Information for visiting student and scholars

Qualifications

Anyone with research background in human genetics, genome sciences of brain, neurogenomics, biostatistics, bioinformatics and computational biology are welcome to inquire by emailing me your CV and a statement of intent. We will communicate via emails to evaluate if our group is a good fit to provide training and research opportunities for your career development. For the benefit of your training and of our collaborations, we expect your in person visit to be at least 6 months. There is no upper limit for the duration of the visit. Although most of our visitors work with us on site for less than 2 years, some do continue to collaborate with us after they return to their home institutes.

There is no requirement for language tests (such as TOFEL) for international visiting students. However, it is required that the hosting team leader (in this case, me or my colleagues) assesses applicants oral and written English skills the way they see fit, and complete a form to report the assessment.

Funding source

Visiting students should be self-funded either through institutional support or other private funding source. Our department requires a proof of funding to support your visit – typically a letter from your current employer to verify the support. Currently the minimum is $2,800 for all funding sources combined including personal bank account savings.

Logistics

Once we have established the intent to collaborate, I will provide relevant documents upon request to support, as needed:

• Your application to secure the funds to visit us
• Your visa application (for international scholars you will need a J-1 visa to visit us)

I will NOT provide research proposals for your funding applications although I can write a letter to clarify that you will be eligible to work on research projects from my group during your visit, and that we will provide the adequate trainings for you to accomplish the research goals.

Moving to NYC

Our group locates in New York City near the George Washington Bridge connecting New York and New Jersey. Many of our group members live in New Jersey to avoid high cost of living in NYC. However, if you could find room sharing in NYC particularly with other students and scholars, living in Manhattan is very much feasible with limited budget. It is difficult to say what would be the minimum funding you should receive to cover the cost of living during your visit because your rent can vary from anywhere between a few hundred to a few thousand per month. But most of our visitors receive over $2,000 per month from their home institutes.