rexzeppelin

Read up on the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Even though it is so new, I've literally been tested on it in every class as a first year this year. I'm sure next year will be no different! It would be especially helpful for you to learn about the structural stuff and the different uses for the different versions of Cas9. There's the normal version (with nickase and nuclease, really good for knockout and some recombination), nickase only version (nicks a single strand, useful for things like recombination), and a mutant that is nickase and nuclease deficient (think promoter "tiling" with lots of guide RNAs to block gene expression).

There's also some really crazy stuff going on with iPS cells, which are also going to be something you're going to be encountering in classes, too, most likely. There are some cool new papers out on iPS cells and differentiation into heart cells and how some of these cells need to be altered mechanically.
 
My favorite things to read about are novel gene regulation and knockout systems and nearly anything epigenetics. I also like looking at seemingly normal epigenetic abnormalities and seeing how those contribute to autoimmunity. You'd be surprised how much you can find simply by reading and data-mining. There's so much whole-genome bisulfite sequencing done, now, as well as lots of histone ChIP. There are also lots of mechanistic studies involving chromatin structure and specific conformations of proteins that a biophysicist might like.
 
If none of those sound cool, you could always stalk your potential PIs' publications and get ahead of the game! Feel free to message me if you have questions or want more specific titles. I don't know much on the heart stuff as I learned about it in a seminar, but the rest.... I could discuss in detail.

I never thought I could be as blown away with UIUC (or any school, for that matter) as I was with UCSF...but I was! I can't wait to accept their offer! I was so worried it would feel like I was settling for a program that I wasn't truly in love with, but now I know that just won't be the case. It's so strange to think that today I saw the places I'm going to call "home" and met the people I'm going to call my colleagues for the next five years! Good luck to everyone who still has to make a decision! I wish it were as easy for you as it has been made for me.

triumvirase??

triumvirase??

I'm sorry to hear about your current experience! It does not sound ideal at all!
 
First, I don't think any of us can really comment on whether you have to pay back your fellowship, because it is probably something specific to your contract and you would have to talk to people who know about the contract to get real advice. However, I would think it's pretty rare that a departmental fellowship will come with the condition that "you must graduate or pay back everything on your fellowship". More commonly, I see clauses like "if you do not finish the term(s) that you have been paid for, you must pay back that part of the fellowship". So if you left in the middle of a term, you would only have to pay back the money that was paid for you to complete that term/semester. Also, it would not make sense to take money back for services performed (e.g. your fellowship was paid for you to have done some work such as TA/RA) after you have already completed that work. There are many non-service fellowships as well, but then they can't say that since you didn't TA/RA, you'd have to pay it back because non-service fellowship means that you did not have to provide any services in order to get the money. But there should be a way for you to discuss this with someone outside of your department (e.g. the graduate school) in a hypothetical manner so that you don't have to tell them you plan to leave or reveal why you want to leave. Anything I or anyone else writes here can only be guesses based on our own previous experiences! Your specific contract may be very different.
 
Also, there are some things you list that are actual unethical behavior that should be reported if you feel comfortable doing so (or talking about with your advisor) but there are also many things that aren't unethical at all--they may not be the best behavior, but nothing actually that might violate laws, University policies, or constitute academic dishonesty. Since you asked for advice, here is what I think your description of your advisors' actions lie and I hope this might help you decide what issues to focus on reporting if you do go that route. Also, some of this is subjective so other people might have other opinions:
 
Actions I think are definitely wrong and should be reported / brought up with your advisor if you want to: 
1. Putting your name on papers without your permission 
2. Plagiarizing your work
 
Actions that are questionable but not necessarily unethical/violations depending on your Universities' policies or other situations/details not known here
1. Last minute editing of a paper without telling you (if you're not first author, the advisor has the right to decide what goes in the paper, although he should have at least shown his coauthors the final draft before submission and allow anyone who doesn't agree to withdraw their name and their contributions to that paper). Without further information, I wouldn't necessarily call telling/suggesting that you remove some statements that the editor won't like to be censorship (if he's right then the editor will tell you to remove those statements anyways). Presenting your work in any medium (talk, paper, poster, whatever) means knowing your audience and strategically deciding what you want to convey. If you want to convince people of A, B, and C (your claims), it might make sense to first present only B if you think A and C are too controversial and might make people ignore your very good points in favour of B.
2. Sleeping with his students--this might be a violation of University policy. Unless the student is underage, it's probably not illegal. I know my current school has no policies that prevent a relationship between a professor and a student.
 
