): start from your broad interests and work your way down. For example, first pick the field you'd like to get involved in (ophthalmology = Eye Institute, depression in children = probably NIMH, etc.). From the institute page (I understand this can be overwhelming), go to the list of all the PI's in alphabetical order or, if the site has this feature, organize PI's by their specific interests (you can tell a lot about what a PI does just by looking at their lab name, btw). From there, pick out the specific PI's that match your interest and start shooting out the emails.
Sorry to say, dude, but you're gonna have to do this the hard way. Think of this like top-down processing (an MCAT term for you
Congrats! Which campus are you going to be at? This is just spitballing, but I'd say ~$3k or so more than other IRTA's. I get a tick under $33k a year. You also get paid based on your GPA.
Bethesda! Building 41!
Finish app by December (it takes a couple of months). Start emailing ASAP after that.
OITE has a great example on the IRTA page.
You don't have past experience sorry. They mean post-bachelors...Isn't that sad?
ClubPCR yahoo group.
It depends on the PI. They aren't good about emailing back.
No, IRTAs are not officially governmental hires/ FTEs (full-time government employees). Trainees are not affected by the hiring freeze, fortunately.
It is currently being worked out. No, in general, because we are not FTE (full time employees).
Yes, but 22% report they have had a bad lab experience...who knows if they resolved it or just ignored it.
The introductory seminar.
The introductory seminar.
About a fifth of PBs have problems with their lab environment. Those still 95% say their experience was good. There's a undercurrent of postbacs not saying they need help from OITE when they run into problems.
The "95% satisfaction rate" may reflect how the question was asked and may not be representative of all IRTAs' experiences. If I were asked about my satisfaction with the program, I'd give it a thumbs up; it furthered my professional goals, afforded me more independence than I'd experienced to date (yay, adulthood!), and was a catalyst for maturity and personal growth. But the experience included many negatives, which may account for the seemingly contradictory statistic cited by @Lost In Transcription. Was I satisfied with my overall experience? Yes, particularly with respect to resume-building and life outside of lab. Was I happy in lab? Not particularly. Also, 95% was derived from an exit survey question and self-selection bias likely inflated the statistic. I'd caution against making sweeping generalizations about the IRTA position based on a number.
If people learn to utilize OITE early on with problems (or no problems), they are pretty likely, anecdotally, to grow and enjoy themselves.
If you have problems, for once. Go to their seminars about applications and also stress-relief etc. Just make sure you start a relationship with them.
Yes lab is in Rockville campus this time though
I did a similar thing but instead of a private company, it was clinical research at Stanford SOM. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing. What's more important than WHERE you research is WHAT you get out of it. You'll undoubtedly be asked about it in interviews and that's your chance to discuss what you learned from the experience and how it has shaped you. Also whether or not you get a glowing letter of rec.
None. You have to file quarterly taxes while here. This is why the hiring freeze shouldn't affect us either (we are technically a type of contractor, fiscally, to the government, not FTEs).
Cooooool! When do you start?
