Returning to a PI's lab at the NIH

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So I previously worked in a lab during a summer program through the NIH, and I am potentially interested in returning to the same lab for the IRTA postbac program. I was wondering how I should frame my email when I email my PI. Should I just ask him if I could interview to potentially work in his lab again?




Also, I just saw that he is actually speaking soon at an event near me (just speaking to a group of undergrads, not like a presentation at a conference). If I went to the event, do you think it would be rude to ask him about it after his presentation?
Thanks
 
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acetylmandarin said:
So I previously worked in a lab during a summer program through the NIH, and I am potentially interested in returning to the same lab for the IRTA postbac program. I was wondering how I should frame my email when I email my PI. Should I just ask him if I could interview to potentially work in his lab again?
Also, I just saw that he is actually speaking soon at an event near me. If I went to the event, do you think it would be rude to ask him about it after his presentation?
Thanks
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Did your PI not offer you a spot as a post-bacc following your stint in the lab? In the summer program I did at the NIH, me and everyone in my program were offered to come back. That should have been a conversation you had before leaving the lab. Also, have you not been in contact with your PI regarding a LOR, presentations, or publications?

Email your PI saying that you enjoyed the experience you had in the lab, that you're applying for the IRTA program and that you're interested in working in their lab again.
 
idontwatchgreysanatomy said:
Did your PI not offer you a spot as a post-bacc following your stint in the lab? In the summer program I did at the NIH, me and everyone in my program were offered to come back. That should have been a conversation you had before leaving the lab. Also, have you not been in contact with your PI regarding a LOR, presentations, or publications?

Email your PI saying that you enjoyed the experience you had in the lab, that you're applying for the IRTA program and that you're interested in working in their lab again.
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Hey, I did thank my PI for allowing me to work there, and I told him I enjoyed the experience. We never really had a conversation about me coming back to the lab; I probably should have brought that up. He did say he would write me a LOR for med school apps, and I have sent him like one email just to see how things were going. I asked about our research from the summer that was supposed to go into a publication, but he said it hadn't been analyzed yet.

Should I email him now? Or should I approach him in person about it soon when he comes to the event near me? I just don't want it to be awkward if he doesn't want to offer me a position in the lab for some reason......though I don't see why he wouldn't.


I guess unless there was a funding issue.








I don't think we really talked about it because it wasn't really something on my mind at the time when I was in his lab.
 
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Funding is irrelevant. IRTA students are funded through OITE, not the specific lab they are working for. Pretty sure it's the same for post-docs as well. I would email, I think you are overthinking it. You know your PI's personality better than anyone here, but I can't imagine it being awkward. It's more advantageous for a PI to bring in a former student than to train a new post-bacc from scratch. Also, if for whatever reason his lab is full, he has the connections to help you find another lab. You have nothing to lose.
 
In any case, if I remember correctly from one of the presentations, many of the NIH summer students come back as IRTAs so chances are good? It seems the NIH likes to take care of its own
 
idontwatchgreysanatomy said:
Funding is irrelevant. IRTA students are funded through OITE, not the specific lab they are working for. Pretty sure it's the same for post-docs as well. I would email, I think you are overthinking it. You know your PI's personality better than anyone here, but I can't imagine it being awkward. It's more advantageous for a PI to bring in a former student than to train a new post-bacc from scratch. Also, if for whatever reason his lab is full, he has the connections to help you find another lab. You have nothing to lose.
Click to expand...


Sweet. So should I just email him ASAP then? Or should I just speak to him in person at this event?
 
WedgeDawg said:
Shoot him an email and maybe mention that you'll be attending that event if he's interested in catching up. Don't say anything about an 'interview'.
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I just don't know if it would be impolite for me to go up and have a conversation with him ask, "So, do you think I could potentially come work in your lab for the next two years?" I'm not really sure how to ask that
 
acetylmandarin said:
I just don't know if it would be impolite for me to go up and have a conversation with him ask, "So, do you think I could potentially come work in your lab for the next two years?" I'm not really sure how to ask that
Click to expand...

That's why you 1. send the email first and 2. don't open with that when you talk to him at the event
 
Also, there is actually a research center separate from the NIH close to where I go to school, and they do research that is related to the field this PI focuses on in his lab. Although I expressed interest in getting involved with it earlier this semester, I ended up not doing so because they wanted me to do a credited internship position, and it wasn't completely related (it was actually through the social sciences department, and not really 'hard science').

My PI actually has interacted with this organization before, he has given presentations there.


Do you think it would be worth it to mention to him that I found out about that organization and expressed interest in workign there, but ended up not doing so because their work wasn't completely related (not necessarily hard science, so not really the aspect of the field that I was interested in), also I didn't really have time in my schedule to do the internship.

