usually we recommend to kind of have
- 34:48your new direction in your postdoc phase,
- 34:52but I don't think there is an issue with
- 34:55your graduate advisor kind of being part
- 35:00of your committee in the future. Kristen,
- 35:02let me know if you think differently.
- 35:04I think if they're part of the
- 35:06committee and support your mentoring
- 35:08throughout his fellow stage,
- 35:11but your scientific direction is,
- 35:15you know, clearly different than
- 35:16what you did as a graduate student,
- 35:18then that should be fine.
- 35:21I would say your your committee
- 35:22is meant to do a couple of things.
- 35:24One, provide scientific knowledge
- 35:26if there's something that your
- 35:28primary mentors can't answer.
- 35:30Right. So it's a depth of resources.
- 35:32If your primary mentors and immunobiologist,
- 35:34but you want to use mass spec a lot,
- 35:36maybe your committee has a mass spec person.
- 35:38It should reflect the things
- 35:39you feel like you need to learn.
- 35:41So you might deliberately put
- 35:42a brand new faculty,
- 35:44someone familiar with being on the job
- 35:46search lately and the senior faculty,
- 35:48somebody who's been doing and leading
- 35:50job searches for 40 years, right.
- 35:53So you might specifically you
- 35:56know like if your research is in
- 35:58neuroscience but has implications to
- 36:00metabolic disorders and you can see
- 36:03that being a direction that like.
- 36:05So it's about filling out the
- 36:07things that you want to learn from.
- 36:09This is like scheduled time where
- 36:11you get access to people who have
- 36:14answers relevant to you.
- 36:15But again,
- 36:16you don't have to write down the
- 36:17committee in the application.
- 36:18This is something that will come
- 36:20out like next spring.
- 36:21There's
- 36:24a question about lab space.
- 36:27Great question.
- 36:28So the departments that take fellows,
- 36:32that means that they agreed to
- 36:35provide space for this fellows lab
- 36:38once they become independent faculty,
- 36:41and even before that as fellows,
- 36:43they'll have space during the laboratory.
- 36:45So that's definitely something
- 36:47that will be discussed between.
- 36:49Once you get an author,
- 36:51this means that there is a space
- 36:53dedicated for you and there'll
- 36:54be a discussion between you and
- 36:56the department about this space.
- 37:02Carissa, hi. Yes, thank you so much. I'm
- 37:06wondering about the extra research funding
- 37:09and kind of the
- 37:10scope of that and if there's any
- 37:12limitations on that. Specifically,
- 37:14I'm a computational neuroscientist and
- 37:17I'm wondering if like compute resources,
- 37:21space of the compute cluster,
- 37:22that kind of stuff would be covered.
- 37:24And also I'm specifically interested in
- 37:27training if that would be part of it.
- 37:32I think it's all up for grabs.
- 37:33So the the 10,000 is discretionary
- 37:37straight up, but you can put that
- 37:39towards your life, not your lab.
- 37:41The 50,000 is antibodies, technician,
- 37:45cloud computing, whatever you want.
- 37:48And then the 100,000 is going to be annual
- 37:51pilot fund applications where it'll be
- 37:54competitive amongst the other fellows.
- 37:56And and I don't know whether
- 37:57we'll start having those rounds
- 37:59next year or the following,
- 38:00but I I think they will become
- 38:03open as the program matures.
- 38:05And that will be a chance for you to
- 38:07pitch a project that is different than
- 38:09what's happening in your mentor's lab
- 38:11and fund it separate from your mentor.
- 38:17With that, I was curious like could
- 38:19you end up having a Hannah Gray along
- 38:21with this sort of Fellows program?
- 38:24And if so, does that detract from
- 38:27funding or anything like that or how?
- 38:29How is that looked on?
- 38:31Yeah, that's a good question.
- 38:33We encourage people to apply
- 38:35for fellowships like this.
- 38:36And if, and that's actually
- 38:38part of the the idea,
- 38:40part of the part of what you're supposed
- 38:42to do is is get this extra funding
- 38:45and then this will give you advantages,
- 38:47for example, in applying to this
- 38:50pooled funding you will get.
