Prospective Students: thinking of joining us?
The first thing we have to tell you is that our lab is small by design; we anticipate one new opening for the fall 2024 semester. It is not fair to you as a new student or anyone already in our lab for us to spread our time too thin when we already have many current students and projects active in both the lab and field. Depending on the thesis projects, field or laboratory, you can expect your MS to take 2 to 3 academic years. My lab is not an academic department, hence admission would be through Southern Connecticut State University's School of Graduate and Professional Studies (https://www.southernct.edu/grad/admissions) with application to the Biology graduate program. Additionally, SCSU is a great school, but we are small, so the assistantships we offer our students are very limited and not always as generous as other programs, so we encourage you to apply for external scholarship opportunities.
Second, we want students who are relatively self-sufficient, highly motivated, and willing to work hard to excel in their field. Ultimately, success in graduate school is gauged by what you accomplish and whether you become an independent scientist, and you need to leave with a thorough understanding of how the scientific process works. So, given that, we are looking for students who have a solid background in biology, good lab and field skills, and display a high degree of creativity, integrity, and self-motivation.
Third, we expect that students will read broadly into current literature, attend & present at lab meetings, departmental seminars & scientific meetings, and devote themselves to learning the laboratory/field techniques and statistical analyses that are required to conduct and publish a good scientific study. It is also important to me that everyone in my lab is able to get along. I do not mean that you have to be best friends with everyone, but I expect you to be a good colleague to others in the lab by helping to maintain lab morale, lab organization, safety and hygiene, attending lab meetings, assisting on field days/nights and contributing intellectually to the projects of your lab mates. Your lab is your family when you are in grad school, and I want ours to be a good one.
We get multiple messages from potential students each semester lacking some key information. Regardless of where you are applying, the key information any prospective advisor will expect is your educational history, previous experience, and research interests. Likewise, we encourage you to check out our most recent updates and publications to see if your research interests match that of our lab. Also, please review our current lab members section and look over their projects and reach out to them with any project specific questions.
Lastly, if after reviewing this page and our most recent updates you are still interested, please reach out to me via the email below.
Sean P. Grace, Ph.D.
(Credit to Rob Toonen and Toby Daly-Engel for the original wording of this statement)
