Cover letter postdoc biology

S messagenews from the hillmember updateretrospective: tony pawsontabor award winnerslionel cheruzelsarah gordonnih update: exrnaprotein originsq&a with john extonjeffrey pessin, new jbc aecareer insights: good lab managementcareer insights: a killer cover letterlipid news: sphingolipidsjournal newsjbc: mrnajbc: redox thematic seriesjbc: immunity and inflammationjlr: tuberculosis testmcp: mussels and matingeducation: biotech careers websiteminority affairs: hopes seed-grantseditor’s noteopen channelsletter to the editorbiochemistry to write a killer cover letter for a postdoctoral graduate students applying for their first postdoctoral positions underestimate the importance of the cover letter. While it may be true that your awesomeness is beautifully outlined on your curriculum vitae, your cover letter often will dictate whether the busy principal investigator puts your application at the top of the heaping pile or into impressions are everything for some people, so leave nothing to chance. On the other hand, a cover letter is also an opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot, so here are a few do’s and don’ts. If you begin your letter with “dear sir/madam” or “to whom it may concern,” your application could be dismissed as generic and untailored for the position. A letter that appears to come off an assembly line is likely to ride directly into the trash bin. It is important to respect how hectic a day in the life of a pi can be, so get right to the point — something like, “i am applying for the postdoctoral position available in your laboratory that was recently advertised (where).

End the first paragraph with just one or two concise sentences that hint at why you are the ideal candidate for the position — you will expand on these points the second paragraph, elaborate on why you should be considered for the postdoc — not just any postdoc, mind you, but this particular postdoc in this particular lab. Yes, it is infinitely easier to use the same cover letter for the dozens of postdoctoral positions for which you are applying, but that is not going to cut it. If you fail to convince the pi that you are taking the postdoc search seriously, then the pi is not likely to take you seriously. It is essential that you customize your letter, emphasizing how your background is aligned to the pi’s studies and the specifics called for in the advertisement. The cover letter is the trailer, and your cv is the your cover letter with the same professionalism you used at the opening. Everything discussed above should fit onto a single page — 1 ½ pages at are a number of important don’ts that apply to cover letters.

A plain, boring font like 12-point arial or helvetica is easy on the sore eyes of a pi struggling to read the 87th postdoc application. When the cover letter is heavy on flattery, the applicant usually is light on talent or productivity. If your cover letter contains significant blocks of text copied straight from the advertisement, you may be construed as someone with poor language skills or unable to paraphrase. Hope these tips help you land that perfect postdoctoral format send to a hed in nature 463, 696-697 (3 february 2010) | 10. When she began her search for a postdoctoral fellowship in her final year of graduate school, she started a blog, in part to get advice from around the globe. I applied to all big-name scientists, who get bombarded,” says moritz, a microbiology graduate student at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign.

Who landed a postdoc at harvard medical school in boston, massachusetts, had the right attitude, say lab heads, because her diligent background research aimed to answer the question, 'what do i want to get out of my postdoc? Although they are short-term assignments, postdoc positions should be viewed as stepping stones to a longer-term independent career — whether in academia, industry or another science-related that reason, it is hard to overstate the importance of the postdoc application. Background research, a carefully crafted curriculum vitae (cv) and cover letter, and personalization of each application will open doors. Form letters and typos will get applicants is no 'right' way to apply, say both successful postdocs and supervisors. And there are common refrains as to what catches their eye, how they single out applicants to pursue and what red flags may send a cv straight into the rubbish franks knew he wanted to switch from the rna-processing field to a cell-biology topic for his postdoc. I wanted to apply to proven, top-notch labs where i was going to have the success and track record of the people coming out of these labs,” he went to the large annual meeting of the american society for cell biology about 9 months before the date he hoped to start a postdoc, and made a list of the labs whose speakers most impressed him.

He applied to five labs and, in the end, secured a postdoc at the salk institute for biological studies in la jolla, g formula: preparation paid off for (from left) xiaoli du, toby franks and kristofor the hope of increasing their chances of acceptance, other graduate students choose just one lab and assure the lab head they will accept the position if chosen. An application typically consists of a cover letter introducing the applicant and his or her reasons for joining this particular lab; a cv outlining education, publication record, honours and accomplishments; and three referees who will provide supportive letters of recommendation on request (see 'postdoc application to-do list'). Some students also include a research summary of their graduate work; others incorporate this into their cover letter. Consider taking a workshop on writing cover letters and cvs, have senior colleagues review them, and proofread them carefully. It's a total turn-off if the cv and cover letter are littered with mistakes,” says larry goldstein, director of the stem-cell programme at the university of california, san diego. Every lab head who spoke with naturejobs echoed 's a total turn-off if the cv and cover letter are littered with publication lab heads use the 'first-author' rule to weed out applicants, looking for at least one first-author paper to signify that a junior scientist can complete a project from start to finish.

I personally don't put too much weight on the cv,” says martin hetzer, franks's postdoctoral adviser at the salk institute. Other lab heads suggest that applicants list experiences that illustrate other responsibilities — such as sitting on graduate-school or department committees or hosting seminar ants should highlight what they hope to accomplish in general in a postdoc position. Kristofor langlais had been teaching high-school science at a ski academy in vermont when he applied for postdoc positions in the washington dc extensive research into each lab's publications, websites and even annual reports, he wrote his cover letters from the angle of someone already in the lab. He spent 20 hours or more on each application and his strategy paid off — he had four phone interviews, and ended up in a molecular-genetics fellowship at the us national institute of child health and human development in bethesda, se, when xiaoli du was finishing up her doctorate at peking union medical college in beijing, she knew she would need to send applications to 30–40 labs if she wanted to obtain a postdoc in the united states. Her hard work led to a postdoc at the us national cancer institute in bethesda, maryland. If a postdoc has their own fellowship, they can write their application to me in crayon and i'll take them,” says phil baran, an organic chemist at the scripps research institute in la jolla, california.

Does a genuine passion, drive, and hunger for research come through in their letters or on the phone? Don't referees who really know you, such as collaborators, unofficial advisers or others beyond the standard committee with your referees to explain your career goals to age referees to send their letters promptly (salk institute cell biologist martin hetzer says that the speed with which a letter lands in his inbox is usually much more telling than the letter's content). Have a list of bullet points handy in case you get l powell is a freelance writer in broomfield, rial track: charting the course of your d external sity of california, san diego, stem-cell s research al institute of dental and craniofacial al postdoctoral ate editor / senior editor roles, nature research - talent pool , united sor and faculty positions at the academy of medical sciences (ams), zhengzhou academy of medical sciences of zhengzhou cs, key lab for neuroinformation, university of electronic sciences and technology of sity of electronic science and technology of china (uestc). Yat-sen innovation open innovation challenges found at this cover letters for grad students/ former job-seekers from penn have allowed us to post their work as samples. Lettersacademic/research positions and postdocs for a life sciences postdoc positionfor an africanstudies postdoc positionfor a humanities adjunct position for a humanities faculty position (spanish)for a humanities faculty position (art history)for a humanities faculty position (history)for a lingustics faculty positionfor a science faculty positionnon-academic/industry positions for a government consulting positionfor an academic advising position at a small college for a high school teaching positionfor a federal traineeshipfor an industry position in science research for a program adminstrator - scientistfor clinical social work positionsfor macro social work positionfor an educational policy analyst positionfor an elementary school teaching positionfor a health policy analyst positionfor an international student advising position at a universityfor advanced practice nursing positions.