Hello! I am currently picking a new research position and would love some feedback on which to pick. I am a full time student with not a lot of income and was hoping to land a research gig with some financial compensation (even if it was very little). I have the opportunity of joining a project where I would be considered a "volunteer" research assistant which would be unpaid but give me a phenomenal role in the project. They are also on track to be published within the year and will put my name in the journal. They're also extremely flexible with my busy schedule and overall seem very supportive of my goals. Will it look negative if I am labeled a "volunteer research assistant" as opposed to a normal RA on my application? My other opportunity pays well but I am not sure about publication or when I would be able to start working with them. Any thoughts on whether I should join the first one or try to find another?
Paid Research Opportunity vs Unpaid But Likely To Be Published Opportunity
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For the purposes of you app I don't think it matters if you were "paid" or not. Plenty of people get paid during certain semesters or summer and do unpaid/volunteer during other times, and no one's wasting space describing this....all that matters is what you do/did and your role. If you'd be a lab rat at the paid position, maybe turn it down or could you possibly do part time split? Sounds like the first job is pretty flexibile. Just my thoughts!
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Paid employment shows that what you were doing was valuble enough to be worthy of payment. That makes a positive impression, even if publication is not in the cards. Plus, earning money is a good thing, particularly when the cost of applying is so high. Unless you are independently wealthy, I'd go with the paid gig.
So you think that being paid/showing that your position is worth value is more important than being published? I think the unpaid position will give me a great role but I guess that depends on what your definition of valuable enough is. I would be involved in most of the project from start to finish starting with collecting data from pediatric patients, organizing into spreadsheets, then eventually helping to start analyze/interpret the data and form it into a journal article. Excuse my lack of knowledge about research but is that in line with a valuable role?
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The unpaid position sounds good and a publication is always nice in terms of showing that you brought the study to its intended conclusion (producing generalizable new knowledge and sharing it with the scientific community). That said, it isn't bench research which may paradoxically, make it "less" in the eyes of some adcoms who think that research takes place in "a lab" (a pet peeve of mine but don't get me started).
If you need to be paid and you have an offer of a research opportunity that is a paid position, I think that you should not turn it down because it is more important to have a publication. In a sense, the opportunity cost of that publication is whatever you would earn at the other position and that seems like a high price for something that will give you only a tiny bump, particularly if the publication is not based on bench research.
If you need to be paid and you have an offer of a research opportunity that is a paid position, I think that you should not turn it down because it is more important to have a publication. In a sense, the opportunity cost of that publication is whatever you would earn at the other position and that seems like a high price for something that will give you only a tiny bump, particularly if the publication is not based on bench research.
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Are you sure you won't be able to be published as a paid researcher?
In being paid you are considered more accountable and given more responsibility. Not sure if a researcher would assign any critical operations to a volunteer. But that's just my experience working in research for a few years. The paid employee is there when they are supposed to be and really making things happen. The volunteer might vanish on a whim, decide not to show up or put the work off, and it always comes secondary to hard obligations.
Maybe other people have had really good experiences with volunteer research opportunities, but I think most of the time its the student getting a little feather in their cap while a post-doc or grad student is the one doing the real heavy lifting.
Money is also nice.
In being paid you are considered more accountable and given more responsibility. Not sure if a researcher would assign any critical operations to a volunteer. But that's just my experience working in research for a few years. The paid employee is there when they are supposed to be and really making things happen. The volunteer might vanish on a whim, decide not to show up or put the work off, and it always comes secondary to hard obligations.
Maybe other people have had really good experiences with volunteer research opportunities, but I think most of the time its the student getting a little feather in their cap while a post-doc or grad student is the one doing the real heavy lifting.
Money is also nice.
