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Try to answer these questions . If you answer 4 or higher to more than 2 questions, you should take the summer lab. Otherwise, take Supervised Research. If your prior strength does not match with the course you take, you will learn very little while spending a lot of money and time. Q: I don't have much lab experience. According to the question list above, I should take G4305. But someone told me that I'd never get a job if I don't do an internship. A: Internship on top of strong academic training is an important line on your resume. However, it should not be used to replace solid lab trainings. Without prior lab experiences, a 2-month internship will not give you much education and will not help you land a good job. Supervised Research If you decide to do Supervised Research to fulfill the bench work requirement, the 6 points can be earned by doing research in a laboratory in Columbia University or in other universities, hospitals, industry companies, or other organizations. To earn 6 points, a minimum of 336 hours must be spent in the lab. This can be accomplished a number of ways:
Tuition for G4500 and G4501 is covered under the RU. For S4502, S4503, and G4510, if that is the only course taken in the summer, there is no RU requirement. However, there will be a "Lab and Administrative Fee", at $1,000 for year 2003. Q: What type of works is suitable for Supervised Research? A1: You must have intellectual input in your project. Most of the time you don’t get to design your own project. However, you should be thinking about the project, the experiments, the procedures, the data, and the interpretation. If you are given a list of samples and assays to run in the morning and at the end of the day (or the week, or the month) are expected to turn in a set of results, it won’t count. You must have the opportunity to think about what samples to run on what assay, how to do it, what the data mean, and what to do next. A2. Any service you perform is directly related to your training. For example: Doing dishes and making solutions are OK if:
Q: Can I get paid for my work if I do an internship? A: In general it is a poor arrangement to receive both money and academic credit for the same work. When you receive credits only, you are a student. Your relationship with your supervisor is 'mentee-mentor.' Your primary goal is to learn. Your supervisor's primary function is to provide guidance and training. However, once you start to accept monetary compensation, the relationship changes into 'employee-employer.' Your primary function is to provide service. Your supervisor's function is to verify that your service is worth your pay. In many case this dual relationship results in conflicting expectations. Therefore for the sake of your education and future career we strongly advise you not to seek payment for Supervised Research. However, we understand that unusual situations are the norm for our MA students. Although we discourage you from receiving payment we do not prohibit your doing so. (International students should follow Immigration Laws. Check first with the Program Office and the ISSO To receive payment for Supervised Research, the following conditions must be met:
A: No. However, if the work you do while registered is a continuation of previous work, you can include your previous work in your reports. Q: I plan to do my supervised research in a biotech firm. They don't want me to tell you what we will be doing. Can I get credit if I don't tell you whom I work for and don't write any report? A: No. Q: Then what should I do? A: You can tell me a lot of what you do without letting out any industrial secrets. You will most likely be asked to sign a confidential agreement with the company. Ask the company's IP lawyers to clear any report you write before sending it to the course advisor. (Warning: This can take time. So don't wait till the last minute.) Please note that the MA program would rather not know a secret than keep have to keep it, since it is a big responsibility to keep secrets. That's why, in general, we would prefer not so sign any confidential agreement between the company and the University. The reports are for us to know whether you have learned anything. There are many ways to do it. Please come to the program office to see examples. Q: Can I use the results from my supervised research for my thesis? A: Yes. However, keep in mind that research is unpredictable, and no one can be sure that you will have enough result from 2 months' work to write a thesis. So you may not want to bet on it and wait till the end of your supervised research to begin writing your thesis. Also, note that supervised research and the thesis are separate requirements. Therefore one cannot use the supervised research report directly as one's thesis. That is, you can write about the same project and same results in both the supervised research report and the thesis; however, they must be written and submitted separately. The thesis should be much more extensive than your supervised research reports. For more detailed information, see the Thesis Guidelines Q: I am going into the business field. Can I do an office internship instead of working on the bench for supervised research? A: What type of supervised research you do depends on what prior training you had. To receive an MA degree in Biotechnology we require that you be familiar in laboratory culture, including various bench techniques, independent survival instincts, interpersonal skills, and research mentality. These usually cannot be acquired by taking standard college lab courses or doing research while an undergraduate student. Remember that what sets you apart from all those MBAs is your scientific aptitude. With bench work training, you are much more qualified than they are in science and not as qualified in business. Without bench work training, (with or without an office internship of two months) you are no more qualified than they are in science and still not as qualifed in business. So the short answer to your question is: Bench work training is required. Q: I have worked as a lab tech for 5 years. I don't see how another 2 months on the bench can help my future career as a biotech analyst. A: For those who had extensive research experience, bench work may be substituted with other types of 'internships'. Please note the emphases on 'extensive' and 'research'. That is, a couple of semesters won't do. Five years of PCR for other people's projects doesn't count either. Check with the program office to see if your prior experience qualifies. Former supervisors must be available for discussion. Q: An internship in business field is extremely important for my future career. A: I agree. For those who wish to enter the business field, we encourage them to do a business-related internship in addition to bench work supervised research. Questions or Suggestions? Email the Program Director |
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