I'm thinking I could use this to demonstrate my interest in the field (although I'm not sure how effective that would be since I didn't actually do it)
 
I'm writing this email and I feel like I'm trying to ask him on a date haha 🙂
 
idontwatchgreysanatomy said:
Funding is irrelevant. IRTA students are funded through OITE, not the specific lab they are working for. Pretty sure it's the same for post-docs as well. I would email, I think you are overthinking it. You know your PI's personality better than anyone here, but I can't imagine it being awkward. It's more advantageous for a PI to bring in a former student than to train a new post-bacc from scratch. Also, if for whatever reason his lab is full, he has the connections to help you find another lab. You have nothing to lose.
Click to expand...
BTW, bolded is literally not true. Lab pays for the IRTA's (bacs and docs). And how much they get is institute based.

Like others have said, just send the PI an email. Maybe ask to talk on the phone.
 
acetylmandarin said:
Also, there is actually a research center separate from the NIH close to where I go to school, and they do research that is related to the field this PI focuses on in his lab. Although I expressed interest in getting involved with it earlier this semester, I ended up not doing so because they wanted me to do a credited internship position, and it wasn't completely related (it was actually through the social sciences department, and not really 'hard science').

My PI actually has interacted with this organization before, he has given presentations there.


Do you think it would be worth it to mention to him that I found out about that organization and expressed interest in workign there, but ended up not doing so because their work wasn't completely related (not necessarily hard science, so not really the aspect of the field that I was interested in), also I didn't really have time in my schedule to do the internship.

I'm thinking I could use this to demonstrate my interest in the field (although I'm not sure how effective that would be since I didn't actually do it)
Click to expand...
Unless it gets brought up, it doesnt seem important to me to mention the other org. Gotta keeo things short and sweet for NIH PIs.
 
Lost In Transcription said:
BTW, bolded is literally not true. Lab pays for the IRTA's (bacs and docs). And how much they get is institute based.

Like others have said, just send the PI an email. Maybe ask to talk on the phone.
Click to expand...

Not sure where you got that information, but the director of OITE told me that since their stipend comes through OITE. My PI confirmed this when they said the same thing. I don't know the nuances of lab budgets, it could come from the lab budget in a roundabout way, but from what I've been told, it is an OITE funded stipend.
 
idontwatchgreysanatomy said:
Not sure where you got that information, but the director of OITE told me that since their stipend comes through OITE. My PI confirmed this when they said the same thing. I don't know the nuances of lab budgets, it could come from the lab budget in a roundabout way, but from what I've been told, it is an OITE funded stipend.
Click to expand...
The actual PIs and the people at OITE that would know. Not sure how you sat down for am extended conversation with Sharon. 😛

OITE gets a part of the budget. Your PI gets part of the budget.

Your PI does technically pay for it out of pocket. But he gets "slots" for people and some incentive from OITE. But the stipend comes from the PI. The NIH separates staff from regular budget, so it's not like the choice is a postbac or a new imaging station.

This all came up with my department when someone went into the red at september.
 
Lost In Transcription said:
The actual PIs and the people at OITE that would know. Not sure how you sat down for am extended conversation with Sharon. 😛

OITE gets a part of the budget. Your PI gets part of the budget.

Your PI does technically pay for it out of pocket. But he gets "slots" for people and some incentive from OITE. But the stipend comes from the PI. The NIH separates staff from regular budget, so it's not like the choice is a postbac or a new imaging station.

This all came up with my department when someone went into the red at september.
Click to expand...

Ah gotcha. Sharon was actually extremely available to my cohort during our time there and I was able to have several meetings with her during my time there. I have a hard time imagining budget issues there, money seemed to grow on trees in my lab compared to any lab I've been in that receives extramural funding lol.
 
idontwatchgreysanatomy said:
Not sure where you got that information, but the director of OITE told me that since their stipend comes through OITE. My PI confirmed this when they said the same thing. I don't know the nuances of lab budgets, it could come from the lab budget in a roundabout way, but from what I've been told, it is an OITE funded stipend.
Click to expand...

https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/postbac_irta
"Individual scientists select their own postbacs and provide the funding to support them"
 
idontwatchgreysanatomy said:
Ah gotcha. Sharon was actually extremely available to my cohort during our time there and I was able to have several meetings with her during my time there. I have a hard time imagining budget issues there, money seemed to grow on trees in my lab compared to any lab I've been in that receives extramural funding lol.
Click to expand...
Sharon is still awesome but can't imagine sitting with her haha. She shows up to all the IRTA events tho...did you recently leave the program?

And yes, "budget problems" means something very different between the NIH and a state University. 😛
 
Lost In Transcription said:
Sharon is still awesome but can't imagine sitting with her haha. She shows up to all the IRTA events tho...did you recently leave the program?

And yes, "budget problems" means something very different between the NIH and a state University. 😛
Click to expand...

We got a lot of personal time with her because we all flew out to LA together, she's very chill. My program was only 10 weeks though, it's been over for awhile
 
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