How prestigious/impressive is Amgen at NIH?

[binderpaper]

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I go to a very research-oriented school and I'm already getting paid to work in the lab I'm joining. I do have quite a bit of research experience, and after this summer, I will have even more. Is it worth applying to these summer research programs for next summer? (NIH/Amgen/etc)
Or should I just continue with the lab I'm already in? (PI has mentioned that he will support independent projects in the future, after I've worked in the lab a bit)

Will these programs look really impressive to MD/PhD programs, and are they widely recognized as being prestigious?

Why do people usually do those programs instead of continuing w research at their home institutions?

 

[efle]

If you want to impress the competitive research powerhouses and/or MSTP programs, you want to be productive first and foremost. Abstracts at the major conference for your subject, a pub, that kind of thing. If you're set up in a lab you like with a good independent project idea by summer, you're much better off staying there in that lab and working on it. You'll already be familiar with the methods and can stay to continue working during the year and even into the following summer. Something productive from a long term project is worth much, much more than an Amgen summer on your AMCAS.

 

[Microbug]

I would have to disagree with above post. You should do the Amgen to broaden your scope. It’s not just about the research but also your scientific network, you get to meet not only ppl within your program but also students and directors of the other Amgen sites. It’s important to be productive but publications is not expected. It’s also easier for you to get into other prestigious summer program moving forward if you have Amgen. In addition, you’ll be eligible for travel awards from Amgen even when you’re in grad school. DO ITTTTTTTTT

 

[Lucca]

Agree with @Microbug

NIH is the best. Forget about prestige. Great networking opportunity, right time in your career to broaden your horizons and develop new skills, you will get a presentation at a national level conference out of it, you will have a lot of fun.

 

[Isoval]

One of the biggest calling-cards of SURF/Ps is the level of autonomy they afford you. This is key, because you rarely will have an opportunity like this as an undergrad. When I was engaged in my fellowship program, I was practically heading an R01 project of my PI, something I never really got to do at my home institution.

Whether it’s a publication, a poster, or an oral presentation, committees like seeing you in a leading role. If you have a third-author publication that you can barely talk about versus a poster at a local-level competition that you are very intimately acquainted with, which one do you think will do you more favors? You were the bread-and-butter of one of them. On paper, maybe the publication...but what about when you get the question “Tell me about your research”?

Regardless of if you’ve had a chance to be autonomous as an undergrad, I think you should take the opportunity to work at the NIH.
- If you’ve already been wholly autonomous in your undergraduate lab, this could serve, as Lucca said, as a broadening and networking experience.
- If you haven’t been wholly autonomous...well, you’ll get that there!

I want to clarify: the prestige of a research program is borderline meaningless; what people really care about is what you did.

 

[efle]

I don't understand how anyone could do a meaningful basic science project in ~9 weeks but then again I worked summer at the same lab I was in for the year, so I haven't tried to do so myself.

 

[Microbug]

I don't understand how anyone could do a meaningful basic science project in ~9 weeks but then again I worked summer at the same lab I was in for the year, so I haven't tried to do so myself.

Amgen tend to be highly selective and students usually come in at a level in which they can be productive enough to generate a poster by the end. Some people even get a mid-author paper out of it. It all depends on the lab and your prior expertise. The point of these program is not for you to publish but to broaden your scope and network within the scientific community.