- 38:52I mean we will take into account
- 38:54the fact that you have already
- 38:56secured funding on your own.
- 38:59That being said, there are issues with a
- 39:01lot of funding sources on double dipping.
- 39:03So if you get 90,000 and stipend
- 39:06from Hannah Gray, you can't also get
- 39:0890,000 and stipend from us, right?
- 39:11There's 1FT E per person.
- 39:14And so there there's going to be
- 39:17some boundaries to holding both,
- 39:19but the funds will be there
- 39:21in whatever nature. There's a
- 39:24question about flying for R1,
- 39:27so it is possible.
- 39:29So post docs in general.
- 39:31They are not Pis on other ones at TL,
- 39:35but they can get a π status.
- 39:37It's just a technical
- 39:39thing that that we can do,
- 39:41so that's definitely doable.
- 39:42We do encourage you to maybe
- 39:44start with a K application,
- 39:46a career award,
- 39:491st 99, right? Some of you might still
- 39:51be F99 eligible or F32 eligible.
- 39:54So no need to start with an R
- 39:5601 for your first grant, right?
- 39:57Like, start where you're eligible,
- 39:59build your experience.
- 40:13I mean, I I again,
- 40:14we don't care what you're graduating from,
- 40:17we care where you're going.
- 40:18Is your future research going to fit in a
- 40:23A department here in Cal School of Medicine?
- 40:26So if you are a chemist who's
- 40:28coming into metabolism, fantastic.
- 40:29You're a chemist staying in chemistry, No.
- 40:33If you're an engineer coming into,
- 40:35you know, Biostatistics,
- 40:36great, But not if you're going
- 40:39to stay in engineering.
- 40:41Can you apply for early independence awards?
- 40:43Anything that you were eligible for,
- 40:44we will support you in applying.
- 40:48And just to add to the previous question,
- 40:50if you identify appropriate faculty mentors,
- 40:52you don't need necessarily to identify them.
- 40:55It will be great if you do,
- 40:57but even if you don't, we may think
- 40:58of people that you don't think about.
- 41:23Apologies, I may have missed this,
- 41:25but are there requirements for the
- 41:28individuals that we identify as mentors?
- 41:30So do they have to be associate
- 41:32assistant professors, research track,
- 41:34tenure track, anything like that?
- 41:36And again, some of us will come from
- 41:38the department and not from you,
- 41:39right? Like you do not have to
- 41:40name a mentor at this stage.
- 41:42You have to describe a research plan
- 41:44that fits in the scope of the department.
- 41:49Thank you. I don't know that it would be
- 41:53to your advantage to work with a faculty
- 41:55member who is not research tracked,
- 41:56but if that is what is essential to
- 41:59your research and the department chair
- 42:01is amenable, I would rule nothing out.
- 42:19We're we've been recording this,
- 42:22so we will post the video on the website
- 42:24and if you have additional questions,
- 42:26you are welcome to e-mail us if they
- 42:28all come in 12 hours for the deadline.
- 42:30You might not all get responses, but we are.
- 42:34We're doing our best to make everything
- 42:37transparent and straightforward,
- 42:39so hopefully you won't need to reach out.
- 42:42But if you do, we will.
- 42:43Like I said, unless it's coming in at 11:00
- 42:46PM before the deadline and we're asleep,
- 42:48we will do our best to help.
- 42:53Thank you. This is been
- 42:55exceptionally helpful.
- 42:56This has been really great.
- 42:58Yeah. Thank you so much. Thanks everyone.
- 43:06Good luck. Thank you.
- 43:13All right, Chelsea,
- 43:13I think we can stop recording.
- 43:15Thank you so much. Thank you.
- 43:20And I thought we'll probably
- 43:21just post the slides in the video
- 43:23once we have them put together.
- 43:24I think so.
- 43:27OK. Hi, Chelsea. Thank you again.
- 43:30Bye. Thank you. So I take care too.