Summertime Research in Remote Locations

[morifol]

Hello, Grad Cafe folks!

How do you spend your summers? I will have 1.5 months of free time that I would like to spend researching away (or, alternatively, participating in a summer school). I am looking for summer schools, and I am also looking for opportunities in different research centers. Hence the questions:

1. Say, you have connections in a research center. How do you write a letter? 'Hello, I am a researcher in... Looking for summer opportunities. Have you got any?' or should I go into specifics? Aka 'I am researching ..., and you have this professor, and I would like...'

2. Do you happen to know any not-so-expensive summer school in Europe?

3. What other opportunities are there?

[fuzzylogician]

You might want to tell us what field you are in, otherwise this is impossible to answer. 

In general: summer schools will usually be advertised several months in advance to attract students. Some will also have fellowships you could apply for.

If you want to visit some other institution, usually you will have to pay your own way, as they will likely not fly you out. You could always email out of the blue to ask, but I wouldn't count on that working. You might also have your advisor make the introductions, and then chances are higher that it could work. If you have the funds, you might write a professor to say that you're going to be in town during [dates] and would love to meet with him/her while there. As a young student, it's not too likely that more than that will happen. As you become better known, you might get invited, or someone might be interested in arranging for you to have a desk or other privileges at the host institution. Again, if your advisor is making the introductions, they might assist with these logistics. 

Beyond that, I don't have too many ideas. Maybe your home institution has funds that you could access for a semi-long summer visit, or your department might. Funding doesn't grow on trees and isn't easy to come by, and it's rarely just laying around waiting for random relatively unknown students to visit. 

[morifol]

10 hours ago, fuzzylogician said:

You might want to tell us what field you are in, otherwise this is impossible to answer. 

In general: summer schools will usually be advertised several months in advance to attract students. Some will also have fellowships you could apply for.

If you want to visit some other institution, usually you will have to pay your own way, as they will likely not fly you out. You could always email out of the blue to ask, but I wouldn't count on that working. You might also have your advisor make the introductions, and then chances are higher that it could work. If you have the funds, you might write a professor to say that you're going to be in town during [dates] and would love to meet with him/her while there. As a young student, it's not too likely that more than that will happen. As you become better known, you might get invited, or someone might be interested in arranging for you to have a desk or other privileges at the host institution. Again, if your advisor is making the introductions, they might assist with these logistics. 

Beyond that, I don't have too many ideas. Maybe your home institution has funds that you could access for a semi-long summer visit, or your department might. Funding doesn't grow on trees and isn't easy to come by, and it's rarely just laying around waiting for random relatively unknown students to visit. 

Sure! I am in Education. Higher Ed. A little problem: not a grad school student, an applicant. Currently I am working as a researcher in a think tank.

[rising_star]

I'm having trouble understanding why you want to do a summer school somewhere, especially since you're currently applying to grad programs. If you get accepted, a lot of your summer will be spent preparing for, dealing with, and actually undertaking a move to wherever your grad program is. It would be better to work on research you actually plan to work on in grad school rather than finding a random research project to work on for 1.5 months, if you really want to do something. Most people don't want to take on someone for such a short period of time because there aren't really any benefits for them.

[TakeruK]

I'm not in your field but it seems like it will be tough to get what you want for this summer.

However, in my field, it's not uncommon to be a "visiting grad student" for 1-2 months during the summer. Usually this happens when you have a collaborator at School X and you and your advisor agree that it would be productive for you to spend 1-2 months with the collaborator. This scenario is a lot easier because you already have an existing relationship and usually your home institution pays you while you're away.

Another common thing are summer schools or workshops that are 3-6 weeks long. As fuzzy said, they are usually advertised well in advance though. This is approximately a good time for them to advertise for the summer. But, in my field, the spots for these summer schools are actually competitive---more applicants apply than there are spots. Usually some funding is attached to the acceptance too (sometimes just travel but sometimes also covers a stipend). Because of the competitive nature, you normally have to already be a graduate student to apply.

[morifol]

8 hours ago, rising_star said:

I'm having trouble understanding why you want to do a summer school somewhere, especially since you're currently applying to grad programs. If you get accepted, a lot of your summer will be spent preparing for, dealing with, and actually undertaking a move to wherever your grad program is. It would be better to work on research you actually plan to work on in grad school rather than finding a random research project to work on for 1.5 months, if you really want to do something. Most people don't want to take on someone for such a short period of time because there aren't really any benefits for them.

No, I am applying again this year, so the summer is free.

[ZeChocMoose]

I just saw an announcement for an international summer school on higher education research in St. Petersburg, Russia, one on cluster-randomized trials for education research in Evanston, Illinois, and a data institute to learn more about U.S. federal education data in Washington, DC.  I don't know much about them though or anyone who has done it - but perhaps you would be interested in them.  I don't think any of them are funded though.

I agree with others that 1.5 months is not really long enough to offer your services for research especially if you are "cold calling" faculty members.

