Interested in joining the lab?
We are always looking for curious, enthusiastic, and motivated students to join our lab. We receive many inquiries about working in our lab, and we look at several things when evaluating potential graduate students:
1) What is the student’s research and academic background? We look at GPA and GRE scores, but while having a strong academic record is important and desirable in a potential student, even more important is having a strong research background. If a potential student has undergraduate or postgraduate research or work experience in marine science (or science more generally), it demonstrates that the student is motivated and has a strong interest in conducting research. If a student has published a paper or given a presentation at a scientific conference or symposium of some manner is another great indicator of research potential.
2) What skill sets does the student have? Learning new skills is part of going to graduate school, and we do not expect students to know everything they need to know before joining a graduate program. However, our lab uses a wide range of techniques and methodologies that require strong quantitative and analytical skills, so having a jump start on these types of skills is an advantage. One of the most important skills for students to develop is computer programming (e.g., R, Matlab, Python) as being able to code is fundamental to most if not all of the analytical approaches our lab uses. In addition, strong quantitative skills (e.g., statistics, multivariate statistics, modeling) and laboratory skills are also very important and useful.
3) How is the student’s writing? This is often overlooked by potential students, but it is important to have an aptitude for conveying scientific ideas and concepts. You can be the best scientist in the world, but if you are unable to communicate effectively you will not be able to convey your findings or knowledge to others, which is ultimately what science is all about.
4) Why does the student want to pursue a graduate degree? What are their career goals? When considering whether or not to take on a graduate student it is important for me to understand why the student is interested in getting a graduate degree and how attending graduate school might help them achieve their career goals.
5) Potentially most importantly, are the student’s interests a fit for the lab. I look at how well our research interests align and whether I am currently doing any research that would be relevant to the potential student. Part of this is understanding what the student is interested in scientifically. What types of research are they interested in and why? What types of research do they want to do for their graduate studies and why? The most competitive potential students have a good understanding of what their interests are, what types of research they want to do, and can articulate all of that.
6) Finally, is there funding available to support this student. The School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware funds its students almost entirely through research grants, so unless I have available funding I am generally not able to take any students. There are a few competitive fellowships available through the university, and for international students there are a few other mechanisms that can be used to support potential students. But in general, if I don't have any funding, I can't take on somebody even if they perfectly suited for the lab and have an excellent background. I encourage students to attempt to acquire their own funding whenever possible. There are a number of potential graduate student funding sources that are relevant to the type of research our lab conducts, for example through the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (https://www.nsfgrfp.org/), the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program, the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Davidson Graduate Fellowship (https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/research/davidson-fellowship.html), or the NOAA Nancy Foster Scholarship Program (https://fosterscholars.noaa.gov/aboutscholarship.html). For additional information about funding opportunities through UD see this website - https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/grad/current-students/funding/.
1) What is the student’s research and academic background? We look at GPA and GRE scores, but while having a strong academic record is important and desirable in a potential student, even more important is having a strong research background. If a potential student has undergraduate or postgraduate research or work experience in marine science (or science more generally), it demonstrates that the student is motivated and has a strong interest in conducting research. If a student has published a paper or given a presentation at a scientific conference or symposium of some manner is another great indicator of research potential.
2) What skill sets does the student have? Learning new skills is part of going to graduate school, and we do not expect students to know everything they need to know before joining a graduate program. However, our lab uses a wide range of techniques and methodologies that require strong quantitative and analytical skills, so having a jump start on these types of skills is an advantage. One of the most important skills for students to develop is computer programming (e.g., R, Matlab, Python) as being able to code is fundamental to most if not all of the analytical approaches our lab uses. In addition, strong quantitative skills (e.g., statistics, multivariate statistics, modeling) and laboratory skills are also very important and useful.
3) How is the student’s writing? This is often overlooked by potential students, but it is important to have an aptitude for conveying scientific ideas and concepts. You can be the best scientist in the world, but if you are unable to communicate effectively you will not be able to convey your findings or knowledge to others, which is ultimately what science is all about.
4) Why does the student want to pursue a graduate degree? What are their career goals? When considering whether or not to take on a graduate student it is important for me to understand why the student is interested in getting a graduate degree and how attending graduate school might help them achieve their career goals.
5) Potentially most importantly, are the student’s interests a fit for the lab. I look at how well our research interests align and whether I am currently doing any research that would be relevant to the potential student. Part of this is understanding what the student is interested in scientifically. What types of research are they interested in and why? What types of research do they want to do for their graduate studies and why? The most competitive potential students have a good understanding of what their interests are, what types of research they want to do, and can articulate all of that.
6) Finally, is there funding available to support this student. The School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware funds its students almost entirely through research grants, so unless I have available funding I am generally not able to take any students. There are a few competitive fellowships available through the university, and for international students there are a few other mechanisms that can be used to support potential students. But in general, if I don't have any funding, I can't take on somebody even if they perfectly suited for the lab and have an excellent background. I encourage students to attempt to acquire their own funding whenever possible. There are a number of potential graduate student funding sources that are relevant to the type of research our lab conducts, for example through the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (https://www.nsfgrfp.org/), the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program, the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Davidson Graduate Fellowship (https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/research/davidson-fellowship.html), or the NOAA Nancy Foster Scholarship Program (https://fosterscholars.noaa.gov/aboutscholarship.html). For additional information about funding opportunities through UD see this website - https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/grad/current-students/funding/.
Aaron B. Carlisle, Ph.D.
School of Marine Science and Policy College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment University of Delaware Lewes, DE carlisle@udel.edu |
Copyright © 2018 Aaron B. Carlisle