It's great news that a lot of people are working on your topic of interest, it means that you have a lot of options! I think it's more important that you have a great research adviser whose interests really match yours than to be at a school that has a very recognized "name", so I based my search on people's work, not their institution. Though a lot of people are working in your general field, it's possible that not that many are working in your really specific field of interest (for instance, my boyfriend is going for a phd in immunobiology and, though there are many people working in this field generally, there were not that many researchers doing what he's really interested in).
Start by looking for a list of schools that offer research PhD programs in Molecular Biology. There are tons, as I'm sure you already know. If you have the time to do this, actually go through the faculty lists for all of them - usually schools have a little paragraph about each researcher that sums up their research in a few sentences without having to read papers. This is a good way to start and allows you to see how much of a presence your area has in a particular department. You can also take into account whether you like schools' areas geographically and socially.
I would recommend keeping a notebook or a word document with a list of schools that lists of names of people at those schools. Make your first list, as I described above, by looking just at websites. You will probably find between 20-50 people that sound interesting and schools that you would like to go to. I would then look up 3-5 of each person's most recent first or second author abstracts, which will give you a better feel for the research of each person and will also allow you to cut out some people who sounded interesting on a website, but that don't really match up with you. It will also give you a good idea of how much people publish, which is also an important factor (you don't want to be in a department where researchers are not as prolific as you'd like).
Finally, for the people whose abstracts you liked, I would look into full papers. See if their methodology and thought process interests you. Don't think that you have to have just one person per department - it's ideal to have a good match with several. I would then contact these professors, ask more about their program, ask if they will be accepting students next year, say a little bit about your interests, etc.
Though a lot of people are working in your general field, it's possible that not that many are working in your really specific field of interest (for instance, my boyfriend is going for a phd in immunobiology and, though there are many people working in this field generally, there were not that many researchers doing what he's really interested in). Oh, the ncRNA thing is a pretty specific field all right, it's just so "hot" right now that everyone's trying dabble in it.
If you have the time to do this, actually go through the faculty lists for all of them - usually schools have a little paragraph about each researcher that sums up their research in a few sentences without having to read papers. This is a good way to start and allows you to see how much of a presence your area has in a particular department. You can also take into account whether you like schools' areas geographically and socially. Other than locking myself in my room for 6 months, there is no WAY I could possibly do this! That's why I'm writing this post! I'd need to screen all of the major US Universities, which I know have "decent" informative sites. Then Europe - I DO NOT speak all of the European languages! Though, I'm willing to learn one or to if I find a nice match at one of the universities. Oh, and I really don't care much about the geography and social aspects. I've lived in the country, in really small towns and in New York, to name a few, and been perfectly happy everywhere. As long as I can do what I love, it really doesn't matter. It will also give you a good idea of how much people publish, which is also an important factor (you don't want to be in a department where researchers are not as prolific as you'd like). As I've mentioned above, I do keep up with all the literature. And, yes, I've thought of the "paper-based" approach. I guess my initial idea of using it was the optimal one...
Yeah, unfortunately, if there really are that many people in the field, the only way is to keep an eye out for publications. If you think you have the resume, I guess you could look into the most prestigious schools in the US (that would be the schools in the Ivy League), though, to be fair, they're not always best in all fields. I know my boyfriend is very happy with University of Arizona's immunobiology and that he had been admitted to University of Texas at Austin for Cell and Molecular Biology and they have a good program (if you want to try somewhere maybe a little easier to get into than an Ivy League in the US). Since I am in a different field I can't help much more. :( I would say try to get in contact with a professor that knows something about schools outside of Russia or look for some sort of ranking of schools in molecular bio. Good luck!
Start by looking for a list of schools that offer research PhD programs in Molecular Biology. There are tons, as I'm sure you already know. If you have the time to do this, actually go through the faculty lists for all of them - usually schools have a little paragraph about each researcher that sums up their research in a few sentences without having to read papers. This is a good way to start and allows you to see how much of a presence your area has in a particular department. You can also take into account whether you like schools' areas geographically and socially.
I would recommend keeping a notebook or a word document with a list of schools that lists of names of people at those schools. Make your first list, as I described above, by looking just at websites. You will probably find between 20-50 people that sound interesting and schools that you would like to go to. I would then look up 3-5 of each person's most recent first or second author abstracts, which will give you a better feel for the research of each person and will also allow you to cut out some people who sounded interesting on a website, but that don't really match up with you. It will also give you a good idea of how much people publish, which is also an important factor (you don't want to be in a department where researchers are not as prolific as you'd like).
Finally, for the people whose abstracts you liked, I would look into full papers. See if their methodology and thought process interests you. Don't think that you have to have just one person per department - it's ideal to have a good match with several. I would then contact these professors, ask more about their program, ask if they will be accepting students next year, say a little bit about your interests, etc.
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Oh, the ncRNA thing is a pretty specific field all right, it's just so "hot" right now that everyone's trying dabble in it.
If you have the time to do this, actually go through the faculty lists for all of them - usually schools have a little paragraph about each researcher that sums up their research in a few sentences without having to read papers. This is a good way to start and allows you to see how much of a presence your area has in a particular department. You can also take into account whether you like schools' areas geographically and socially.
Other than locking myself in my room for 6 months, there is no WAY I could possibly do this! That's why I'm writing this post! I'd need to screen all of the major US Universities, which I know have "decent" informative sites. Then Europe - I DO NOT speak all of the European languages! Though, I'm willing to learn one or to if I find a nice match at one of the universities.
Oh, and I really don't care much about the geography and social aspects. I've lived in the country, in really small towns and in New York, to name a few, and been perfectly happy everywhere. As long as I can do what I love, it really doesn't matter.
It will also give you a good idea of how much people publish, which is also an important factor (you don't want to be in a department where researchers are not as prolific as you'd like).
As I've mentioned above, I do keep up with all the literature. And, yes, I've thought of the "paper-based" approach. I guess my initial idea of using it was the optimal one...
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the most prestigious schools in the US (that would be the schools in the Ivy League), though, to be fair, they're not always best in all fields. I know my boyfriend is very happy with University of Arizona's immunobiology and that he had been admitted to University of Texas at Austin for Cell and Molecular Biology and they have a good program (if you want to try somewhere maybe a little easier to get into than an Ivy League in the US). Since I am in a different field I can't help much more. :( I would say try to get in contact with a professor that knows something about schools outside of Russia or look for some sort of ranking of schools in molecular bio. Good luck!
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