Faculty Volunteers

UCLA Bio-Launch invites faculty to participate in a virtual recruitment event for prospective postdocs. This virtual recruitment program facilitates connections between UCLA bioscience faculty and outstanding PhD students and graduates who are interested in exploring postdoctoral training at UCLA. Our office will provide professional development workshops to prospective postdocs and will organize a matching service between the prospective postdocs and interested faculty for informational interviews.

Note: You don’t have to be currently hiring a postdoc to participate in this program. Some participants are looking 2 years out and are interested in networking with faculty in their field.

Benefits for Faculty

• We are recruiting a competitive applicant pool from across the country
• We will screen applicants to ensure potential postdocs have adequate research preparation in order to work in a UCLA lab
• Faculty participants will receive a viewbook of prospective postdocs (including all those you were not matched with) at the end of the program
• Participating faculty only need to commit to providing up to 3 (30-60 min) informational interviews on Zoom with matched prospective postdocs (and of course can decide to have more)

Bio-Launch Mentors commit to…

• Providing faculty and lab profile information that we will host on our website.
• Attending the Networking Event on Fri. February 27, 2026 from 1:00-2:30pm, or sending a representative in the case that they are unable to attend.
• Informational Interviews (1.5hr minimum commitment)
  • Participating faculty only need to commit to providing up to 3 informational interviews on Zoom with matched prospective postdocs
  • Each informational interview must be 30-60min (the minimum is 30 min)
  • Mentors set the maximum number of interviews they’re willing to give with a required minimum of 3 interviews.
  • Although 3 interviews is the minimum commitment, mentors could be assigned 0-3 matches (or more if they set a higher limit) depending on the compatibility of interests and expertise between faculty and PhDs. Everything possible will be done to make compatible and helpful matches.
  • Scheduling is left to the discretion of the faculty & prospective postdoc, within the interview period of March 2-13, 2026

Bio-Launch Mentor Application

Final Deadline: Fri. January 23, 2026 – 11:59pm PST

Applications Reviewed on a rolling basis 

In the program application process, we ask prospective postdoc applicants to identify 1-5 faculty they would be interested in meeting based on faculty profiles we post on our website. The faculty application is primarily used to develop the faculty profiles and assess compatibility for the matching process. In advance of completing the application we recommend preparing the following information:

• Preferences in the kind of postdoc you’d like to be matched with
• Hiring timeline (if applicable)
• Introduction (1-2 sentences introducing yourself, 2-4 sentences introducing your research)
• Mentoring Philosophy (3-6 sentences outlining what kind of mentorship a postdoc can expect to receive in your lab)
• Past Postdoc Outcomes

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 sessions is not required.  There are only 2 responsibilities for Bio-Launch Mentors.

1.  Respond to the emails from your matched participants and meet with them at a mutually agreeable time for an informational interview any time during the recruitment period (March 2-13, 2026).
2. Attend or send a representative to the Networking Event between Faculty & Postdocs on Friday, February 27, 2026 at 1:00-2:30pm PST, on zoom.
   • You can be matched with 0 to the maximum number of  prospective postdocs you indicated on the application. It will be the responsibility of the participants to reach out to you to schedule a 1:1 virtual informational interview.

 

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. 

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 1-5 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 at the end of the interview period, so they may independently recruit participants they 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 interview period?

Yes! All faculty volunteers will receive the full list of prospective postdoc participants following the official interview period (after March 13, 2026) and they are encouraged to contact any candidate of interest. Likewise, all prospective postdoc participants will receive the contact info of all faculty Bio-Launch mentors and will be encouraged to reach out to any faculty of interest. Upon request, event organizers can also share with you a list of all candidates who indicated they were interested in meeting with you in their applications. 

 

Does UCLA Bio-Launch 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.