Thank you so much for your interest in our lab! We love talking to prospective students and postdocs. If you’re still interested in our work after reading this page, please don’t hesistate and get in touch by emailing Marian.
Undergraduate Students
Cornell undergraduate Students
We are looking for passionate and motivated undergraduate researchers. Projects in the lab are focused on the bacterial diversity, activity, and genome dynamics of freshwater bacterial communities. We use a combination of field work, molecular methods, and computational tools to approach our research.
Undergraduates at any stage of their career are encouraged to get in touch with Marian. First and second year undergraduates are especially encouraged so they can have more time to develop their scientific skillset and grow independence in the lab.
If you’re interested in an undergraduate honors thesis, please email Marian. Honors thesis students are encouraged to work in the lab full time during the summer of their junior year to have more time to delve into their thesis work and to allow more development of their project into a manuscript submission for publication in a scientific journal.
Non-Cornell Undergraduate Students
Our lab participates in the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Microbial Friends and Foes Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Progam.
Graduate Students
Cornell Graduate Students
Our lab is accepting rotation students through the Cornell Microbiology PhD Program website. Currently, the PhD program includes three 12-week rotations at the beginning of the program in the first academic year of the typical 5-6 year program. Please learn more about the rotation and PhD program by taking a look at the Cornell Microbiology Graduate Student Handbook. This means that students in the program need to rotate with three professors in the field of microbiology* (* who are accepting students). The rotations do not need to be figured out before starting the program. However, it is helpful to know of a couple faculty who are accepting students that align with an applicant’s interests before applying.
If you’re in another program on or off Cornell’s campus, please do not hesitate to reach out! Mar can serve on PhD committees across or off campus.
Prospective PhD Students
Currently, PhD students enter the lab through the Cornell Microbiology PhD Program, which has an annual application deadline of December 1st and guarantees 5 years of research funding (mostly through lab grant funding and teaching assistantships (TAs). If you are interested in our lab or the PhD program, please be welcome to reach out via email to Marian at any time of year. The most convenient time of year is September-November but it is always better to communicate at any point than never at all!
Funding Ideas for Graduate Students
Students in the Cornell Microbiolgy PhD program are guaranteed 5 years of funding, however, it is very affirming and motivating to obtain your own funding. Students in the lab are supported and encouraged to apply to their own funding. Here, we list some ideas below:
- Opportunities outside of Cornell:
- Due August until mid-October: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program provides 3 years of funding over a period of 5 years. (US Citizens only)
- Due mid-January: DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. (US Citizens or permanent residents)
- Due March/April: Schmidt Science Graduate Fellows. This program funds students during their final year of their PhD and the first year of their postdoc to help students in their pursuit of a postdoctoral position. Each year, Cornell can nominate up to 7 individuals.
- Applications in August for the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program. Perhaps a bit out of the expertise of the Schmidt lab but a resource for graduate funding nonetheless! Provides 3 years of funding for students who are earlier on in their PhD careers. (US Citizens only)
- Ford Foundation:
- Due September to early December: Predoctoral Fellowship.
- Due September to early December: Dissertation Fellowship.
- Cornell opportunities
- Research Travel Grant. Conference grants are reviewed within 30 days of the conference date.
- Conference Grant.
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability Opportunities:
- Due early November: Graduate Research Grant.
- Due early November: Sustainable Biodiversity Fund.
Postdocs
Marian is always excited to support and collaborate with new postdoctoral scholars. If you’re inspired by our lab’s work and are interested, please do not hesitate to reach out to Marian!
Funding Ideas for Postdocs
- Federal Opportunities
- Due early December: NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences Postdoc Fellowships. 120 fellowships per year
- NOTE: Work in our lab is a fantastic candidate for the 2nd funding stream of the NSF Postdoc fellowship: Integrative research investigating the rules of life governing internations between genomes, environment, and phenotypes! Marian would be thrilled to support a postdoc application through this fellowship
- Due mid-October: NSF Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) Postdoc Fellowship. 10-12 fellowships per year
- Due early December: NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences Postdoc Fellowships. 120 fellowships per year
- Cornell Opportunities
- Due mid-October: Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainability.
- Due December 1st: CIHMID Postdoctoral Fellowship.
- Private Foundations
- See Schmidt Science Fellowship that is a bridge between graduate school & postdoc.
- Due Mid May: Simons Foundation in Marine Microbial Ecology.
- NOTE: Marian’s postdoc work was funded by this fellowship and she welcomes anyone seeking this fellowship to get in touch with her!
- Due September-early December: Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.
- Due October 1st: Life Sciences Research Foundation.