52. Postdoc fellowship applications (with Toby Wise)

In this conversation, I talk with Toby Wise about applying for postdoc fellowships. Toby has received and completed the Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship, where he worked with Ray Dolan and Dean Mobbs. He answers some of the questions I have about applying for postdoc fellowships in general, such as how to write a proposal, how to contact potential supervisors/sponsors for your application, when to start, and what kind of scientist a fellowship is even for.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith. In 2022, episodes will appear irregularly, roughly twice per month. You can find the podcast on all podcasting platforms (e.g., Spotify, Apple/Google Podcasts, etc.).

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Toby's links

• Website: https://geni.us/wise-web
• Google Scholar:  https://geni.us/wise-scholar
• Twitter:  https://geni.us/wise-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter:  https://geni.us/bjks-twt
• Newsletter: https://geni.us/bjks-news

Links for stuff mentioned

• My episode about applying for postdoc jobs with Matthias: https://geni.us/bjks-postdoc-stangl
• Toby's 2 blog posts about postdoc fellowship applications:
  • First post: https://geni.us/wise-postdoc-blog-1
  • Second post: https://geni.us/wise-postdoc-blog-2
• A postdoc fellowship database: https://ecrcentral.org/fundings
•  Twitter thread that I read out loud: https://twitter.com/birchlse/status/1491006458993209352
•  The masters's degree I did at UCL and in Paris: https://geni.us/ucl-brain-mind-msc

People mentioned

• Steve Fleming: https://geni.us/fleming-web
• Demis Hassabis: https://geni.us/hassabis-wiki
• Day Dolan: https://geni.us/dolan-web
• Peter Dayan: https://geni.us/dayan-web
• Dominik Bach: https://geni.us/bach-web
• Dean Mobbs: https://geni.us/mobbs-web

References

• Deisseroth, K. (2011). Optogenetics. Nature methods.
• Friston, K. J., Stephan, K. E., Montague, R., & Dolan, R. J. (2014). Computational psychiatry: the brain as a phantastic organ. The Lancet Psychiatry.
• Montague, P. R., Dolan, R. J., Friston, K. J., & Dayan, P. (2012). Computational psychiatry. Trends in cognitive sciences.
• Steinmetz, N. A., Koch, C., Harris, K. D., & Carandini, M. (2018). Challenges and opportunities for large-scale electrophysiology with Neuropixels probes. Current opinion in neurobiology.
• Wang, X. J., & Krystal, J. H. (2014). Computational psychiatry. Neuron.