Actions that are crappy things to do but probably not something a prof can actually get in trouble for:
1. Lying to you about himself, the program, and how he feels about your research interests (it's hard to tell between outright lying and changing your mind, or a misunderstanding, anyways).
2. Choosing to publish only in certain journals
3. Not reading the papers cited in his work--75% is a large number, but I'd say many people won't read the entire paper when they cite a work, depending on the reason for the citation. 
4. Poor quality of the education provided by the school--this is super crappy but unless the school promised certain things in writing and then did not follow through, I can't think of a way you can hold the school to providing a certain level of education. 
 
 
I agree that an ombudsperson would be a good path to go. Maybe it's a bit different in the US, but you might want to consider another route too. In Canada, the ombudsperson is a neutral third party that mediates a tough conflict/dilemma. You can/should also seek out someone who would play more of an "Advocate" role--that is, someone whose job is to be on your side. In Canada, these people tend to be employed by the Undergrad/Graduate Student Association at that school to provide legal advice for their students (sometimes they are volunteers from the school's Law program). It might be good to have both an ombudsperson and an advocate with dealing with tricky legal issues like this case.

triumvirase??

I've officially accepted the offer from Penn State!  I'm excited! Still a little worried since I can't start working on housing until my SO hears, but I know where I'm going!!

Email from U. Pitt. Ecology/Evolution. Turned it down since I've accepted MSU.
 
It was really hard to tell my POI that I'm not going there, especially since he kept flattering me, saying I'm the best candidate he's had in years, and we got along so well. But I feel like MSU is a better overall (safer) choice in terms of program requirements, timelines, funding, etc. Also, Pitt. POI offered to collaborate with me during my Ph.D. with some plots that are at the field site I'd be with my MSU POI anyway. So I get a bit of the best of both worlds.

with their stipend do you really need a fellowship?

Accepted to Baylor Imunology this morning. Top choice, will officially be attending. The process is finally over!!!!!

Can't tell if this is an earnest question or the set-up for a joke. In any event, I don't know the answer 

I don't think negotiating the stipend is at all a good idea. And I also don't think that they'd give you more, because that creates a precedence. If other students find out that you got more money, they could also ask for more money. And if the school doesn't give them more money, it creates favoritism. There wouldn't be a fantastic incentive for the school to give you more money unless you're the Lebron James of science.

I have to vent my frustrations here. 

I was talking to some people today about how they are raising the stipend in lieu of upping the number of awards. I expected the conversation to go the way it has been on this forum. I was dumbfounded when I heard a current fellow say that he IS GLAD that the number of awards isn't going up because his title as an NSF fellow will remain prestigious. My jaw hit the floor. The number of people applying to the GRFP increases every year - it's about time that the number of awards increased as well. Prestige is not an issue - just because the number of awards are increasing doesn't mean that NSF would suddenly start funding, as he called it "crap science". He seemed to think that with the extra 700 awards possibly being given out this year, NSF would be scraping the bottom of the barrel to fill those spots. After all of this - and the look of shock on my face - he asked if I knew if his award would increase because "it's only right". WHAT?!? I don't know about you all - but I do what I do for the love of it. Money is necessary to live and be able to do what I love to do but I am certainly not in science for the money. GRRRRRRRRRRR.

I don't know anyone that wouldn't get at least a little emotional upon seeing that they received an award. This is the first year that I am applying and I am a pre-grad applicant. If I were to get the award there would certainly be tears of complete and absolute joy. One - All the effort I put in last fall would have paid off in a HUGE way. Two- I wouldn't have to go through the GRFP process a second time! 

When all is said and done, I still think applying for the GRFP was an amazing learning experience. I have published manuscripts both as a primary author and as an et al. Until the GRFP I had not written a research proposal. This process also helped me refine my personal statement which I ultimately modified to use for my application to grad school and I got in! At the very least, the GRFP  got me accepted to grad school. Even if I get terrible reviews on my application, I am still going to grad school in the fall and I get to do science! 

