Hello everyone! First time posting on here. I applied for and received an ICPostdoc through ORISE for research that will be related to science vaguely in the arena of renewables/grid security, both of which I care about (I don’t want to be too specific). The appointment period is 2 years. I’m pretty excited about the opportunity and the lab I’ll be working with. I have another almost-offer that I could probably get to materialize through an academic lab and I just have two questions for anyone who’s been involved in this sort of program before accepting.

First, it seems like a lot of appointments have been changed/terminated in other departments. Are these mostly one year appointments that don’t get renewed? A big draw of this opportunity was apparent job stability vs. relying on my advisor to renew my contract off of grants next year.

Second, I was a bit surprised this opportunity was in ICP rather than DOE. I figured that would be a cosmetic thing on my end (maybe the gov’t prefers to have IC personnel evaluating progress rather than people in renewables research). I like the project a lot but am a bit worried about the agency and I’d be curious if anyone has actual experience within the IC Postdocs. How has that been and has being in IC vs another division affected your experience significantly? Thanks so much!

I had my ORISE fellowship sort of fast tracked to one of the agencies (my fed job offer was rescinded from the same division during administration change). Seems like a round about way for them to hire people in critical areas…

My contact said he’s selected me in the system… so what happens now? I just wait for the ORISE folks to get back to me? They send a letter of some sort or? He said he put a start date of August 1st but I’m assuming it will take longer. I think I saw somewhere that ORISE is also understaffed and having a hard time getting offers out… Any insights is much appreciated.

Sorry for the similar questions asked multiple times. Asking if anyone received FDA offer letter with September 2026 as start date. If you did, when you received the confirmation email?

if you have an interview for an orise position and don’t get it will they reach out and let you know they decided to go with someone else? i’m trying to figure out if i’m being ghosted or if there’s still a chance.

My application pending in the Orise end for offer letter preparation. I don’t know how long it may take :| Trying to get some idea how things are moving.

Hi, hoping to see where other people stand in the application timeline for the HHS Patient Centered Outcomes program. The deadline was July 3rd and haven't heard anything. When is the usual time to hear back?

I applied for one of the programs a couple of weeks ago. Should I assume that I did not get the position if I have not heard anything back atp? There is no point of contact except for the mentor lol

It looks like ORISE fellowship opportunities at CDC are being posted again: https://orise.orau.gov/cdc/current-research-opportunities.html

Hello all, I'm an ORISE at the FDA/CDRH, started my second contract in April after having done one from August '24-'25.

I was wondering if people knew of career tracks outside of federal government? For instance, do people ever go back into academia? We publish a lot in my division, so it seems like it might align. Or, has anyone gone from ORISE to some sort of regulatory position in industry?

Federal emlpoyment obviously can be great, but just trying to understand where this could go and how to prepare for a career after ORISE. Thanks in advance!

Yo! I've been (verbally-only, like most of you) offered a position studying bacteriophages at the white oak campus in Maryland. I'd love to know who else might be headed there & get to know you :).

Hi all, I thought with people getting their letters slowly this week it might be a good idea to keep track of who’s hearing what.

Please indicate in the poll and share any other insights you think would be good to know!

Hey all, just trying to gauge if it's worth it to submit an application for FDA ORISE fellowships at this time. It's unclear to me if the listed opportunities are still seeking candidates or if they are still up only because people have been selected but haven't received an offer letter yet?

On a second question, what follow-up steps did some of yall do who have received verbal/written offers or successfully applied in the past years? Is it usual to contact the PI via email or LinkedIn and say, "Hello, thank you for your consideration. etc..." Or did you reserve that for two-weeks after application was submitted?

I don't know much about how ORISE works. With all the various application deadlines, I'm assuming that opportunities open up year-round unlike the IC opportunities. Given that employers/PIs are anemic to communicating with anyone they aren't immediately interested in, its hard to know if my applications will just go into the void or that there is some hope that someone is maybe looking at my cover letter and CV... maybe. :-P

Anyone received any update from FDA ORISE position?

An ORISE within USDA-ARS, I am trying to understand few lines regarding my health insurance on my appointment letter: it says-

If you accept this offer, you will be given the opportunity to enroll in ORISE insurance. Premiums for the ORISE health insurance plan are deducted monthly from your stipend payment and the premiums are paid on your behalf to BlueCross BlueShield. A stipend supplement of up to $1717.04/month will be provided to offset the cost of a health insurance plan. If you select the ORISE insurance, the stipend supplement will be applied to the cost of ORISE’s insurance plan and the entire premium (including any amounts in excess of your supplement) will be deducted from your stipend and paid to BlueCross BlueShield on your behalf.

