NIH_IRTA Applicant Questions

[SRama]

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Hello All,

I am a Biology/Chemistry double major set to graduate after my fall 2013 semester. I'm looking into the NIH IRTA Program. Some of the threads on this forum have been insightful and have provided a wealth of information. I was hoping to get some more information on the research side of things.

I've heard you have to be very proactive and cast a wide net. Submitting an application will not get you an offer. You must proactively contact PIs and express your interest in their field and work. I have a few questions about this. How well do you need to know and study the PIs work before contacting? Do I need to read their papers and start thinking about the significance of their research and make sure i understand it? Do i need to start thinking of ideas for my own research?

I've seen people say they contacts 20 PIs before they got an offer. I'm trying to get an idea of how much study/review time to put into the PIs that I really want to work with. I want to show i have a good understanding of their work, but I also want to show i understand science/their fields well enough to start thinking about the directions their projects are going in. I'm just not sure what level of depth to go into.

Any input is appreciated.

S

 

[thesauce]

I can't answer about the NIH IRTA program in particular, but in this scenario, I would spend about 10-20 minutes reviewing the gist of their work before emailing them. If you end up interviewing with one of them, then it's probably worth spending an hour or two reviewing some of their recent pubs.

 

[TheShaker]

I can't answer about the NIH IRTA program in particular, but in this scenario, I would spend about 10-20 minutes reviewing the gist of their work before emailing them. If you end up interviewing with one of them, then it's probably worth spending an hour or two reviewing some of their recent pubs.

This is what I've been doing. It's taking more than 20 PI's though. I think I've emailed about 50 by now and still no bite. A lot of the PI's are saying that their funding is getting cut this year and they have no open positions.

 

[Espadaleader]

The golden time for me and most of my friends at the NIH is from Jan-March. Postbacs are leaving for medical and grad school and labs get their funding notices. Most labs are already starting their postbacs now.