You should apply for every available scholarship, fellowship to obtain your own source of salary support. This is for your career (CV) development and provides you with more opportunities both in the lab and after. 

• Hours of work vary depending on what type of experiment you are doing. Generally, work begins in the mornings about 7:30-9:00. If experiments stretch late, a later start the following day is understandable. However experiments will be performed during hours when other laboratory personnel are available (not the middle of the night if possible). 
• If experimental work is performed in other labs, strict adherence to their laboratory procedures and practices must be followed.
• There is no eating or drinking in the dry or wet labs, strict biohazard precautions for chemicals are to be respected; if you have not already taken the Lab Safety and Animal Care courses you will be required to do so at the University of Calgary; please provide documentation if you have already taken these. 
• Please email/call me or my assistant if you are sick, have other appointments and cannot come to the lab/clinic. Leave a detailed itinerary when you travel on lab business, including hotel phone numbers, flight information, etc.
• I will not teach you how to speak, understand, read, or write English (including grammar/spelling). This includes those for whom English is their first language! Minimum TOEFL score of HIGH in all 4 aspects (reading, writing, listening, speaking) is required. If your language skills are inadequate, you will be required to take an English writing course at your own expense. 
• There are many website dedicated to tips on writing and presenting your science (IBRO, SfN, etc.) 
• Because our labs deals with patients on a regular basis, familiarity with confidentiality issues is critical. New lab members should download and sign the confidentiality agreement. Lab Confidentiality Agreement  
   

DETAILS for GRADUATE STUDENTS

• This lab is not a pre-med stopover. If a student wants to apply to medical school I will only provide letters of reference when the defense date is set, papers are submitted, first draft of thesis completed.
• There is no point in trying to write a thesis and setting a defense date without a paper submitted. The paper(s) is the basis of the thesis. 
• Graduate stipends are, of course, provided, but it is still better for your career to get your own funding, to apply for all possible scholarships
• Each grad program has a minimum stipend (and this does change so look it up or ask the graduate coordinator). Stipends are tax-free as long as you are enrolled in graduate school. If as a PhD student you demonstrate outstanding progress, I may be able to increase this over later years. Of course, if you obtain external scholarships then this is easier to do. 
• At the University of Calgary non-Canadian citizens pay double the tuition that Canadians do; for this reason, I only consider exceptional non-Canadian students. Some programs have tuition help for international students. 
• The Neuroscience Graduate program requires 1 course for an MSc and 2 for a PhD. It is a research-intense graduate program. Neuro I (cellular) and II (systems) are the courses to take. There are no Teaching Assistant (TA) positions to apply for in this program. The only TA position in neuroscience is for the student with the top mark in the course; this individual is invited to TA the following year. Remember the purpose of a graduate program is to learn research. Study for courses should occur outside of regular business hours; the regular day is for research.
• The Biomedical Engineering program has different course requirements, several on mandatory and if your project is very neuroscience intense I advise you to take Neuro I or II for optional courses. There are more TA positions available in the BME system. 
• We will establish the membership of your thesis advisory committee together (usually 3-4 faculty including supervisor), and have meetings every 6-9 months. This allows you to continue to receive direction from the group. Depending on your project we may add committee members, to help you accomplish specific tasks and learn methods that our lab does not do.
• We will meet every 1-2 months, to make sure that things are progressing and allow for project discussion and planning. Students will present at lab meetings (as everyone in the lab does), often a mini-journal club on 1 paper and presentation of what you have been doing in the lab. That will allow group discussion and does not replace individual meetings. You will become the world expert on your particular topic by the time you defend it, but your project is not a life decision. The purpose of a graduate degree is to learn critical thinking and methodology. Satisfactory progress in journal readings, presentations, research productivity and course work is required to stay in the graduate training program.
• There is a basic reading list for all trainees. While your particular project may be better or less represented in this list, it is essential to have some idea about the important papers in the field in which the lab works. It would be embarrassing if you went to a different lab after finishing a degree here and had no idea what the rest of the lab was working on. 

• Even if your project is not directly related to humans, attendance at surgeries in which electrophysiology is key is mandatory; this provides you with a unique skill set and provides the understanding of why you are working in a translational research lab.

