This note is intended for students interested in joining my laboratory as a

trainee, project assistant or research fellow.

I welcome applications from students trained in any branch of science or engineering, especially from those who have been trained to think quantitatively. Since I receive too many applications for me to reply to in a meaningful manner, I provide some information which may be useful to you if you choose to apply to become a member of my laboratory.

You are encouraged to apply only if you are genuinely interested in the work my laboratory does. I expect your interest to motivate you sufficiently for you to send to me, as part of your application, a 500 word description of what work you would like to do in my laboratory. This proposal should be based on your reading of papers published from my laboratory or elsewhere. I do not consider applications which only make statements such as "I am interested in protein folding", or which merely request training.

Once I am convinced that you have a real interest in working in my laboratory, I shall ask you to come and meet me to discuss your research interests, and I will ask you to have reference letters sent to me on your behalf. I will then be able to make a decision about whether I can accept you into my laboratory. Of course, it will help if you have pre-qualified yourself by having become a recipient of a CSIR fellowship.

Please do not come to meet me, or send me email enquiring about the possibility of becoming a member of my laboratory, without first preparing the 500 word proposal as described above.

Before I agree to have you as a member of my laboratory, I will expect you to first commit to working for a certain minimum duration (and I make exceptions here only rarely), as follows:

Summer trainees: 9 weeks
Long term trainees: 5 months
Project assistants and research fellows: 2 years

Please do not apply unless you will be able to make such a commitment.

Please note that for training, I give preference to students selected as summer research fellows by the Indian Academy of Sciences or the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre.

Jayant Udgaonkar