Announcements
AstraZeneca Postdoctoral Fellowship in Early Oncology Clinical Development for PharmD and PhD Graduates
Dec. 4, 2025—The AstraZeneca-University of Maryland Clinical Development Fellowship is an exclusive 2-year program geared toward PharmD and PhD graduates with a penchant for clinical research in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Established in 2009, the fellowship has paved the career path for numerous to enter clinical development. Two fellowship position will be recruited for in the...
ASPIRE UP: Delivering an Impactful Biopharma Industry Job Talk
Dec. 4, 2025—Join Us for an ASPIRE Up Workshop!Delivering an Impactful Biopharma Industry Job TalkFriday, January 16 • 10:00 AM • LH 202 In today’s competitive R&D job market, a strong job talk goes beyond presenting excellent science. It’s also an opportunity to show that you understand the broader context in which industry teams operate. This session...
ASPIRE Internship: Science Communication Internship, VI4, PMI, VUMC, Spring
Nov. 19, 2025—Science Communication Internship, VI4, PMI, VUMC VI4 and PMI at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are looking for Science Communication Interns. This position provides an opportunity to contribute to VI4’s mission of training the next generation of scientists and physicians and making fundamental discoveries in the areas of infection biology, immunology, and inflammation with the...
Cold Spring Harbor Fellows Program
Nov. 17, 2025—Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is now welcoming applications for a full-time CSHL Fellow position in the field of NEUROSCIENCE (experimental and/or computational), and I’d like to ask for your help in identifying strong candidates. The CSHL Fellows Program fosters research independence for recent Ph.D. graduates. Early career scientists pursue high-risk/high-return research in biology. CSHL Fellows Program aims to...
ASPIRE Internship: Data Science Intern (Computational Biology/Data Science), Decode Health, remote
Nov. 14, 2025—ASPIRE Internship Decode Health Data Science Intern (Computational Biology/Data Science) Nashville, TN (remote) Reports to: Lukasz Wylezinski, PhD – Sr. Dir. Research & Data Analytics Decode Health Decode Health is an AI-driven healthcare analytics company with a proprietary platform that unifies real-world evidence, multiomic data, and deep scientific and clinical expertise to power...
AdvancED Teaching Statement Office Hours
Nov. 12, 2025—AdvancED is hosting two Teaching Statement Office Hours sessions. Anyone working on a teaching philosophy for job applications is welcome and encouraged to stop by! These sessions will begin with an optional 30-minute mini-workshop on teaching statement best practices; the rest of the time will be dedicated to collaborative working sessions and individual consultations with...
Explore MD Anderson Postdoc Recruitment Event
Nov. 12, 2025—Announcing a call for applications for Explore MD Anderson, a new, two-day, in-person recruitment event at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Explore MD Anderson Postdoctoral Recruitment Event February 26-27, 2026 | Houston, TX Explore MD Anderson introduces a small group of motivated prospective postdoctoral candidates to our institution. Participants will have opportunities to: Learn about MD Anderson’s...
Round-table Coffee Chat with Zaid Temrikar, PhD
Nov. 11, 2025—Coffee Chat with Zaid Temrikar, MS, PhDFriday, December 510:00AM–11:00AMLight Hall 415 Curious about careers in industry drug development? Join us for a casual, round-table coffee chat with: Zaid Temrikar, PhD (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaidtemrikar/)Associate Director, Quantitative Clinical PharmacologyEMD Serono (Merck KGaA) Dr. Temrikar has built his career across several major biopharma companies, including Gilead, AstraZeneca, AbbVie, and Boehringer...
PhD Career Stories: Careers in Clinical Trials
Nov. 11, 2025—Careers in Clinical Trials Thursday, December 1110:00 AM (CT) | Virtual Event Curious about career opportunities in clinical trials, quality assurance, or regulatory compliance? Join us for a conversation with two Vanderbilt alumni who have built dynamic careers in clinical research. Featured Speakers: Barry Crawford, PhDSenior Director, Quality Assurance and ComplianceThermo Fisher Scientific Trenis Palmer,...
