ITI Postdoctoral Fellowship – Winter 2024 Call for Applications

Program Description

The ITI Postdoctoral Fellowship is a two-year funding opportunity for postdoctoral researchers working in ITI-affiliated laboratories. ITI postdoctoral fellows will participate in structured career development in addition to their research. They will have a primary “home” in an ITI-affiliated laboratory, but will connect with mentors and fellow trainees across ITI through formal workshops and seminars tailored to their career interests, social gatherings, and networking events. Each postdoc will benefit from a three-person mentorship team comprised of their Scientific mentor (postdoc mentor), a collaborating mentor (either an industry or academia), and in the second year of funding, pick a Networking mentor from industry (biotech or pharmaceutical professional) or academia to help with career progression advice (click here to become an ITI Mentor). Depending on their career interests, fellows can apply for tracks in either Translational Entrepreneurship (industry-focused) or Translational Discovery (academia-focused). The ITI Postdoctoral Fellowship offers 50% salary coverage (up to $36,000 per year). The fellowship also provides $10,000 in research funds and $2,500 in career development funds. ITI Fellows are expected to attend the ITI annual symposium each year. Applications will be reviewed twice annually.

Eligibility

1. Postdoctoral applicants should have no more than 36 months of postdoctoral research experience at the time of the application deadline of March 15, 2024 (i.e. first postdoctoral position must not have commenced prior to January 31, 2021). 
2. Ph.D. candidates that do not have their degree at time of the application deadline (March 15, 2024) are eligible to apply. If awarded, the applicant’s Ph.D. degree must be conferred prior to the start of the Fellowship.
3. Applicants who have accepted a privately funded postdoctoral research fellowship award are not eligible for stipend support, but may apply to obtain additional funds for research and training expenses.
4. Applicants may be citizens of any country.
5. Intellectual Property is subject to the University of Washington IP guidelines.
6. Applicants must have identified a UW-affiliated sponsoring faculty member prior to applying. This faculty member must be affiliated with the ITI or become a mentor with the ITI. Faculty members can apply to be an ITI mentor below:

Application Requirements

Applications will be accepted on the ITI website beginning January 18, 2024. Components of the application will be as follows:

1. First name
2. Last name
3. Department affiliation
4. Scientific Mentor (Postdoc mentor) name
5. Collaborating Mentor name
6. Phone
7. Email
8. CV – file upload (limit to PDF file type)
9. Letter of recommendation from Ph.D. mentor – file upload (limit to PDF file type)
10. Letter of recommendation from scientific mentor (postdoc mentor) – file upload (limit to PDF file type)
11. Letter of support from collaborating mentor – file upload (limit to PDF file type)
12. Project Proposal – file upload (limit to PDF file type)

Detailed Instructions for Application:

CV. Provide a pdf of your CV that includes current and pending support, including funding source(s) and the amount from each support source. No page limit.

Letter of Recommendations.

Letter of Recommendation from Ph.D. mentor. (two-page limit): Provide a signed letter from your PhD advisor.

Letter of Recommendation from scientific mentor (postdoc mentor). (two-page limit): Provide a signed letter from your chosen scientific mentor for the ITI fellowship. The letter must clearly state how the mentor will support the scientific and career goals of the applicant. 

Letter of Support from collaborating mentor. (one-page limit): Provide a signed letter from your chosen collaborating mentor for the ITI fellowship. The letter must clearly state how collaboration with this mentor will enhance the scientific and career goals of the applicant.

Review criteria and process. To determine scientific and technical merit, all applications will be evaluated by an ITI-appointed committee. Projects that take advantage of the ITI network will be prioritized.

Project Proposal

Limit to 2 pages including up to 2 figures (optional). In the proposal, answer the following questions: 

1. What are your training objectives for the ITI fellowship? Choose a track (Translational Discovery or Translational Entrepreneurship) and expand on what types of training you are most interested in obtaining.

2. What are your scientific and collaborative goals for this fellowship (include specifics on proposed collaboration). Keep in mind this is a two year fellowship, so propose a reasonable amount of work for this time frame. Justify your scientific and collaborative goals to provide perspective on why these goals will move your science forward. Define how the proposed project is viewed as translational.

3. How do you plan to apply what is learned from the fellowship to the next steps of your career?