Positions Available
We welcome people from diverse backgrounds to our laboratory and we prioritize teaching and mentoring. We therefore encourage anyone who is interested to apply for positions in our lab.
Last updated: November 2024.
Post-doctoral fellows: We are not currently interviewing postdoctoral applicants. We expect our next opening for a postdoctoral fellow to be in 2026, although there is a small possibility that we would have an opening in 2025 and interested applicants are welcome to contact Dr. Frank.
Graduate Students: We may have space for a graduate student from the entering classes of 2025. Dr. Frank is a member of both the Neuroscience and Bioengineering Graduate Programs and applicants should apply to one or both of those programs.
Technicians: We are may have an opening for a technician position to start in the Summer of 2025. Please contact Dr. Frank if you would like to apply.
Lab manager: We have a lab manager and are not actively interviewing candidates for a lab manager position.
Advice for Applicants
The following are a few suggestions primarily targeted at current undergraduates who are interested in applying to positions in our laboratory or to other labs (our hope is that current graduate students already know everything below):
1. Read (or at least skim) papers from the laboratory before you apply. Make sure that the sort of work they do is exciting to you and that you will be willing to put in the time and the effort required to learn about the science done in the lab.
2. Do not write a general application letter that you send to a number of labs. Instead, explain why you think you are interested in the work being done in the laboratory to which you are applying.
3. If you are planning to go to graduate school but want to work in a lab for a year or two first, consider working for two years in that position. It takes a long time to get up to speed in any new lab, and particularly in systems neuroscience labs, it can take a year just to build up the expertise necessary to be useful. Two years is enough to accomplish something and even perhaps write a paper. Furthermore, it will give you the time you need to make sure that a research Ph.D. is the right direction for you.
Advice Specific to the UCSF Neuroscience Program
(Note that the points below are based on one perspective; they should not be considered a complete list.)
1. Our program expects a substantial biology, chemistry, and/or physics background. Make sure you take a number of hard science courses.
2. Research experience is very important. If you do not have much research experience, you should strongly consider working in a lab for a year or two before you go to graduate school. Not only will this help your application, but it will give you a much better sense for your own drive to do research and the advisability of taking on the work required for a Ph.D.
3. If you are interested in systems neuroscience in particular, take math (including statistics) and programming classes. Our lab is beginning a transition from Matlab to python, and we recommend learning python. More broadly, the ability to think quantitatively is essential to our work, and the more you know coming in the better off you will be.