MASTER’S TRAINING PROGRAM
Are you interested in gaining research experience while you are completing your Master’s Degree at UAB? A position as a master’s research assistant in the Killion Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics (Killion Center) may be the right fit for you. Previous Killion Center master’s trainees have continued their training in graduate, medical, dental, nursing and physician assistant programs or accepted positions in academic or commercial labs.
Focus on Neurodegeneration
Principal Investigators in the Killion Center are faculty in the Department of Neurology in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. These faculty perform biomedical and preclinical research funded by the National Institutes of Health and other funding sources, with a focus on determining the mechanisms of cellular dysfunction and loss in neurodegenerative disease https://www.uab.edu/medicine/cnet/labs/cnet-labs . The majority of the labs use a combination of cell culture, animal models, genetic information, and human brain samples to explore the roles for different risk genes and cellular processes in diseases including Parkinson Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Huntington Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Frontotemporal Dementia, Multiple Systems Atrophy, Dystonia, Dyskinesia, and Prion diseases.
Compensation and Expectations
Master’s Degree students can gain research experience in these labs by becoming a trainee research assistant. Each lab has a different set of tools and techniques that it uses; students are encouraged to reference the previous publications of the Principal Investigator on https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ to get a feel for the type of work performed by that lab.
Master’s Degree students are not financially compensated. Work in the laboratory should be supported by credit hours, as part of the degree-granting program. In some cases, volunteer status may be granted (when credit hours are not available), but this must be negotiated with the Principal Investigator, with processing of the appropriate departmental paperwork. In most cases, participation as a pure volunteer without credit is not recommended because there is little accountability in those positions (for the trainee or advisor).
Most students will sign up for 3-4 credit hours per semester. This equates to 12-16 hours per week in the lab. Credit hours should only be registered for once a lab has been identified. The minimum number of semesters for research involvement is three (fall, spring, summer). No Principal Investigator will invest time in training unless the student shows this level of commitment, because often, an entire semester of training is required before the student starts generating usable data.
As with any type of training activity, trainees benefit the most when they contribute a lot of time and effort. Ideal trainees will not only show motivation to become proficient at the main techniques used by a lab but also do substantial additional reading and take part in lab activities (lab meetings, etc.). These activities help trainees to understand the conceptual background for projects and to learn critical thinking skills and principles of experimental design. Involvement in the lab activities will also increase the probability of a strong recommendation letter from the advisor when the trainee applies to jobs or other educational training programs.
Opportunities for Career Development and Other Neurodegeneration-related Activities
The Training Program in Neurodegeneration is for trainees at all levels (undergraduate, graduate, MSTP, master’s, and postdoctoral). This program offers a number of opportunities for networking, career development, leadership, and volunteer activities. Please email Rita Cowell at ritacowell@uabmc.edu to be added to an email list for announcements of events.
Process for Exploring Research Opportunities within the Killion Center
If you are interested in applying for a position, fill out the application (link below) the semester before you want to start in a lab. It is recommended that you review the list of faculty and their research interests https://www.uab.edu/medicine/cnet/labs/cnet-labs so that you can suggest a couple labs of interest. Your application will be forwarded to those principal investigators, who will then reach out to schedule an interview, if they have an open position and are interested in meeting you. Please indicate whether you want your application to be forwarded to all the Killion Center faculty, in the case that the ones you select are not taking students. It is also recommended that you directly contact the Principal Investigators you are most interested in, so they are sure to see your application.
While it is not required, it is recommended that you request a 4-8 week trial period or “rotation.” This means that you will have that period of time to test out whether you are interested in the lab’s work and whether you are interested in completing your research experience there. This must be discussed with the principal investigator in initial discussions about opportunities in the lab.
Application
In the application, you will need to provide an updated resume (with your GPA included) and statements of training and career goals. In the statements, students should describe 1) motivation for applying, 2) what you hope to achieve in the lab, and 3) what type of career and/or postgraduate education opportunity you are interested in.
Submit your application