Q:

React semantic UI: How to set focus for input field of dropdown element

Is it possible to initially set focus to an input field of an Dropdown element?
<Dropdown
  name={name}
  placeholder='Select type'
  search
  searchInput={{ type: 'text' }}
  selection
  onChange={this.handleChange}
  options={options}
/>

So the user should be able to start typing/searching without the need of clicking on the dropdown input field...

A:

If I understand your question correctly, you want to give your Dropdown component focus when your content is loaded?
If that is indeed the case, then you want to make use of Refs. See the following for a detailed example:
Refs and the DOM
In particular:

When to Use Refs
There are a few good use cases for refs:

Managing focus, text selection, or media playback.
Triggering    imperative animations.
Integrating with third-party DOM libraries.

