[nabs-l] Questions on Freedom of Experiment Design and Thesis Topic Selection, and Dealing with the Heat

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi Zach,

I don't think there are many biology graduate students on this list
right now. But it looks like these questions are not
blindness-specific, so you could ask them of any biology grad student,
postdoc or faculty.
Can you discuss this with your former mentor or meet with a graduate
advisor at one of the schools you are considering applying to?

I am finishing a Ph.D. in psychology, so not exactly your field. But
my experience has been that mentors often have a lot of control over
what a graduate student studies in the beginning. Over time, students
are encouraged to develop their own interests, but even then a
student's dissertation is often required to be generally related to
the mentor's interests. I have also observed that students whose
interests closely match their mentor's tend to get better mentorship.
This is sad, I think, but just part of the human relationship between
mentors and graduate students at least in psychology.
So, I guess I think it would be to your advantage to try to get a
Ph.D. position in a lab that closely matches your interests, even if
you think you will need to get a little more training first. Of
course, though, this route may be more expensive. If money is tight,
you may opt to go straight to a Ph.D. position (which is often funded
in terms of tuition and stipend, I think) even if your dissertation
work might not be in your specific field of interest.

Best,
Arielle

On 4/24/14, Zach Mason <zmason.northwindsfarm at gmail.com> wrote:
> These are questions primarily for current or recently graduated PhD's and
> MS's in the biological sciences, but others are welcome to express their
> views and experiences. I plan to apply to graduate programs for fall 2015.
> I'd like to work in lactation biology. It seems as though, from talking to
> masters and PhD students, there are varying degrees to how one's program is
> dictated by the faculty mentor. In the summer of 2013 I was selected to a
> research fellowship at Purdue University. I worked with two faculty, their
> lab technician, and a graduate student on a swine metabolism trial. The
> graduate student in this instance, though he knew a lot about the overall
> project,  was more or less chosen to work on the project, not because it
> was
> his passion, but more because the team had funding for him. Is this a
> typical scenario in today's environment of tight research budgets?
>
>
>
> Secondly, the number of labs doing exactly the kind of research I'm
> interested in are few and far between. Competition is pretty intense to get
> into them. Am I better off to do a masters in a related field, perhaps a
> physiology, genetics or biochemistry lab where my skills could be
> transferred and then apply to the lactation biology labs for my PhD?
>
>
>
> I'd really appreciate it if someone could share their experience,
> particularly someone with a background in cellular biology, genetics or
> biochemistry. Feel free to contact me off list if that's better for you.
>
>
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
> Zac
>
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