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aberrant

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Everything posted by aberrant

  1. It sounds like you are down to one option -- having a co-PI with this professor in biophysics (if you are uncertain whether you can succeed in the field of semiconductors). Having co-PI may also help with your funding situation. In terms of who pay what % of your stipend -- that discussion will eventually happened and the PIs will figure that out. You'll just need to "talk to that professor" on the collaborating project.
  2. When you said research assistant, do you mean working in the lab without working towards any sorts of degree? With the current funding situation, I do not foresee most PI would "employ" someone non-citizen to "work" in the lab as a tech, or, "research assistant", without being a graduate student. To simplify the situation, let's just say that "it is too much work (paperwork) to get a research assistant / lab tech from somewhere else in the world, who will NOT be a phd student of his/her program at his/her school." VISA, insurance, many of these things can be taken care of by the school/program if you come in as a graduate student, but if you are just here to do research, it just not worth the effort, both time and money. If you already have some research experience, then you might as well apply to the program (where the PI unders) as a graduate student, and start working on your application. Just my 2 cents.
  3. NDSEG, ACS (Cancer). You do need to be aware that HHMI is only available to schools that have at least 1 HHMI investigator, and some other fellowships require preliminary data (i.e. NIH, AHA, etc.)
  4. You will have to ask yourself which PI/group/lab does research that interest you the most, first and foremost. You may have other follow up questions that help you to determine which one is better. Is the particular PI can prepare your for your career development (e.g. skill sets, network, etc.), is the program rigorous enough to prepare you well, is the location of the school matters, what about the culture of the school -- do people focus on academics and work hard, or they pay more attention on sports and party, etc. Only you can answer many of those questions, but communicate with current students in those labs/groups/work with those PIs will certainly be beneficial.
  5. You may have read here about "full tuition waiver + stipend" only because people are in different programs. For instance, science programs in my school offers full tuition waiver + stipend ($19-$22K) whereas literature and art programs offer 50-70% tuition waiver + $11-$13K stipend. Therefore, it really depends on what do you study (besides which school it is and where it locates). I'm not sure if you can bargain a deal with the school, but you can certainly ask them to see how do students (in the same program) typically work/live with the given financial package -- do they work part-time elsewhere? TA extra courses? Apply scholarships/fellowships? If you can gather this information from the graduate program coordinator and/or current grad students from the program, that will certainly help you a lot.
  6. The answer for you guys would be the same for those who attended/ are attending/planning to attend UCSD, since the two campus are pretty close to each other. A. just like what doyouevenchop says, most students/postdocs at scripps live in the UTC area, since you can take UCSD's city shuttle / metro bus to commute. Now, if you planning to somewhere a bit farther (e.g. PB, Mira Mesa, Sorrento Valley, etc.) then you definitely want to drive, whether that be a car or a motorbike. You can bike too, but it will be quite a distance (uphill if you are going from PB to Scripps) B. One bedroom, less than $1250, without sharing the rest of the apartment? Almost impossible in big cities within California (i.e. SD, LA, SF, SB, etc.). You can get a studio for about that price, and $1250 for 1 bed is extremely rare. You better bet would be anything between $1350 - $1500 for 1 bedroom. If you don't mind sharing an apartment, then you can get your own bedroom in a 2/2 or 3/2 for anything between $450 - $600; master bedroom is probably anything from $550 - $800. C) Either 1. UCSD city shuttle, 2. SD MTS Buses, 3. Bike, or 4. Drive One thing that I do want to point out, is that SDMTS is supposedly building a light rail station on/near the UCSD campus, so that may change the game plan (and rent) to certain extent.
  7. The longer you are in grad school to do research, the more you shouldn't trust an undergrad to do your work. *sigh*

    1. Catria

      Catria

      I guess i got lucky with the undergrads I had in my lab...

    2. fuzzylogician

      fuzzylogician

      Imagine what the postdocs and professors are thinking...

    3. aberrant

      aberrant

      I guess the quality of undergrads are school and department related. Seniority, too. Freshman / sophomore seem to be more willingly to learn than, say, seniors.

