University of Illinois at Chicago
Signal Transduction Training Program
STTP Admission Requirements for Predoctoral Trainees
General Admission Criteria and Process
Students are considered for the STTP once they have been
accepted into the GEMS program. Both the GEMS program and Graduate Committees
in each of the basic science departments screen the predoctoral applicants
to their programs and select the most qualified candidates for on-site
interviews. The selection criteria are:
(1) strong academic background reflected
in grades and previous research experience if any
(2) performance on appropriate standard and specialty
GREs
(3) motivation for an academic/research career
(4) references from individuals aware of the candidates
background (e.g. department chairman, previous mentors, and other teachers
at the candidate's undergraduate or graduate institution)
(5) commitment to pursue training in basic research.
The interview process at this stage allows our faculty members to evaluate
potential candidates for the STTP, and the candidates are able to get
a good sense of our training faculty and the institution. The interview
process is critical for recruitment of individuals both into GEMS and
the individual Departmental graduate programs, and the STTP once they
have completed their first year in the GEMS program. Candidates are
coordinately brought to UIC in large groups of up to 25-50 students
on dedicated GEMS recruitment days, in which the candidates spend an
entire day in the College of Medicine (usually on Friday) undergoing
interviews with the GEMS/basic science department faculty, tours of
UIC and College of Medicine research and teaching facilities, seminars
on graduate training at UIC, and out-of-town students are given tours
of Chicago by current GEMS students on Saturday, before they return
home.
STTP Admission Requirements and Process
A bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.S.) or its equivalent is required for admission to the STTP. Prior to admission, a student should have obtained preparation in the following: mathematics through calculus, one year of physics, inorganic and organic chemistry, biochemistry, general zoology/biology (others, e.g. cell biology, molecular biology, physiology and genetics, are recommended since this graduate program emphasizes research training), evidence of aptitude for and commitment to laboratory research and a research career is important. Students may be admitted with some minor deficiencies, but these must be made up in the first year in the GEMS program. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (the STTP looks for combined scores of 1800 or above), and three letters of recommendation are required as part of the formal application to graduate study in all of the participating departments. We generally do not appoint students in the STTP in their first year of their predoctoral GEMS program, but only after they have successfully completed all of the GEMS and first year Departmental requirements, preferably including their oral preliminary examination, though this is not an absolute requirement. Students interested in the program, or nominated by their preceptors, are evaluated as noted above by the STTP Advisory Committee. The Program Director formally solicits nominations for eligible qualified students from all participating faculty once each year between May and June, or more often if necessary, but accepts nominations year round depending on the availability of training slots. The selection process is democratic, with members of the Advisory Committee evaluating each candidate’s application package in advance (including original graduate school application to GEMS or their Department, current CV/bibliography, one page description of their proposed or ongoing thesis research project, letter of recommendation/nomination from their mentor, and their most recent UIC graduate college transcript), giving them an NIH style scoring (1.0 to 5.0 points/outstanding to unacceptable). All candidates are then ranked by scores and discussed at a meeting of the Advisory Committee in late June with regard to special issues or circumstances, appropriateness of the candidate’s research to the STTP’s training mission, and the top ranked students offered appointments for the available slots. Students who are already STTP trainees must be re-nominated for a second year of support by their faculty mentors, providing progress reports, and successfully “compete” again for available slots. However, our experience has been that the majority of our trainees, pending acceptable research progress, have been selected for a second year of STTP support, unless they have obtained funding from other sources, e.g. minority supplements to their mentor’s grant, or successful applications for other fellowship support, e.g. from the UIC graduate college. These students remain as participating members of the STTP, despite their not being supported directly by STTP funds, as do students who have completed their 1-2 years of STTP support.