Title of the Position: Postdoctoral Associate in Developmental and Systems Neuroscience
Department and School: Department of Comparative Medicine, Yale School of Medicine
Anticipated Appointment Dates: Flexible start date.
Proposed Compensation: Salary will be in accordance with Yale University postdoctoral compensation guidelines and commensurate with experience. The current Year 1 minimum is $68,500.
Email/Website: dietrichlaboratory@gmail.com | https://www.dietrich-lab.org
Introduction of School/Department
The Dietrich Lab in the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine studies how the infant brain learns about the social world and how early-life experience shapes neural circuits with long-term consequences for learning, attachment, and mental health. Our work focuses on how maternal cues, social interactions, and sensory experience are encoded during sensitive developmental windows, with the goal of understanding how early neural circuit activity influences vulnerability and resilience across development.
Position Summary
We are recruiting postdoctoral associates to join a research program focused on the neural circuit basis of early-life social behavior and associative learning. Using mouse models, fiber photometry, circuit-specific viral approaches, in vivo recordings, and a variety of behavioral assays, we investigate how infant brains encode maternal and social cues during development. A major emphasis of the lab is understanding how defined neuronal populations contribute to infant-specific learning and how early circuit mechanisms shape later risk or resilience for mental health outcomes.
This is an opportunity for scientists who want to do more than apply established tools to familiar questions. The lab is interested in building a deeper framework for developmental neuroscience by discovering how neural circuits function before adulthood and by connecting early experience to long-term behavioral trajectories. We are looking for postdocs excited by ambitious questions, rigorous experiments, and the chance to help define an emerging area of the field.
Education and Career Development
The position is designed to support the development of an independent research trajectory in developmental neuroscience, systems neuroscience, and behavior. Postdoctoral associates will receive mentorship in project development, experimental design, manuscript preparation, fellowship and grant writing, scientific presentation, and long-term career planning. Postdoctoral associates are expected to lead projects that can mature into first-author publications and competitive applications for independent funding.
Training and Mentoring
Postdocs in the lab will have the freedom to develop independent ideas while working in a collaborative, deeply engaged research environment. They will contribute to projects at the intersection of circuit function, behavior, development, and translational relevance, while participating in regular lab meetings and broader interactions within Yale’s neuroscience community. The lab values conceptual boldness, technical rigor, and careful mentorship aimed at helping fellows grow into independent scientific leaders.
Location
The position is based in the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- PhD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree in any field of knowledge by the start date
- Strong background in developmental neuroscience, systems neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, or a related discipline is desirable
- Genuine curiosity about how early-life experience shapes neural circuits and behavior
- Ability to work independently while contributing to a collaborative research environment
- Strong written and oral communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with in vivo imaging, fiber photometry, electrophysiology, viral strategies, circuit manipulation, or rodent behavior
- Strong quantitative and analytical skills
Application Instructions
Interested candidates should send the following materials to dietrichlaboratory@gmail.com:
- Curriculum vitae (CV)
- Statement of research interests
- Contact information for references.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the positions are filled.
Yale University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds.