music career research project

Music Industry Library Pathways Into Music Research

Pathways into music guide 01: mapping music careers, by chris cooke | last updated: february 2020.

Pathways Into Music is a major multi-year research project from CMU that is mapping music careers and exploring the respective role of music education and the music industry in supporting future music talent.

CMU is sharing the findings of this research through a series of guides.

This first guide provides an introduction to the Pathways Into Music project and describes in more detail the career pathway taken by a frontline artist – from hobbyist to headliner in ten steps.

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The Top 10 Most Interesting Music Research Topics

Music is a vast and ever-growing field. Because of this, it can be challenging to find excellent music research topics for your essay or thesis. Although there are many examples of music research topics online, not all are appropriate.

This article covers all you need to know about choosing suitable music research paper topics. It also provides a clear distinction between music research questions and topics to help you get started.

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What makes a strong music research topic.

A strong music research topic must be short, straightforward, and easy to grasp. The primary aim of music research is to apply various research methods to provide valuable insights into a particular subject area. Therefore, your topic must also address issues that are relevant to present-day readers.

Also, for your research topic to be compelling, it should not be overly generic. Try to avoid topics that seem to be too broad. A strong research topic is always narrow enough to draw out a comprehensive and relevant research question.

Tips for Choosing a Music Research Topic

• Check with your supervisor. In some cases, your school or supervisor may have specific requirements for your research. For example, some music programs may favor a comparative instead of a descriptive or correlational study. Knowing what your institution demands is essential in choosing an appropriate research topic.
• Explore scientific papers. Journal articles are a great way to find the critical areas of interest in your field of study. You can choose from a wide range of journals such as The Journal of Musicology and The Journal of the Royal Musical Association . These resources can help determine the direction of your research.
• Determine your areas of interest. Choosing a topic you have a personal interest in will help you stay motivated. Researching music-related subjects is a painstakingly thorough process. A lack of motivation would make it difficult to follow through with your research and achieve optimal results.
• Confirm availability of data sources. Not all music topics are researchable. Before selecting a topic, you must be sure that there are enough primary and secondary data sources for your research. You also need to be sure that you can carry out your research with tested and proven research methods.
• Ask your colleagues: Asking questions is one of the many research skills you need to cultivate. A short discussion or brainstorming session with your colleagues or other music professionals could help you identify a suitable topic for your research paper.

What’s the Difference Between a Research Topic and a Research Question?

A research topic is a particular subject area in a much wider field that a researcher chooses to place his emphasis on. Most subjects are extensive. So, before conducting research, a researcher must first determine a suitable area of interest that will act as the foundation for their investigation.

Research questions are drawn from research topics. However, research questions are usually more streamlined. While research topics can take a more generic viewpoint, research questions further narrow the focus down to specific case studies or seek to draw a correlation between two or more datasets.

How to Create Strong Music Research Questions

Strong music research questions must be relevant and specific. Music is a broad field with many genres and possible research areas. However, your research question must focus on a single subject matter and provide valuable insights. Also, your research question should be based on parameters that can be quantified and studied using available research methods.

Top 10 Music Research Paper Topics

1. understanding changes in music consumption patterns.

Although several known factors affect how people consume music, there is still a significant knowledge gap regarding how these factors influence listening choices. Your music research paper could outline some of these factors that affect music consumer behavior and highlight their mechanism of action.

2. Hip-hop Culture and Its Effect on Teenage Behavior

In 2020, hip-hop and RnB had the highest streaming numbers , according to Statista. Without a doubt, hip-hop music has had a significant influence on the behavior of young adults. There is still the need to conduct extensive research on this subject to determine if there is a correlation between hip-hop music and specific behavioral patterns, especially among teenagers.

3. The Application of Music as a Therapeutic Tool

For a long time, music has been used to manage stress and mental health disorders like anxiety, PTSD, and others. However, the role of music in clinical treatment still remains a controversial topic. Further research is required to separate fact from fiction and provide insight into the potential of music therapy.

4. Contemporary Rock Music and Its Association With Harmful Social Practices

Rock music has had a great influence on American culture since the 1950s. Since its rise to prominence, it has famously been associated with vices such as illicit sex and abuse of recreational drugs. An excellent research idea could be to evaluate if there is a robust causal relationship between contemporary rock music and adverse social behaviors.

5. The Impact of Streaming Apps on Global Music Consumption

Technology has dramatically affected the music industry by modifying individual music consumption habits. Presently, over 487 million people subscribe to a digital streaming service, according to Statista. Your research paper could examine how much of an influence popular music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have had on how we listen to music.

6. Effective American Music Education Practices

Teaching practices have always had a considerable impact on students’ academic success. However, not all strategies have an equal effect in enhancing learning experiences for students. You can conduct comparative research on two or more American music education practices and evaluate their impact on learning outcomes.