ASPIRE Up: Negotiating your Faculty Startup
Nov. 11, 2025—Negotiating Your Faculty Startup Thinking about applying for faculty positions? Already interviewing? One of the most critical—and often most intimidating—steps is negotiating your offer. Join Kathy Gould, PhD, Louise B. McGavock Chair, Professor, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, for a practical and supportive workshop that breaks down the negotiation process for new faculty hires....
ASPIRE Down the Road- Inotiv Site visit December 3, 2025, 11am-1pm, Nashville, TN
Nov. 6, 2025— ASPIRE on on the Road is keeping it local this December and heading down the road to visit Inotiv, located nearby on the edge of the Green Hills neighborhood on the David Lipscomb college campus! As a leading contract research organization (CRO), Inotiv supports discovery and nonclinical development through investigational new drug (IND) and beyond. By...
Flow Chart of NIH Fellowship Submission Process
Oct. 31, 2025—The flow chart below provides a high-level overview of the fellowship submission process for Vanderbilt and VUMC applications. You will need to work closely with your Grant Manager throughout this process. Click here to go back to the main Fellowship Project Management blog series.
NIH Fellowship Grant Pacing Project Management Trello Board
Oct. 24, 2025—How to use and customize the ASPIRE Grant Planner Trello Board Applying for an NIH fellowship can feel like you are juggling dozens of moving parts at once. The ASPIRE grant planning Trello board helps you manage these tasks in one visual, flexible workspace. Throughout this blog, we will walk through how the board is...
Tickets for Life Science TN conference (LST|CON), Tuesday Nov 18, Nashville
Oct. 24, 2025—The annual Life Science TN conference (LST|CON) will be Tuesday Nov 18 in Nashville at the Westin Hotel downtown. This conference is a great way to network with life sciences professionals from across the state and beyond. If you are interested in attending, the Vanderbilt Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization has offered to cover...
Effective Strategies for Working with your Sponsor
Oct. 24, 2025—Your fellowship sponsor (your PI) plays an important role in your fellowship application, especially for fellowship applications to the NIH. Beyond supporting you as a scientist, they are responsible for writing key sections of the application to demonstrate their commitment to your training and career development. Sections of an NIH NRSA application written by the...
Understanding the NIH Alphabet Soup
Oct. 24, 2025—Applying for NIH fellowships comes with a whole new set of acronyms. Here’s a quick guide to the ones you’re most likely to encounter: Funding Announcements FOA – Funding Opportunity Announcement The official notice that describes eligibility, objectives, requirements, and deadlines for a grant or fellowship. NOFO – Notice of Funding Opportunity The newer term...
Resubmission (if needed) and Next Steps
Oct. 24, 2025—Not all fellowship applications are funded on the first try, but many successful fellows are awarded after resubmission! If you plan to resubmit your application, consider the following: Read your summary statement carefully. The reviewer comments highlight strengths and weaknesses, so look for common themes across reviewers. These will be important to address in your...
Contacting your NIH Program Officer (PO)
Oct. 24, 2025—After you have figured out which FOA to apply to, verified your eligibility, and decided which institute to apply to, the next step is to contact your target institute to verify their institute is a good fit for your proposal. The “Program Officer” (PO) is your main NIH point of contact for questions about the...
Contacting your Vanderbilt Grant Manager
Oct. 24, 2025—A VU or VUMC Grant Manager is your primary institutional contact for submission requirements, internal deadlines, and routing. They manage the submission of your fellowship application to the NIH and will need to begin working with you weeks in advance of the NIH deadline to meet VU’s or VUMC’s internal deadlines. They will also assist...
Common pitfalls in NIH fellowship applications (and how to avoid them)
Oct. 24, 2025—Fellowship applications are complex. Not only do you have to have a strong scientific proposal and training plan, you also have to manage multiple documents and deadlines. Here are some strategies to help you avoid some common mistakes. Contact your Vanderbilt grant manager early in the process. Your Vanderbilt grant manager will “route” your grant...