Faculty Volunteers

UCLA Bio-Launch invites faculty to participate by volunteering to meet with up to three potential postdocs for virtual informational interviews during the recruitment period (March 15-29). Responsibility for scheduling the individual informational interviews will lie with the prospective postdocs. This is a great opportunity if you are currently recruiting for your research group, if you would like to promote your department or program’s research, or if you wish to support early career scientists as they launch their careers. While not required for participation, we especially welcome faculty interested in hiring postdocs.

Questions?

Please see below for frequently asked questions!

For any additional questions, please reach out to Letty Treviño (ltrevino@mednet.ucla.edu) 

Prospective Postdocs: Our list of Bio-Launch Mentors for your application are on a separate page.

FAQs

Am I required to be present for the 2-day virtual event for prospective postdocs?

Participation in the virtual event is not required. However, we will have a virtual networking activity between Faculty & Postdocs on Friday, March 15, 2024 at 12:00-1:30pm.

You will be matched with 0-3 prospective postdoc participants and it will be the responsibility of the participants to reach out to you to schedule a 1:1 virtual informational interview. Your only responsibility is to respond to the email request from your matched participants and meet with them at a mutually agreeable time for an informational interview any time during the recruitment period (May 15-29, 2023).

 

What if I want to attend the virtual networking activity but it conflicts with my schedule?

Please feel free to send someone from your lab to represent you for the networking activity if you cannot make it but would still like to have a presence there. 

What is the process for matching faculty and prospective postdoc participants?

UCLA Bioscience Postdoctoral Affairs will create the matches between faculty and prospective postdoc participants. Prospective postdoc participants will be asked about their research interests, and will be asked to select 3-5 faculty of interest with a short statement about why they are interested in meeting with each faculty member they selected. We cannot guarantee a closely-related research match, or any match at all, but all of these factors will be taken into account during the matching process.  Faculty will also receive contact information and profiles for all the prospective postdocs, so you may independently recruit participants you were not matched with. 

 

What is the format of the informational interview?

Informational interviews are meant to be short, informal conversations (approximately 30 minutes – 1 hour) in which you and the prospective postdoc discuss research and training at your institution. Possible topics of discussion include your career path, your experience as a faculty member, your research interests, how to best find and apply for postdoc positions in your field, or opportunities in your research group, department, or program. You may also wish to recommend other colleagues with whom the prospective postdoc participant might make a strong match.

 

What is the purpose of the informational interview?

First and foremost, this is a structured process that provides prospective postdocs the chance to discuss career paths, research interests, and opportunities with an established academic scientist. If you are currently hiring and a prospective postdoc participant is a good match for your research group, the conversation may lead to an invitation to formally interview for a position in your group. If you are not currently hiring or if a prospective postdoc participant is not a match for your research group, your only duty is to provide each participant with a meaningful experience in which you share information about any of the topics as listed above. 

 

Can I contact prospective postdoc participants after the official recruitment period?

Yes! All faculty volunteers will receive the full list of prospective postdoc participants following the official recruitment period (March 15-29, 2024) and you are encouraged to contact any candidate of interest. Likewise, all prospective postdoc participants will receive the contact info of all faculty volunteers and will be encouraged to reach out to any faculty of interest. Upon request, event organizers can also share with you all candidates who indicated they were interested in meeting with you in their applications. 

 

Does UCLA BioLaunch offer salary support for postdocs who are hired through this event?

No. Salaries for postdocs hired through this event are expected to be funded by the hiring faculty member.