Graduate Assistantships
The Plant Functional Genomics Lab in the School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences (SIBCS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is looking for two Master’s students. The primary focus of my research group is identifying molecular mechanisms regulating responses to physiological processes (e.g., abiotic and biotic stresses) in crop plants, using genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cutting-age genomic approaches. Information regarding my prior research can be found at:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xfYauYYAAAAJ&hl=en&inst=16374138255100442520
Requirements for the Computational Biology/Genomics student
The computational biology/genomics student will be responsible for analyzing various genome-scale next generation sequencing datasets pertaining to genomic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and epigenetic levels.
Candidates should have a bachelor’s degree and a strong background in computational biology or bioinformatics or statistics. Candidates with a degree in Computer Science will also be accepted if there is a desire to learn basics of molecular biology and genomics.
Students with prior experience in analyzing large-scale datasets or competence in Python and/or R will be given preference. Proficiency in written and spoken English will be required. There will be opportunities to learn wet lab experiments in plant molecular biology and/or biotechnology.
General information regarding the positions
The UTRGV requires TOEFL/IELTS (TOEFL/IELTS is required for students from non-English speaking countries only) for graduate school admission. Students should have strong communication and writing skills. Students should be hard-working, collegial, sincere, and reliable.
The UTRGV is a Hispanic-Serving Institute located at Edinburg, Texas, USA. Edinburg is quite less expensive as compared to the other US cities. Graduate Assistantship will include a stipend of around $15,000/year and partial to full tuition fee.
Application procedure
Interested candidates may contact Dr.Manohar Chakrabarti at manohar.chakrabarti@utrgv.edu with a cover letter and CV complied into a single pdf as soon as possible. Zoom interviews will be arranged for suitable candidates.
Suitable candidates will have to apply to the graduate school at the UTRGV. Deadlines for application: Fall-June 1, Spring-October 15 for the international students. US domestic applications are considered on a rolling basis. Please, refer to the UTRGV graduate school webpage for details.
