Postdoctoral Training

Job Opportunities:

Yale postdoctoral positions are sometimes advertised in scholarly publications and online. A few open positions are advertised on the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs Website. However, most postdoctoral candidates find positions by directly contacting Yale Immunobiology faculty members that share similar research interests. Postdoctoral associates and fellows are financially supported through several mechanisms, including faculty research grants, postdoctoral training grants, and individual fellowships from the NIH or other agencies, and from private foundations.

Postdoctoral Training

The period of training following the Ph.D. is an essential part of a scientist’s career. During these years a wide range of training and career development activities are offered to assist postdoctoral researchers as they transitions to perform research and exchange scientific ideas as independent research scientists. In the Department of Immunobiology at Yale these activities include, but are not limited to, enhancing solid foundations of research knowledge, experimental skills, and scientific communication, as well as enhancing the leadership and ethics of postdoctoral trainees. Yale postdoctoral trainees in the Department of Immunobiology attend and present at weekly seminars and annual departmental retreats to inform departmental colleagues about their research, and hone their presentation skills. The Department of Immunobiology also emphasizes interdisciplinary training and collaborative and interactive research, an approach based on the idea that solving difficult problems requires the integration of individuals with common goals but differing expertise. A successful postdoctoral experience requires not only progress in your research endeavors but also the development of your career plans. Yale’s Office for Postdoctoral Affairs offers many career resources, in addition to hosting career and professional development opportunities, including Travel Funds, Career Services, Seminars on Teaching, Grant Writing, Scientific Writing, Responsible Conduct of Research, the Business of Bioscience, and an Online Career Resources & Job Posting. In addition to the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs the Postdoc Gateway provides additional information and resources for Yale Postdocs.

Annual Meetings and Retreats

Immunobiology Graduate Student Symposium is a full day symposium that is organized and run by immunobiology graduate students who invite cutting edge speakers to speak about current breakthroughs and the future of the field.

Departmental Retreat:

Each year, the Department of Immunobiology holds a retreat. This yearly retreat provides an exceptional opportunity for the communication of ideas and results. The retreat is an important forum that brings together virtually all Immunologists at Yale and features talks by faculty but heavily emphasizes informal workshops and an extended poster session, organized and chaired by postdoctoral trainees and graduate students, in which trainees can present and discuss recent data.

HTI Retreat

The Human and Translational Immunology (HTI) program focuses on the application of new developments in the field of immunology to the treatment of human diseases. Each year, HTI members participate in a retreat focused on translational research, which allows scientists to share their work and interact with other researchers in a social setting. The program consists of an invited keynote speaker, principal investigators, and lab member presentations as wells as a poster session to give all levels of researchers the opportunity to share their work.

Weekly Seminars

Research in Progress (RIP) Seminar Series:

This weekly seminar series (Fridays at 3:30PM) is an integral part of our postdoctoral training program. Every postdoc, speaks in this series once per year. RIP is an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas and data. Trainees can obtain feedback from the members of the department and learn about one another's research.

Departmental Seminars:

The Department of Immunobiology sponsors a well attended seminar series held each Thursday at 10:30AM. The series covers all areas of Immunology and the speakers include many of the most prominent Immunologists from around the world (graduate students and postdocs in the department invite and host several of these speakers each year, including taking them to dinner). Other departments at Yale (Genetics, Cell Biology, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Biology) also hold easily accessible weekly seminars which are often of immediate interest.

Human and Translational Immunology (HTI) Seminars:

The HTI program also hosts a seminar series that highlights studies of human disease and features nationally recognized internal and outside speakers.