Beginner’s Guide to Getting a Graduate Research Assistantship 1

What is a Graduate Research Assistantship?

A Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) is a means of funding for graduate school that waives your tuition fee and pays a stipend in exchange for your services as a Research Aid, Teaching Aid, School/Department support staff, etc.

Eligibility

Anyone can apply for a GRA/GTA position, regardless of:

• Country of origin
• Course of study
• CGPA
• Gender
• etc.

However, the route to follow differs depending on the strength of your CGPA. Graduates with HND, 2.2, 3rd Class may need to write and pass GRE, TOEFL, WES evaluation, etc.

Step 1: Identify Your Research Interest

• Your research interest is a sub-discipline of the course you studied for your first degree.
• Your research interest may even be in a different body of knowledge that is interrelated to the one you studied in your BS.
• Example: For your first degree, you studied Mechanical Engineering, but your research interest is Thermodynamics and Fluids, which is also a sub-discipline of Physics. Thus, in searching for a GRA, you may get funding in the department of Physics.

Step 2: Create an Academic CV

• An Academic CV is distinctively different from a work CV.
• Include the following:
      – Personal info
      – Education
      – Research Interest
      – Research Experience
      – Professional experience
      – Research publications
      – Skills
      – Professorial affiliation
      – Volunteer activities
      – Referees
• Note: The content may vary depending on the position available and the country.

Step 3: Obtain Your Academic Transcript

• While seeking out Professors that may have vacancies in their Research Laboratory and department, it is customary to submit your Academic Transcript alongside your inquiry mail.
• Your academic transcript may be the official or unofficial one. However, you need to have it handy.
• There are several ways to get this from your institution.

Step 4: Search for Professors

• Once you’ve gathered all the items in steps 1-3, the next step is searching for professors in your research interest.
• Places to search for professors include:
      – Twitter
      – LinkedIn
      – ResearchGate
      – Google Scholar
      – etc.
• To search for a Professor of Chemistry on Twitter:
      – Go to the search bar
      – Type ‘Professor of Chemistry’
      – Click on people
      – Peruse through the dropdown list
• The secret is looking out for Associate and Assistant Professors, as they are usually the ones with research grants and openings.
• Copy out their emails and search out their research publications for use in Step 5.

Step 5: Cold Mailing (Fishing for Vacancies)

• One strong route of finding a GRA/GTA position is by cold mailing.
• A cold mail is a form of ‘solicitation’ mail used to fish for openings in a Professor’s Dept or Lab.
• A good cold mail is one that is able to effectively convince the recipient that you are a high-flying candidate who can add value to their research work.