Joining the lab
Undergraduate students:
I periodically look for highly motivated undergraduate students looking to gain experience in invertebrate zoology, evodevo, and animal husbandry. Qualities I expect are organization, reliability, attention to detail, and intellectual curiosity. The specific responsibilities of assistant researchers at the undergraduate level will depend on their project of interest, and may include maintaining stocks of arthropods for laboratory-based studies, gene expression assays, functional genetics (e.g., gene knockdowns), and phylogenetics. Initial training and mentoring will be intensive and hands-on.
Students looking to pursue independent projects for course credit (Biology 299 and Biology 699) should contact me by email (psharma37@wisc.edu) with a statement of interest, curriculum vitae, class schedule, contact information for 2-3 professional references and availability for a personal interview.
Status (May 2023): The lab has finalized hires for summer 2023. We are only looking for new students for fall 2023 at this time.
Graduate (Masters/PhD) students:
Departmental guidelines, resources, and application information are available here.
The Sharma Lab compact for new graduate students is provided here.
I expect graduate students to be self-motivated, intellectually curious, focused, determined, and able to work as part of a team. Training of graduate students will vary depending on the scope of their project, but will invariably incorporate (a) workshops in analysis of next-generation sequence data classes, and (b) workshops in programming. Students pursuing systematics/phylogenomics projects should expect to participate in fieldwork expeditions (including in tropical rainforest, desert, and cave environments). Initial training and mentoring will be intensive and hands-on, and taper off as trained students take charge of their research projects.
For development of leadership and organizational ability, all PhD students should expect to run a small crew of 1-2 undergraduates towards the end of their program (4th or 5th year), with my supervision and assessment.
While considerations will be made for international students, strong proficiency in written English is expected of graduate students.
Interested applicants should email me at their earliest convenience (psharma37@wisc.edu) with a statement of interest, a curriculum vitae, contact information for 2-3 professional references, and availability for interview.
Status (May 2023): I am accepting up to two new PhD students in the 2023-2024 cycle.
Postdoctoral fellows:
Postdoctoral candidates should demonstrate a strong capacity for academic independence, intellectual creativity, scientific writing, and operational efficiency in a laboratory setting. Training will vary depending on the scope of her/his project, but upon request and need will incorporate workshops in analysis of next-generation sequence data classes and programming. Project management will largely rest with the postdoctoral fellow. Expertise in scientific writing, scientific illustration, professional academic presentation, and molecular biology and/or bioinformatics is expected.
For development of leadership and organizational ability, postdoctoral fellows should expect to run a small crew of 1-2 undergraduates for at least 12 weeks, with my supervision and assessment.
For development of grantsmanship ability, postdoctoral fellows will be expected to participate in writing at least one grant, even if they are completely funded. This expectation reflects the increasing need for postdoctoral fellows to demonstrate aptitude in seeking extramural funding on the academic job market.
Postdoctoral fellows in my lab can expect at least 3 years of funding, but annual reappointments and extensions are performance-based.
Postdoctoral training in my lab does not exceed five years in duration.
Interested candidates should contact me by email (psharma37@wisc.edu) with a statement of interest and project plans, a curriculum vitae demarcating the three publications that represent the apex of their work, contact information for 2-3 professional references, and availability for a personal interview.
Status (May 2023): We are interviewing candidates by invitation only and on the basis of new projects we are developing.
I periodically look for highly motivated undergraduate students looking to gain experience in invertebrate zoology, evodevo, and animal husbandry. Qualities I expect are organization, reliability, attention to detail, and intellectual curiosity. The specific responsibilities of assistant researchers at the undergraduate level will depend on their project of interest, and may include maintaining stocks of arthropods for laboratory-based studies, gene expression assays, functional genetics (e.g., gene knockdowns), and phylogenetics. Initial training and mentoring will be intensive and hands-on.
Students looking to pursue independent projects for course credit (Biology 299 and Biology 699) should contact me by email (psharma37@wisc.edu) with a statement of interest, curriculum vitae, class schedule, contact information for 2-3 professional references and availability for a personal interview.
Status (May 2023): The lab has finalized hires for summer 2023. We are only looking for new students for fall 2023 at this time.
Graduate (Masters/PhD) students:
Departmental guidelines, resources, and application information are available here.
The Sharma Lab compact for new graduate students is provided here.
I expect graduate students to be self-motivated, intellectually curious, focused, determined, and able to work as part of a team. Training of graduate students will vary depending on the scope of their project, but will invariably incorporate (a) workshops in analysis of next-generation sequence data classes, and (b) workshops in programming. Students pursuing systematics/phylogenomics projects should expect to participate in fieldwork expeditions (including in tropical rainforest, desert, and cave environments). Initial training and mentoring will be intensive and hands-on, and taper off as trained students take charge of their research projects.
For development of leadership and organizational ability, all PhD students should expect to run a small crew of 1-2 undergraduates towards the end of their program (4th or 5th year), with my supervision and assessment.
While considerations will be made for international students, strong proficiency in written English is expected of graduate students.
Interested applicants should email me at their earliest convenience (psharma37@wisc.edu) with a statement of interest, a curriculum vitae, contact information for 2-3 professional references, and availability for interview.
Status (May 2023): I am accepting up to two new PhD students in the 2023-2024 cycle.
Postdoctoral fellows:
Postdoctoral candidates should demonstrate a strong capacity for academic independence, intellectual creativity, scientific writing, and operational efficiency in a laboratory setting. Training will vary depending on the scope of her/his project, but upon request and need will incorporate workshops in analysis of next-generation sequence data classes and programming. Project management will largely rest with the postdoctoral fellow. Expertise in scientific writing, scientific illustration, professional academic presentation, and molecular biology and/or bioinformatics is expected.
For development of leadership and organizational ability, postdoctoral fellows should expect to run a small crew of 1-2 undergraduates for at least 12 weeks, with my supervision and assessment.
For development of grantsmanship ability, postdoctoral fellows will be expected to participate in writing at least one grant, even if they are completely funded. This expectation reflects the increasing need for postdoctoral fellows to demonstrate aptitude in seeking extramural funding on the academic job market.
Postdoctoral fellows in my lab can expect at least 3 years of funding, but annual reappointments and extensions are performance-based.
Postdoctoral training in my lab does not exceed five years in duration.
Interested candidates should contact me by email (psharma37@wisc.edu) with a statement of interest and project plans, a curriculum vitae demarcating the three publications that represent the apex of their work, contact information for 2-3 professional references, and availability for a personal interview.
Status (May 2023): We are interviewing candidates by invitation only and on the basis of new projects we are developing.