Any other researchers in this boat?

[carebearsparkle]

Hi! I've applied this past application cycle to PhD programs in or related to behavioral genetics. My most recent research job was a three-month gig in the middle of 2018 (I had a longer researcher job before that). I worked on a short freelancing project after that and now I ideally want to get some seasonal/project-based/temporary research work. While I may just end-up getting some random temp job in the intervening time, I think being in a research position will be advantageous if I get any interviews. But any of you who does what I do probably knows that people who do scientific research usually want to hire workers who can stay-on for awhile, a thing I can't commit to now given that I could be in grad school in the Fall. I've reached out to researchers and tried to be forthcoming about my situation, but no luck so far. Does anyone have any advice? If it helps, I live in Chicago.

[Noegenesis]

You've basically answered your own question. Short-term research positions are hard to find. However, if you have connections, then you might get lucky. My advice would be to contact your previous professors/advisors/mentors to see if they are aware of any short-term research opportunities.

[miffle]

Do you have any graduate degrees, or are you someone that just came out of undergrad? If you don't have any graduate degrees, there's a good amount of labs that actively look for people with only a BA/BS to join their lab during summers. Yes, a lot of them also look for workers that can commit at least 1-2 years, usually as some kind of lab manager or coordinator. However, I also see labs actively recruit summer research assistants. The issue is that summer research assistants aren't always paid... but I usually see some sort of summer stipend in universities or labs with more funding. I'm not sure if this answers your question, as what you have already been doing (emailing PIs/labs directly) is still the best way to go about this even after I give you this information... Sorry about that!

Also, this is based on my experience in Psychology research specifically, so YMMV

Edited February 23, 2019 by miffle