1) I wouldn't go to grad school for science these days. Universities and
faculty are far too exploitative and the career opportunities requiring
a graduate degree are far too few (especially in academia and
government). Best to get out there and get a job and experience with
those years, or even start your own organization or company.
You may be interested in the articles and "Notes" posted on this page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Postdoc-Union/275402225908673
2) It is the responsibility (one of an ever waning list) of the faculty
boss (referred to some as "mentor" or "adviser") to provide projects
(well funded ones) for their students, then spend time TEACHING them the
projects, techniques and science behind the projects. I would be
suspicious of any lab that requires you to come up with your own
project, especially if they require you to come with your own funding.
3) If you do have project ideas, best to pursue them on your own time
and well separate from the lab and/or involvement of any university
faculty member. Basically if you know what you want to do and more or
less how to do it, you don't need grad school: you need
resources/facilities to pursue it. So, find (sit down for this)
COLLABORATORS (not bosses) and some sort of funding or access to lab and
equipment you need. You can even try crowdfunding, or like I said,
start a company or non-profit.
4) If you DO dive into graduate school for some reason: selecting a
decent ethical faculty boss who actually cares about YOUR career (very
rare) will be your most critical decision/task. the following are
criteria and methods you should use: a) talk to as many people IN the
lab and especially FORMER lab members as possible, b) ask the faculty
boss how joining their lab will help your career, what you will BE
TAUGHT, what projects are available and what FUNDING is driving those
projects (and listen closely to the answers), c) ask if you would be
allowed to pursue independent side projects without the faculty boss'
involvement (ie: do a side project that's your idea with other students
or other labs in your own side collaboration - this is critical to build
toward an independent career in science, which is the main reason to go
to grad school in science at all). This means publishing at least one
paper without that faculty member and possibly even applying for a grant
or two (toward the end of your term in the lab) without their name on
it. If they say no, immediately find another lab. While many will tell
you no one will do this and this is unusual and you shouldn't expect
this freedom, that is nothing short of a lie. If you accept that lie,
you will find out the hard way when you try to pursue your real career
after grad school. d) Be SURE the lab or department will pay you a FULL
stipend you can live on AND health insurance for at least 5 years while
you complete your degree. e) be sure that no one in the labs you are
considering has taken more than 5 years to finish their Ph.D. or 3 years
for Masters. f) if you determine that a graduate degree is ABSOLUTELY
REQUIRED for your career goals (think about this carefully) then do a
Ph.D. rather than a masters. g) I do not recommend young professors
without tenure, or working for older or higher ranking professors that
also have adminstrative appointments on top of their professor job
(things like also being the "director of the center for X" etc. I
consider moonlighting and almost a guarantee that you'll never see them,
which means you'll never learn anything or be taught anything by them
which is the entire point of grad school). h) Also have a frank
discussion about how authorship is handled in the lab AND if you are
expected to write grants (don't do it if you won't be listed as a
co-PI), and even about how patents will be handled... and get those
things IN WRITING!
5) Do not be placated, pacified, bribed, distracted or fooled by
anything else. a LITTLE higher salary, a boss that smiles a lot,
showering you with compliments, students (especially early grad students
or undergrads) who say things like "they are SO nice to me, they let me
go to conferences" (something they should all offer by default, at least
1 conference per year for you to present at).. etc... can distract from
the more important issue: how going to grad school will benefit your
career and get you quickly into an independent science career within 2-3
years after graduating (max).
Those are some good solid things that should take you a long way toward
your next set of decisions which will be critical for your career
success (or lack of it) for some years to come. What you decide to do
at this stage of your career will have long lasting consequences.
Let me know if you have further questions!
ATD of ATB
On 5/27/2015 2:21 PM, Emily Mydlowski wrote:
Hello all,
I'm delving into the graduate school search (MS and PhD programs) quite
heavily and am seeking advice regarding approaching faculty with a research
project. The system I'm interested in working on is that which has many
unanswered, interesting questions I would love to pursue. From a faculty
perspective, is proposing a project topic (too) bold of a move to a
potential advisor?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
All the best,
Emily Mydlowski
Northern Michigan University
ATD of ATB and ISI
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Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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