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Confidential previous research project?


galaxstar

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A couple of years ago, I worked on a relatively confidential project for the government. I mentioned this project in my statements of purpose, because it was extremely relevant to my research interests. However, I'm now worried that I will be asked about specific techniques we used, and I'm not sure that I am legally allowed to disclose any of that information.

 

The main concern here is that I'm just not sure. The supervisor for the project wrote my recommendation letter, and may or may not have mentioned anything specific, but I have no way to know since I waived my rights to access the letter. Additionally, he has been traveling for the past month, before I was notified of interviews, and therefore has not been able to get back to me about how much I can disclose.

 

What should I do if an interviewer asks about this project? Should I just say that I'm not sure how much information I am allowed to disclose, because parts of the project were confidential?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

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What should I do if an interviewer asks about this project? Should I just say that I'm not sure how much information I am allowed to disclose, because parts of the project were confidential?

 

That's what I would do. As long as you are able to talk coherently about whatever you did, I think your interviewers will understand if you decline to answer questions about specific techniques (as long as you explain why you are declining to answer!). The main goal of asking you a question about your previous research is to see that you are knowledgeable about your work, can explain it concisely, and to learn about your qualifications and what you learned from the job. Be sure you are able to clearly talk about the parts of the project that are not confidential. I think it would also be fair to simply ask the interviewers what they already know about the project from your LOR (to tackle the confidentiality issue at least somewhat) and go off of that. 

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I agree with fuzzy. It's okay to not reveal everything. Sometimes, students might still be working on a project at time of interview and the results may still be embargoed so it's okay to decline to reveal sensitive information. Definitely try to get the confidentiality issues sorted out when you can though, because you may have to discuss these projects in the future too. 

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Is there anyone else in your lab who could help you figure this out? Such as someone who has already done interviews (or job applications) and would have asked your PI about this same question? Has someone from a recent year already joined a PhD program and also worked on confidential research? You could email them to ask how they handled it. 

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Actually the place where I interned almost never sends people to PhD programs, and I was the only one under 30 working on the project. I did a tricky thing and looked through my PI's linkedIn profile to see what he mentioned and what he kept quiet about. Since he mentioned a couple of the techniques we used in there, I feel it's fairly safe to talk about them in the interview. :-D

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