<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Graduate Research Assistantship?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eligibility<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone can apply for a GRA\/GTA position, regardless of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
• Country of origin<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• Course of study<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• CGPA<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• Gender<\/li>\n\n\n\n
• etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

  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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Step 1: Identify Your Research Interest<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  \n
  • Your research interest is a sub-discipline of the course you studied for your first degree.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Your research interest may even be in a different body of knowledge that is interrelated to the one you studied in your BS.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Step 2: Create an Academic CV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    • An Academic CV is distinctively different from a work CV.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Include the following:
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Personal info
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Education
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Research Interest
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Research Experience
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Professional experience
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Research publications
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Skills
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Professorial affiliation
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Volunteer activities
      \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Referees<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Note: The content may vary depending on the position available and the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Step 3: Obtain Your Academic Transcript<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
      • 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Your academic transcript may be the official or unofficial one. However, you need to have it handy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • There are several ways to get this from your institution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Step 4: Search for Professors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
        • Once you’ve gathered all the items in steps 1-3, the next step is searching for professors in your research interest.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Places to search for professors include:
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Twitter
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – LinkedIn
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – ResearchGate
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Google Scholar
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • To search for a Professor of Chemistry on Twitter:
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Go to the search bar
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Type ‘Professor of Chemistry’
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Click on people
          \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Peruse through the dropdown list<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • The secret is looking out for Associate and Assistant Professors, as they are usually the ones with research grants and openings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Copy out their emails and search out their research publications for use in Step 5.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Step 5: Cold Mailing (Fishing for Vacancies)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
          • One strong route of finding a GRA\/GTA position is by cold mailing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • A cold mail is a form of ‘solicitation’ mail used to fish for openings in a Professor’s Dept or Lab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            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: However, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,558,476,376,377,404],"tags":[573,418],"class_list":{"0":"post-6576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edun","8":"category-explainers","9":"category-graduate-assistantships","10":"category-graduate-scholars","11":"category-masters-scholars","12":"category-phd-scholars","13":"tag-august-2024","14":"tag-explainers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6579,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions\/6579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholar027.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}