Some postdoctoral fellowships in Biology

When I was looking I had a heck of a time finding a summary of postdoctoral fellowships to apply for, so thought my compilation might assist others. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it’s a start. I’m happy to update this post with other suggestions (and links and descriptions). I especially tried to include whether the fellowships are available to international students or not. I’ve ordered them by approximate submission date, but as submission dates change every year, please don’t rely on these. Similarly, the links were active at the time of this posting. If they aren’t working, you can probably find the fellowship with a simple google search.

Lists Compiled by other people:

UC Berkeley: Postdoctoral Fellowships in the Biological Sciences

Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellowship 

- Due ~October

- LSRF awards fellowships across the spectrum of the life sciences: biochemistry; cell, developmental, molecular, plant, structural, organismic population and evolutionary biology; endocrinology; immunology; microbiology; neurobiology; physiology; virology.- Similar structure as NSF postdoc- Only one LSRF fellow allowed in a lab at any given time- U.S. citizens are eligible to work in any geographic location while holding an LSRF fellowship. Non-U.S. citizens must work in a U.S. laboratory to be eligible for an LSRF fellowship. 

NSF postdoctoral fellowship 

- Due ~October 

- The focus this year is, “Intersections of Biology and Mathematical and Physical Sciences“.- applicants must be U.S. citizens (or nationals) or permanent residents of the United States (i.e., have a “green card”) at deadline. 

NIH postdoctoral fellowship (using form SF424) 

- Due ~December 

- Applicants must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.

L’Oreal Fellowships for Women in Science 

- Due ~December 

- Has both US and International options 

Graduate Women in Science Grants/Fellowships 

- Due ~January 

- All women scientists that are conducting research in the natural sciences regardless of nationality are eligible for application for any of the SDE/GWIS Fellowships.

Branco Weiss fellowship 

- Due ~March 

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship 

- Due ~July 

- Fellowships may be awarded to US citizens planning to work in laboratories either in the US, Canada, or abroad and also to foreign citizens for research in laboratories in the US only.

EMBO Fellowships 

- Due 15th August and 15th February 

- The EMBO Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world. International exchange is a key feature in the application process. All fellowships must involve movement between countries and one of those countries must be an EMBC Member State. 

Human Frontier Science Program 

- Due August 

- Long-Term Fellowships (LTF) are reserved for applicants with a Ph.D. in a biological discipline to embark on a new project in a different field of the life sciences. Preference is given to applicants who propose an original study in biology that marks a departure from their previous Ph.D. or postdoctoral work so as to learn new methods or change study system. 

My time as a real scientist (@realscientists)

I was very lucky to participate in a wonderful science outreach and education endeavor by tweeting for @realscientists.

What is Real Scientists? From their "about" page:

RealScientists (@realscientists) is a rotational twitter account featuring real scientists, science writers, communicators and policy makers talking about their lives and their work. Tweeters from different fields of science and science-related fields (you can also follow them on Facebook).  

My welcome from Real Scientists: Why Y? Evolutionary biologist Dr Melissa Wilson Sayres joins RealScientists

Throughout the week the tweets were collected together. The picture changes with each account user, so just keep in mind, wherever it says, @realscientists, it's me talking, whoever is shown in the picture.

Storify #1:
Please welcome Dr Melissa Wilson Sayres of UC Berkeley! Melissa’s research uses bioinformatics and genomics to study the evolutionary dynamics of sex chromosome evolution, male mutation bias, and pregnancy. Twitter pretty much exploded with excitement when Melissa started. Part 1 is Sunday/Monday.

Storify #2:
Melissa continued her fabulous form through Tuesday and Wednesday. She talked job applications, collaborations, courtroom science (ie uncertainty and reasonable doubt), science funding and more. And she posted a photo of leggings with genes on them. Could we call them geggings, do you think?

Storify #3:
During her week of tweeting for RealScientists, Melissa was also involved in several panels at the Conference of World Affairs (#CWA2014). Tweets from Thursday and Friday picked up on one of these sessions: sex and gender. Do yourself a favour, and read on….

Storify #4:
That's a wrap for Melissa. Over the course of the week she talked research, job applications, collaborations, courtroom science, science funding, why or why not to do a PhD, how to become a bioinformaticist (+/- coding), the role and importance of academic outreach. Here are days Fri, Sat and Sun.

My farewell from Real Scientists: Y leaving so soon? Farewell and thanks, Dr Melissa Wilson Sayres

56 Different Points on the Gender Spectrum

I was on several panels at the Conference on World Affairs (#CWA2014). One of them (which I was both most excited for, and most nervous for) was also video-recorded:

Panel 3712
56 Different Points on the Gender Spectrum
3:00-4:20 on Wednesday April 9, 2014
UMC Center Ballroom 

Panelists:
Margot Adler
Joel Gallant
Judithe Registre
Melissa Wilson Sayres
Moderator: Mindy Pantiel

I'm not sure how long this will be online, but I have ordered this video-recording, as well as the audio recording from the other panels I was on, and am inquiring about sharing them.

Update:
I forgot the awesomeness of the way this panel ended. The 56 refers to the different gender identities allowed in facebook at the time. I have transcribed it here for you.

Mindy: We have time for one more very brief question and this person has been very patient. 

Audience member: The question will be, just how many stories can people be expected to learn? The context is, I don't believe you can accept somebody unless you understand them, and I don't think you understand them until you know their story. 56 genders, 56 stories. It impresses me as a huge burden to learn 56 stories. Just how big a burden can people be expected to take on? How many stories can people be expected to learn? 

Joel Gallant: Well let's not take the 56 too literally. This is a facebook invention. I mean, it's not an invention, these come from somewhere, but the 56 comes from facebook as far as I know. And remember, that if you look at the categories in the facebook list, which I did last night, y'know, there's lots of overlap, these are not biological categories. The stories... there's many more than 56 stories. There's a story for every person, and what you want to know is not their facebook classification, but what's their personal story? And when you find that out, it won't really matter what they call themselves, 'cause you'll know that person as a human being, and that's the story you want to learn. 

Melissa Wilson Sayres: I'll say. According to the world population counter there are currently: seven billion, two hundred twenty-five million, three hundred eighty two thousand, eight hundred and fourty... nine, stories. 

Judithe Registre: I'm just going to add though there's one story. The story is that you feel pain, I feel pain, we hunger, there is one human story. Seven million people and one thing I've been fascinated by, whether I move across different countries around the world, that people have the same desire: to be respected, to live with human dignity. That is one story. And if we can remember that one story, the 56 stories become meaningful. If we can't remember that one story, the 56 stories is meaningless.

Boom.