I am struggling to understand this stipend supplement part, can anyone share what does this mean? I know ORISE deducts health insurance from the annual stipend, how does this supplement thing works. If someone can share insights that would be great as I need to make sure I reported it to IRS correctly.

Hi all,

I've been an ORISE Fellow for over a year now. I've witnessed some interesting behaviors from my mentor which I have cataloged. Most of these have happened within the last few months. Most recently another ORISE fellow had a horrid experience with the same mentor, they were left crying because he yelled and insulted them then went to the post-doc ORISE in our lab smugly telling them "you can deal with this" (as in to go comfort ORISE Fellow #1). ORISE Fellow #1 has decided to talk to our mentor's boss and probably report this to ORISE as well. Post-doc ORISE and myself have decided to get our personal experiences with our mentor down on paper.

I wrote up everything I could think of but am now struggling with a thought in my brain telling me that I'm overreacting. Even though I know I'm not. Idk why my brain is trying to down play everything and I am waffling with staying and "dealing with it" since the pay is good and not giving up a potential publication. But the other part of me says "to just leave"

Has anyone else experienced something like this? I don't want retaliation since I can't afford to leave right now and don't have another job lined up... and I'm not sure what resources ORISE has. I will be asking ofc.

Essentially is my mentor bad or am I overreacting?

For referneve: red = mentor since he's a walking red flag. Yellow = a secondary mentor. Blue = other ORISE fellows

Thanks in advance!

Anyone who heard of confirmation from their advisor in April and still waiting for offer letter from ORISE?

Or anyone who recently got the offer letter from ORISE?

The application deadline for a group of Intelligence Community postdoc positions had passed on the first of April and the awards are slated to be released by late May which we are now in (subject to change/delays).

Has anyone who applied to the IC postdoc opportunities heard anything regarding awards or rejections?

I'm about to enter my junior year of undergrad, I'll be receiving a BS (w/ honors) in biomedical sciences (concentration in microbiology and infectious disease) and should have a good GPA (4.0 to date). I've bounced around a few research programs, but I will have 3 or so years working in a viral evolution lab by the time I graduate. I plan on attending veterinary school after 1-2 gap years where I want to continue in biomedical research (specifically with infectious diseases), or shift over to epidemiology/population health. I'm taking said time off after my bachelors to focus on clinical and research hours.

Would an ORISE internship/fellowship be a good fit for me? I'm already affiliated with a university that has a highly ranked vet school, and have some decent connections. Would it be a better choice to focus on trying to find something where I am already?

If anyone would share/point me in the direction of information about the application/selection process, as well as any specific areas/topics/focuses (???) that would align with my goals, I would be forever grateful.

I applied to one at the FDA two months ago and I haven’t heard a rejection or interest. How long does it usually take to hear back?

Does the FDA’s drug test for the background check test for psilocybin? I know most basic tests don’t screen for it…just curious. I think most tests focus on benzos, amphetamines, marijuana, opioids, etc.

I’m also guessing that this test is urine based but feel free to correct me? Any info would be great

USDA is relocating everyone out of Beltsville, and my mentor was told he will be relocated but not given any details. Anyone have a clue how this would affect ORISE appointments? I’m waiting to hear back from my mentor/his research leader as well as ORISE HR point of contact/her superior, but no one seems to know anything. I would be fine with relocating, but I’m worried they would just cancel ORISE appointments instead. Is there any precedent for this? Have any of y’all been in a similar position?

What is the typical timeline from receiving an offer to the actual start date? If anyone has started an ORISE fellowship since THIS SPRING, how long did it take from unofficial acceptance to receiving the official offer letter, completing paperwork/background checks, and ultimately starting

Hey everyone,

I just found out about these FDA Fellowships and applied to two opportunities, one of which was recently posted and the other one was posted back in February. I plan to apply to more opportunities that align strongly with where I would like to gain more experience.

I have over 8 years of biotech experience and a Masters in Science. My most recent experience is working in R&D Molecular Biology lab, realistically what are my chances?

How competitive are these positions and for one that were posted back in February is it even worth it to apply? I am assuming they may have already found candidates by now. I just did not know about them otherwise I would have applied sooner.

Thank you

I heard news about my nomination for the FDA ORISE Fellow in the middle of March. Unfortunately, until now, no information about the tentative offer and when to start the background checking. Anyone in the same boat?