In Which Way You'D Like Students To Connect You When They Want To Join You?

Question

[Zhizhong]

I am applying a PHD position in bioformatics or computational biology, and have sent out lots of emails to connect a mentor. But unfortunately almost none replied me. So I would like to ask which is the effective way to connect a mentor. And If you are one of them, what information would you like to get from the mail?

Answer 1

[Chris]

In my eyes, an absolute killer is when an applicant raises the impression that he/she sends out mass emails to each and every bioinformatics-related group in the world without referring to any reason why he/she is interested in doing research in that particular group.

Some very basic things to keep in mind: Does the group/professor/postdoc have open positions (this significantly increases the chance of getting picked)? Instead of using phrases like 'dear professor', 'dear sir or madame',... try to directly address the person you're contacting (especially if the person is not a professor, addressing him as such... well, see my first statement).

btw, the fact that I haven't got an email from you makes me believe that my first statement doesn't apply to you. ;)

[Zhizhong]

thanks for your answer, before I send any message out I referred to their research introductions and in the mail I do address their names. Maybe the mails go to the spams directly, I was once told so.

[Zhizhong]

I sent a mail yesterday, did it go to the spams?

Answer 2

[David Quigley]

At American graduate universities, you apply to the institution, not the professor. If you already have a field that you'd like to work in, hopefully you have done your homework and know that there are several people there who work in the field. Having a professor who knows who you are and who can advocate for you during the admission process is a big help. However, the standard process is that at first you are not associated with any mentor, and then you rotate among several labs as a trial period. After your rotations you and the mentor both have to decide you want to commit to working together.

Cold-calling (or emailing) PIs when you have not yet even applied as a student is almost certainly useless. My basic reaction is that this is not a good use of your time. Perhaps things work differently elsewhere, but I think you need to become a student at a university and work through the process.

[Zhizhong]

Us application now is more difficult for international students now as too many students want to go to US. students already there told me to send mass mails. I don't think it is good to do so. But I heared that the people we get can help students to get funding.

Answer 3

[User 59]

Make sure they have a position available first. When I was in academia I received many solicitations of this type, especially from students in China and India. However I never had any PhD positions available, and so no replies were sent.

David's point is just as valid for the UK. You apply for positions that are offered and opened. Unless you're bringing your own funding with you it's unlikely that you will get a reply, let alone the offer of an interview unless your email has coincided serendipitously with an open position.

Find out where the positions are advertised, look there, then apply. I do not believe the strategy of mass mailing people for positions works at all in the UK. If anyone would like to provide evidence to the contrary I'm happy to hear it.

[Michael]

The same in Germany and Norway. Btw, I would consider this behavior spamming, and I think many will, the sentence 'strategy of mass mailing' (aka spam) puts it nice and clear.

[Zhizhong]

when I fill in the application forms, sometimes I have to choose a mentor. So I just want to know if it will be better for me to inform him or she before I make any move.

Answer 4

[Qdjm]

There are situations in which you do have to cold call. For example, my department requires foreign students to find a mentor before they are even allowed to apply (but nonetheless, there is still a rotation system -- Canada is weird).

So if you are going to cold call:

1. Personalize your email (as Chris said),
2. Read people's websites. Not only to find out whether they have open positions (as pointed out by Daniel and Chris) but also to find out about if, and how, they want to be contacted and what sort of preparation they expect.
3. Make sure that your email contains everything that someone needs to assess you. Most students only send their CVs but professors also need your transcripts and list of referees. If I have to write back to ask for those, it decreases the chance that you'll get a response.

Regarding referees: people are more likely to respond to you if they know one of your referees (or at least recognize the referee's name), that way they know that they can get a helpful reference letter for you.

A quick work about transcripts: there's no single path to get into bioinformatics but different labs expect different minimum preparation. Some of my colleagues won't look at any student who doesn't have a strong biology background but are flexible on the technical background; others require a minimal level of math training (or algorithms training) but are more flexible on the biology. Without your transcripts, there's no way to assess this.

[Zhizhong]

thanks, I think you are right, I should append transcript and referees.