  Graduate Student Awards
   

POST-DOCTORAL (PhD) FELLOWS/ASSOCIATES

Answers to your questions
 

1. What are the adviser's expectations of the post-doc? 

• To work hard, learn new techniques, bring new techniques to the lab, develop their scientific and critical thinking with the aim of becoming either an independent investigator in industry or academia 
• After completing a PhD, independent advanced research work should progress without daily supervision; we will, of course, meet regularly to discuss progress, problems and career mentoring 
• Satisfactory progress in journal readings, presentations, and research productivity is required; research productivity means 1 paper per year
• You are expected to apply for independent funding as this is for your benefit, to expand your CV 

2. What type of person is the advisor looking for?

• I hire trainees who are planning independent scientific careers in the future 

3. What is the salary and are there benefits? 

• Salary scales are dependent on number of post-PhD years of experience, and those allowed by the CIHR
• Vacation entitlement is 1.25 days / month of employment, i.e. 3 weeks / year
• I do cover benefits if you do not have access to a spousal benefit package, this includes health care and is a standard package offered for PDFs at the UofC

4. Will the adviser or the post-doc determine the research program? 

• at the start, I will determine the research project; however, as the PDF gains experience, I expect their project to develop in the direction they want to take it, as long as it is funded through existing lab resources (meaning it needs to use techniques and be related to the ideas in existing grants) 

5. How many post-docs has this adviser had? Where did they go afterward?

• 14 previous (post PhD) PDFs, one is Professor, one is an Associate Professor, 3 Assistant Professors, one is Lecturer, one is staff scientist at NIH, 1 is in the pharmaceutical industry, 2 are research associates; there are 2 PDFs presently in the lab 

6. What do current and past lab members think about their experience? 

• feel free to contact them

7. Will the adviser have time for mentoring? Or should I seek out other mentors? 

• Yes, but not on a daily basis, I do research 2 weeks out of 4 so am available those 2 weeks of the month mainly; if ofter co-supervise trainees with my collaborators, who also act as a mentors

8. How many others (grad students, staff, post-docs) now work for this adviser?

• 2 PDFs, 2 grad students as of Sep 2023, one research assistant

9. How many papers are being published? Where? 

• We average 2-3 papers a year

10. What is the adviser's policy on travel to meetings? Authorship? 

• Trainees should always present an abstract to attend meetings, however in their first year they can go to Alberta Motor Control (local meeting) without presenting
• Generally they would attend one local and one national/international (usually Society for Neuroscience or Canadian Association for Neuroscience) meeting per year; of course if the trainee is able to secure a salary grant with a research allowance then an additional meeting per year is possible
• If the trainee does the work and writes the paper, the PDF is the first author.

11. Will I have practice in grant writing? Teaching/mentoring? Oral presentations? Review of manuscripts? 

• Trainees are expected to apply for their own salary support grants, this provides practice in grant writing. If a PDF is very experienced and getting close to completion then they will contribute to writing an operating grant. Of course they will always receive copies of our funded grants, for the opportunity to learn from them. 
• The Taylor Centre at the UofC offers a certificate in pedagogy. This involves a number of workshops and volunteer teaching with student evaluations. Previous fellows have done guest lectures for the graduate Neuro II course and for undergrad courses at UofC or Mount Royal University (MRU). These are all unpaid. 
• PDFs if sufficiently senior can co-supervise undergraduate and MSc students
• There are many opportunities to practice oral presentations. Our lab routinely will practice and provide feedback about all presentations before they are made. Seminar series, annual retreats, workshops and formal conferences all allow ample opportunity for oral presentations.
• If the PDF has achieved an adequate level of expertise they will have the opportunity to review papers for journals. Dr. Kiss is Deputy Editor for Brain Stimulation and so can provides opportunities to receive recognition for the PDFs reviews. 

12. Can I expect to take part of the project away after the post-doc? 

• Those parts of projects that were primarily developed by the trainee can, of course, be taken away after the fellowship, as long as the trainee is going into an independent research position. Some projects would not be appropriate to take to a position in industry or a second post-doc in a competing lab.

13. How long is financial support guaranteed? On what does renewal depend?

• All appointments are offered one year at a time through UofC PDF office. However with adequate progress in the research project, good interpersonal skills in the lab, and appropriate career development, funding is available for 3-5 years, depending on year of PhD graduation. You are no longer considered at PDF 5 years after defending your PhD. After that you would have to be called a Research Associate, which may not be ideal if you are looking for a faculty position. If you gain a fellowship from an external funding organization that accepts you as a PDF then you can remain being called a fellow.    

14. Can I count on help in finding a position? 

• Of course, that is part of mentorship. 

15. Will the adviser have adequate research funds to support the proposed research?

• Yes. Even in this difficult research climate, we have adequate funding and insurance plans in case of loss of peer-reviewed funding.

16. Any other service work required?

• Even if your project is not directly related to human physiology, attendance at surgeries (approximately 2 days /month) in which electrophysiology is key is mandatory; this provides you with a unique skill set and provides the understanding of why you are working in a translational research lab

17. What do I do before I start? 

• Prior to initiating payment of the fellowship and according to the University of Calgary guidelines, you must provide the following documentation: (i) a copy of your diploma showing that the PhD degree has been conferred or an official letter from a university officer stating that you have successfully fulfilled the requirements for your doctorate,  (ii) three letters of recommendation, and (iii) your CV