 

I am heading to Philly this fall for Penn CAMB!!! Very happy with my decision

Looks like I'm going to Yale MCGD. Couldn't be happier

Accepted Penn CAMB offer! Woooohoo. Philly here I come. @kevintoy

It came down to a few things:
 
1) I felt like I connected better to future PIs at UCSF compared to Harvard. Faculty at both schools do amazing research, but the researchers I met with at UCSF genuinely seemed like they care about their grad students and want them to succeed. I didn't get this as much from Harvard.
 
2) In general, I liked the BMS students a LOT more than the BBS students -- might have been just me though!
 
3) People just seemed happier at UCSF compared to Harvard. That definitely factored into how I remembered each school after I left.
 
Are you leaning to one school over the other right now? For me it ended up coming down to UCSF, MIT, and Harvard and I'm stoked to be in San Fran next year!
 
 
Yeah, I liked the professors I talked to at Yale, but didn't really get along with the current graduate students. Also didn't like New Haven at all. Housing in San Francisco actually doesn't worry me too much...the way I see it is a lot of graduate students are currently doing it without being completely miserable so we should be able to too

Although I am waiting on 3 more schools, I have decided to commit to Mount Sinai. Couldn't be happier! So glad this cycle is over! It's funny how things work out for the best. Congrats to everyone who has been accepted and to those who have made their decisions! 

Finally heard back, Yale rejection today. Disappointing but that was the final unknown in my application process. To those still waiting, I wish you patience, it's almost over.
 
In other news excited to be committing to Penn BMB
 
It does feel strange that I won't be compulsively checking this thread from now on, thanks to everyone for their great advice, commiserations and congratulations

Its official everyone, I'm attending the University of Rochester Medical Center!

Finally heard back, Yale rejection today. Disappointing but that was the final unknown in my application process. To those still waiting, I wish you patience, it's almost over.
 
In other news excited to be committing to Penn BMB
 
It does feel strange that I won't be compulsively checking this thread from now on, thanks to everyone for their great advice, commiserations and congratulations

Just accepted IPiB program in Madison, WI! Exciting, and crazy to finally be done.

I have a friend at UTSW now who absolutely loves it and has nothing but great things to say about the program.  Something to consider though - because it is not tied to an undergrad campus, teaching (TA) positions are not readily available.  If you want to get true teaching experience, you'll have to seek out community college and university TA/adjunct positions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  She's having to do this now because she ultimately wants to teach at the university level and wants/needs some experience prior to applying for post-doc academia-related positions.  That's the only "downside" she stated about the program there though - the research is top notch!!  I would have applied if I had the grades/scores to match what they're looking for.  Best of luck with your decision!

My current PI did her PhD at MIT Biology as well. Since she said I should apply to MIT, I asked her what she liked the most about it (I was skeptical about applying at first). She said the best thing about MIT was not its research, program, nor the professors (all of which are already stellar), but its peers. They become your friends for life, she said. The strong community at MIT Biology seems like a tradition that has been handed down the years. BTW, I learned yesterday "The Pit" was named by the students around the time my PI was there... the room was originally in a basement with no windows, and hence came the name. After they built 68, it was relocated to the first floor of 68, but the name stuck.
 
About research fit: if you have about 4-5 professors you can see yourself working with, I think you'll be fine at either schools. I am one of those who is inclined towards research that is clinically relevant, so solely based on research interests I might lean towards other schools with more hospital affiliations. However, I do have 5+ faculty at MIT whose research I find very interesting, and that's all that matters to me. Your research career is most determined by your post-doc work anyways. Also, my impression of Harvard was that it is a bit more competitive and less community based than MIT, 1) due to its bigger size and dispersed nature, and 2) its practice of hiring multiple faculty and making them compete for one tenure spot (MIT only hires one faculty per open slot)... but I can be wrong on this so please correct me if I am misguided.
 
I am biased towards MIT, as I only interviewed there and not at Harvard... can someone please speak for BBS please? Well, you did visit both programs, and I guess it's ultimately up to your gut feeling to decide where you'll be happier. Best of luck!