      Haha in my field, each individual typically has one or two projects that are independent, so you don't really work directly with/for a postdoc. Professor, on the other hand, were just looking for cheap labors to prove their hypothesis right/wrong, in my cynical opinion :P

  8. In my perspective as a grad student, 50% of me attending recruitment weekends was because of order from the higher ups, the other 50% was because of the free food. I think that your concern does not really matter after all. Ultimately, you will have to determine why are you applying to a particular program, and evaluate whether it is important to have A) a great mentor (from your PI/lab) from this particular program, or a program that is student-oriented, or C) both. Will you be happy if you can only have one of the two options? Will you get to where you want to be (after getting your PhD) if you can only A or B, which is a "worst-best" scenario (worst = to have only either A or B, best = the single option (A or is truly perfect/ideal). I love where I am at and people that I associated with (even though there are always one or three individuals that give me all these negativity). And I tried to focus on my objective so that I can get to the next phrase of my career and life.
  9. Instead of going after a particular institution, I would recommend you to go after a specific PI. For example, if you want to work in MD, apply to any of the schools where they have the developers of CHARMM, you can do no wrong with this list: http://www.charmm.org/info/developers.html Obviously, there are million other ways to find who do you want to work with. From there on, look into the school and see if there are other PI that you wanna work with, in case the first choice/option is unavailable.
  10. That you can potentially be friends with anyone in the university, even if he/she is the higher up. That most of the time you can call your PI / professors by their first names, That some grad students can change his/her personality dramatically after the first or second year, whether that be for the good or bad. And it may or may not be something you can handle. Otherwise, nothing surprised me at all as a graduate student.
  11. I ditto what maelia8 said. If you wanna meet people, make friends and all that in grad school, you will just have to make things happen by being the initiator. Don't ever feel obligated to hangout with your cohort (obviously). I don't drink nor waste my money on alcohol neither. So when I found out individuals that share the same interest as I am, I try to make things happen -- basketball, watching soccer/sports, game night (board/card games), movies, gaming, explore local restaurants/foods, concerts, etc. to keep myself meeting people who isn't necessarily my cohort.
  12. My bias opinion is that your quant is a little bit low (below 80%). verbal is acceptable if you are a international student. Then again, that's just based on my limited knowledge at my alma mater and school of interest years ago.
  13. Paper due at the end of the month, rough draft due at the end of the week (T-24). Vomiting a vomit draft.

    1. Threeboysmom

      Threeboysmom

      a little each day.

    2. aberrant

      aberrant

      haha it is a paper to be published. we'll see how much text I can crank out by tomorrow :)