Here is first blurb:

The Institute of Education at National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow), China Institute for Educational Finance Research and Graduate School of Education at Peking University invite earlier career researchers, institutional researchers, and doctoral students, to apply to the upcoming IV INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL ON HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH. The theme of the Summer School 2016 is “HIGHER EDUCATION, SOCIETY AND STATE, and it will be held from June 4-10, 2016,  in St. Petersburg Russia.  The format of the Summer School includes seminars, discussions of participants’ research projects, master-classes on research methodology and writing articles for academic journals. The working language of the summer school is English. Participants must have a strong command of spoken and written English. Further information about the International Summer School on higher education research can be found here: http://ioe.hse.ru/en/announcements/172571273.html

Here is the second blurb:

The National Center for Education Research (NCER) is accepting applications for its tenth Summer Research Training Institute on Cluster-Randomized Trials (CRT). NCER, a part of the Institute of Education Sciences, hosts this Training Institute to increase the capacity of researchers to develop and conduct rigorous evaluations of the impacts that education interventions have on student outcomes.  The institute will be held from July 18-28th, 2016 at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois.  For information is here: http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/workshops/annual-summer-workshops/cluster-randomized-trials/

Here is the third blurb:

With support from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) operates the NCES Data Institute: Using IPEDS, Sample Surveys, and Federal Datasets to Support Research on Postsecondary Education. The Institute is an intensive introduction to NCES datasets and research methodologies using large-scale national data sources.

The NCES Data Institute (NDI) aims to achieve four major objectives: (1) Stimulate interest in using IPEDS, Sample Surveys, and other federal data to address current and future research questions in institutional research, the social sciences, and education; (2) Instruct participants in the methods of using IPEDS, Sample Surveys, and other federal data to conduct analyses; (3) Enhance understanding about methodological and technological issues relevant to IPEDS and national sample survey data collections, and (4) Encourage collaborative research studies between participants and agency staff to improve future IPEDS data collection and analysis.

The online application process closes March 31, 2016. For additional information and to apply, please visit http://bit.ly/1oKVt5F

 

 

Edited March 5, 2016 by ZeChocMoose

[morifol]

39 minutes ago, ZeChocMoose said:

I just saw an announcement for an international summer school on higher education research in St. Petersburg, Russia, one on cluster-randomized trials for education research in Evanston, Illinois, and a data institute to learn more about U.S. federal education data in Washington, DC.  I don't know much about them though or anyone who has done it - but perhaps you would be interested in them.  I don't think any of them are funded though.

I agree with others that 1.5 months is not really long enough to offer your services for research especially if you are "cold calling" faculty members.

Here is first blurb:

The Institute of Education at National Research University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow), China Institute for Educational Finance Research and Graduate School of Education at Peking University invite earlier career researchers, institutional researchers, and doctoral students, to apply to the upcoming IV INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL ON HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH. The theme of the Summer School 2016 is “HIGHER EDUCATION, SOCIETY AND STATE, and it will be held from June 4-10, 2016,  in St. Petersburg Russia.  The format of the Summer School includes seminars, discussions of participants’ research projects, master-classes on research methodology and writing articles for academic journals. The working language of the summer school is English. Participants must have a strong command of spoken and written English. Further information about the International Summer School on higher education research can be found here: http://ioe.hse.ru/en/announcements/172571273.html

Here is the second blurb:

The National Center for Education Research (NCER) is accepting applications for its tenth Summer Research Training Institute on Cluster-Randomized Trials (CRT). NCER, a part of the Institute of Education Sciences, hosts this Training Institute to increase the capacity of researchers to develop and conduct rigorous evaluations of the impacts that education interventions have on student outcomes.  The institute will be held from July 18-28th, 2016 at Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois.  For information is here: http://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/workshops/annual-summer-workshops/cluster-randomized-trials/

Here is the third blurb:

With support from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) operates the NCES Data Institute: Using IPEDS, Sample Surveys, and Federal Datasets to Support Research on Postsecondary Education. The Institute is an intensive introduction to NCES datasets and research methodologies using large-scale national data sources.

The NCES Data Institute (NDI) aims to achieve four major objectives: (1) Stimulate interest in using IPEDS, Sample Surveys, and other federal data to address current and future research questions in institutional research, the social sciences, and education; (2) Instruct participants in the methods of using IPEDS, Sample Surveys, and other federal data to conduct analyses; (3) Enhance understanding about methodological and technological issues relevant to IPEDS and national sample survey data collections, and (4) Encourage collaborative research studies between participants and agency staff to improve future IPEDS data collection and analysis.

The online application process closes March 31, 2016. For additional information and to apply, please visit http://bit.ly/1oKVt5F

 

 

You know, it is actually superhelpful. Especially given that 'Northwestern University will pay for lodging and for course materials' - it's way better than any European option out there.

[savay]

I'm not sure what kind of language requirements your PhD program may have, if any, but summers are good times to work on those as well. And you may be able to use that short time effectively as in an immersive program you can learn a lot in a short amount of time. There are quite a few options out there for summer language programs as well, and depending on location they may offer travel stipends. I'll be spending my summer at two of these programs, one has a government funded stipend and I've managed to most likely secure some additional funding from the grad program I'll be starting in the fall.