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Benefits
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Eligibility
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Submission
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Fellows
Computational Track
This track welcomes applications from early-career researchers interested in understanding human cognition and exploring human potential through computational theory, analysis, and modeling of neuroscience data and concepts. Applicants should have expertise in computer science, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, engineering, applied math, applied physics, or related fields.
Applicants for the Computational track do not need to pre-identify a faculty advisor. Instead, once accepted, Fellows establish a mentoring committee that includes the Director of the Institute’s Center for Neurocomputation and Machine Intelligence as well as additional Wu Tsai Faculty Members of interest. This committee guides the professional development of the Fellow, advising and facilitating connections with research groups across Yale. This allows the Fellow to develop one or more collaborative projects in pursuit of their goals and interests. As these projects emerge, Fellows establish more traditional research mentoring relationships with individual faculty in their chosen field(s). Fellows also benefit from structured programming, shared research facilities, internal research funding opportunities, and other resources offered by the Institute to advance their scientific training and professional development.
Experimental Track
The experimental track is not currently open to applications.
This track welcomes applications from scientists from any field who are interested in furthering the understanding of human cognition and exploring human potential through the design, execution, and analysis of highly interdisciplinary empirical research projects. Many successful applications propose a co-mentoring team of two faculty from different disciplines, one of which may overlap with the applicant's PhD field. We also welcome applications to work with a single faculty mentor, but only when the Fellow is transitioning into the mentor's discipline from a substantially different PhD field (incremental transitions will be screened).
Applicants to the Experimental Track must identify and contact one or two Wu Tsai Faculty Members in advance and secure their potential willingness to serve as (co-)mentor(s) should the fellowship be awarded. Applicants must submit evidence of faculty member interest as part of the application (e.g., a copy of an email to the applicant). The mentors of current Wu Tsai Postdoctoral Fellows (see list below) cannot be listed as mentors for new applicants. Candidates are encouraged to reach out to any of the over 150 faculty members in the Wu Tsai Institute. However, because faculty receive many such inquiries, the most successful outreach is sincere and specific, clearly indicating that the applicant has conducted their own advance research into potential areas of mutual interest related to the Institute's mission. View our faculty members.
Our Fellows are engaged interdisciplinary scientists, excited to bridge disciplines in the study of cognition and to foster inclusive environments for research.
Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, PhD, Assistant Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Benefits + Eligibility
Computational track: $85,000 annual salary for up to three years
Benefits as defined by Yale's Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (Postdoctoral Associate category)
$1,500 to assist with relocation costs
$3,000 in discretionary research funds
Access to shared research facilities, high-performance computing, and internal funding to support research
Protected time and programmatic opportunities for professional development, skill development, and networking with a supportive cohort of peers
Robust mentoring program to support career development, featuring mentoring committees, compacts, and training
Begin appointment on or before September 1, 2025
Agree to the Institute's Code of Conduct
Participate in WTI activities and devote effort toward professional development, service, and community-building (up to 10% of effort)
Submit an annual progress report
Follow all guidelines and requirements for postdocs at Yale
PhD degree or equivalent must be awarded by the beginning of the fellowship and within the last 3 years.
The fellowship is open to U.S. and non-U.S. citizens.
Because this fellowship is intended to build the number of researchers working in these areas at Yale, current members of the Yale community (including postdocs and PhD students) are not eligible to apply.
Fellows are selected by a faculty committee based on their interdisciplinary scientific goals and track record of scientific achievements, commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ability to make meaningful contributions to the community.
Scientists who represent a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and identities, including those historically underrepresented in the sciences, as defined by the NIH, are especially encouraged to apply.
Submission Process
All materials must be submitted online through Interfolio at apply.interfolio.com/148929. View instructions for how to open an Interfolio account.
Summarize prior research experiences, skills, and achievements. Describe how your postdoctoral research interests advance the WTI mission — to understand human cognition and explore human potential by sparking interdisciplinary inquiry. Explain how the envisioned research is interdisciplinary and how it will benefit from your expertise and the resources and researchers in WTI (two pages, inclusive of figures but not references).
Please describe how your unique background, identity, or life experiences have prepared you for this opportunity and how you envision contributing to making science more accessible and inclusive at WTI and in your career (one page).
One letter must be from your thesis advisor(s). The letters should address the quality, originality, and independence of your research and potential. Letters must also be received via Interfolio by the submission deadline; incomplete applications will not be reviewed.
Please provide a current CV, including papers that are published, in press, or deposited in a preprint server (e.g., bioRxiv or arXiv); do not list manuscripts in preparation.