  14. My impression is slightly different. Briefly, you do want to have extensive research experience (2-3 years as an undergrad, or more) even if you are switch fields. Reason for that, nowadays, has to do with the cost of training someone who have little research experience and knowledge vs. someone who already have good fundamentals (or more) in the same aspects. Post-bac is not a bad option if you consider yourself "lack of research experience". Difference between post-back research experience and work (industry) experience is that you will be a bit more independent, more creative (science'wise), and learn more through troubleshooting problems that are more likely encountered in an academic research environment. Obviously, the difference between the environment in academic vs. industry has a lot to do with available resources and how one runs their lab/company. Unless one works at the R&D department in the industry, otherwise, as far as I understand, ones task is typically rather systematic and mechanical, which I don't think it will help anyone to develop as an knowledgeable and independent researcher (before going into a PhD program). just my 2 cents.
  15. The only reason this is bad is not directly related to ones' CV, but the probability that "staying in the same lab" means that specific individual did not take his/her chance to expose oneself to work in a different culture, environment, work with different people, expand ones network, etc. for a good couple years after finishing undergrad studies. As far as I'm concern, it has little to do with scientific knowledge but interpersonal skills that cannot be taught -- only improved by personal experience. Therefore, the "CV assumption" is quite accurately reflect someone's interpersonal skills, unless the individual able to demonstrate oneself has extensive collaboration with other people in the field, experience in working at different location, etc. It is not the end of the world, but it generally is detrimental for competitive positions after graduate school, as far as I know.
  16. patent lawyer, consultant, many good stuff depending on the your specialization. It maybe a good idea to take a few classes that are more practical to you in the future, if you can foresee yourself where you are heading (i know a few friends of mine did this).
  17. Was it because your research was solely focused on structural biology, which could lose sight on the biological question itself? Maybe he/she is looking at someone who do not only structural biology, but also biochemistry/biophysics of the same molecules? My experience with those type of scientists (this director) is that they want students to look for the big picture and focus on a biological question rather than a technique, which can be replaced by the development of technology. Been there, done that. I feel you girl. But don't give up -- see my signature.
  18. 1. The "normal version" is a nuclease with HNH and RuvC domains that can cut (+)- and (-)- DNA strand individually to generate DSB in DNA. Anything else (i.e. single-point mutated nickase from SpyCas9 D10A or double-mutated nickase) are for either gene modification (using 2 gRNA, single-point mutated nickase, and HR / NHEJ to repair) or transcription regulations (using double-mutant SpyCas9 and a gRNA). 2. While it may seems to be new, the first thorough in vitro study published in 2012 on Science by Jinek et al. Then in 2013 there are +50 papers predominantly on its application in vivo. February of 2014 is the time when the structure of apo and holo form of Cas9 are published. In terms of application, OP may want to know the pros and cons between using Cas9, TALEN, and ZFN. ps. especially the reason why people use nickase / single-point mutated SpyCas9 for genome engineering as opposed to the wildtype. Application of CRISPR-Cas9 = yes. Otherwise, if you are just talking about CRISPR per se, then the biological question (up next) is how the immune system acquire spacers into the host genome and generate an array. End for your research ethics class and whatnot: Stem-cell method faces fresh questions http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cell-method-faces-fresh-questions-1.14895?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20140320
  19. http://www.fastbleep.com/biology-notes/40/116/1159 I thought it is quite common that an enzyme can catalyze more than 1 reaction. Something like this (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/derivedData.do?structureId=1W85&bionumber=1) can be considered as transketolase, dehydrogenase/oxidoreductase, & synthase. I would assumed naming of a protein is based on the main function it performs.
  20. i think it is known to be notorious that the international students should be financially "prepared" when they plan to study in the States, whether it be a Master's program or an undergraduate program. As far as I know, there are no banks in the U.S. would offer student loans for non-residents. They are not willing to take the risk of lending money to someone who can easily runaway with the debt. I would also speculate the legitimacy of these private "education loan", especially when % APR is higher than the regulated number. Your best shot is private loan from your home country, relatives, friends, or getting scholarships/fellowship from your home country / Fulbright.
  21. In terms of politics, it is not California-liberal (specifically, not LA, not SD, not SF liberal). The city itself, in my opinion, is a mixed of both. Mainly because a lot of people who work at school are liberal, but outside of school and decent proportion of undergraduates (that are from elsewhere of Florida) are conservatives. In terms of culture, I think this place is generally liberal, but unless you are a minority, then you may find it a bit different, where some people would give you a weird look just because you are a minority. (At least that applies to me.) It has a significant influence from the southern culture (if, not already a southern culture). most grad students commute to campus. There was a grad student housing but they are shutting it down this summer because it is far and poorly managed. Grad students that I know are typically live very close to campus (like myself) for convenience, or far from campus (+2 miles away) for a quieter atmosphere.
  22. I'm not sure if these are legitimate pet peeves because when you apply for a specific visa, there are requirements that one needs to be reached and agreed upon. 1. Your F1 visa granted your status as a student. To make it very simple for you: - If you are a PhD student (or financially supported MS student), then income shouldn't be a problem because your program covers your tuition fees (typically waived) and give you enough stipend for living expense. - If you are a undergraduate or a self-funded MS student, then you are expected to come into the States with sufficient funding that can cover your tuition, fees, and living expenses without the necessity of earning extra income. As an international student who did my undergraduate in the U.S. and now my PhD, as far as I'm concern, the States only welcome foreign students with enough money, if not a wealthy background, to study in the U.S. You want to do more hours and do something different? Go get another VISA. Welcome to America. That depends on the field of your study (a.k.a. your major). STEM field is 1.5 years, +1 (or 1.5) years extension. While many companies may not sponsor you for H1B, that would be a different scenario if you study electrical engineering / computer science. Big companies ranging from Google to Qualcomm, as far as I know based on people that I know, are more than happy to recruit internationals and sponsor them with H1B by paying them less money. Your intention to stay in the States directly address why would you have pet peeves / problems with a F1 VISA. Unless you try to do those online master/PhD programs, otherwise, you are very unlikely to get 3 masters or 2 PhDs. If you actually doing a PhD then point 1 wouldn't even exist. If you just wanna stay in the U.S., then either apply for green card lottery, seek asylum, or start a company in the U.S. and apply for a business VISA. You need Glacier Tax Prep unless you are considered resident for tax purposes.
  23. Maybe you can consider reviving this thread instead:
  24. Where did you get this idea from? I simply don't think Boron's professors have to sugarcoat the situation, such that /she doesn't have "enough funding for his/her skill level". If a PI has money to take a grad student, s/he would. If a PI thinks that s/he can only afford someone at a high skill level, who would probably a postdoc, then s/he would also refuse taking a student unless the student has external funding -- this is pretty common from labs with few funding, and that is especially true with the current sequestration and economy. I would be indifferent in this situation -- my publication(s) will be there, I'll get strong LOR / reference letter from my PI, and most importantly, if I do have a high skill level, I will succeed regardless of the environment. By the way, a lot of us has been scooped by our competitors on our project(s) that we have to switch to something new or something else. You should be happy that your project is working out and making results. Especially if it can shift the paradigm in the field because you'll definitely get more citations in a long run from your "proposed" work.
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