7. The Evolution of Music Production in the Technology-driven Era

One of the aspects of music that is experiencing a massive change is sound production. More than ever before, skilled, tech-savvy music producers are in high demand. At the moment, music producers earn about $70,326 annually, according to ZipRecruiter. So, your research could focus on the changes in music production techniques since the turn of the 21st century.

8. Jazz Music and Its Influence on Western Music Genres

The rich history of jazz music has established it as one of the most influential genres of music since the 19th century. Over the years, several famous composers and leading voices across many other western music genres have been shaped by jazz music’s sound and culture. You could carry out research on the influence of this genre of music on modern types of music.

9. The Effect of Wars on Music

Wars have always brought about radical changes in several aspects of culture, including music styles. Throughout history, we have witnessed wars result in the death of famous musicians. If you are interested in learning about music history in relation to global events, a study on the impact of wars on music will make an excellent music research paper.

10. African Tribal Percussion

African music is well recognized for its unique application of percussion. Historically, several tribes and cultures had their own percussion instruments and original methods of expression. Unfortunately, this musical style has mainly gone undocumented. An in-depth study into ancient African tribal percussion would make a strong music research paper.

Other Examples of Music Research Topics & Questions

Music research topics.

• Popular musical styles of the 20th century
• The role of musical pieces in political movements
• Biographies of influential musicians during the baroque period
• The influence of classical music on modern-day culture
• The relationship between music and fashion

Music Research Questions

• What is the relationship between country music and conservationist ideologies among middle-aged American voters?
• What is the effect of listening to Chinese folk music on the critical thinking skills of high school students?
• How have electronic music production technologies influenced the sound quality of contemporary music?
• What is the correlation between punk music and substance abuse among Black-American males?
• How does background music affect learning and information retention in children?

Choosing the Right Music Research Topic

Your research topic is the foundation on which every other aspect of your study is built. So, you must select a music research topic that gives you room to adequately explore intriguing hypotheses and, if possible, proffer practically applicable solutions.

Also, if you seek to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Music , you must be prepared to conduct research during your study. Choosing the right music research topic is the first step in guaranteeing good grades and delivering relevant, high-quality contributions in this constantly expanding field.

Music Research Topics FAQ

A good music research topic should be between 10 to 12 words long. Long, wordy music essay topics are usually confusing. They can make it difficult for readers to understand the goal of your research. Avoid using lengthy phrases or vague terms that could confuse the reader.

Journal articles are the best place to find helpful resources for your music research. You can explore reputable, high-impact journal articles to see if any research has been done related to your chosen topic. Journal articles also help to provide data for comparison while carrying out your research.

Primary sources carry out their own research and cite their own data. In contrast, secondary sources report data obtained from a primary source. Although primary sources are regarded as more credible, you can include a good mixture of primary and secondary sources in your research.

The most common research methods for music research are qualitative, quantitative, descriptive, and analytical. Your research strategy is arguably the most crucial part of your study. You must learn different research methods to determine which one would be the perfect fit for your particular research question.

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Interprofessional education of the next generation of musician-scientists through music cognition research training: An innovative platform for health professions and biomedical research

Reyna l. gordon.

1 Department of Otolaryngology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

2 Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University

3 Curb Center for Arts, Enterprise, & Public Policy, Vanderbilt University

4 Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and Vanderbilt Brain Institute

Miriam D. Lense

The growth of the music cognition field in recent years has bloomed into what can only be seen now as a highly interdisciplinary space. Laboratories conducting research on how music affects physiology and behavior have become increasingly fertile ground for interprofessional education not only in biomedical research but also across the health professions. Here we discuss how music cognition research can provide a diverse array of skill development opportunities and set the tone for productive and innovative interdisciplinary collaboration training of future clinicians and biomedical researchers.

“I really enjoy connecting with undergraduate and graduate-level students who work on music projects in various research labs around campus. They speak to the excitement that comes from the opportunity to participate in something that is cutting-edge and delivers an impact on people who can benefit from music. These students are taking charge of their own education and are learning information so new you can’t find it in a textbook. This gives me hope — that music is still able to influence the lives of educators, researchers, parents, health care providers and students.” – See endnote 1

Research in music cognition has increased exponentially in recent decades, outpacing the growth of research on language, memory, and art [ 1 ]. While early work focused on the psychology of music with experimental and cognitive methods [ 2 ], the music cognition field is now broadly pursuing new research on how music relates to brain, behavior, and health from a multitude of perspectives and disciplines. Wide-ranging research questions (e.g., Do speech and music share a common neural basis? What are the biomarkers of absolute pitch ? Does music listening improve outcomes in surgery patients?) require cross-disciplinary collaborations, innovative use of cutting-edge technology, and thriving networks and professional organizations (e.g., The International Association for Music and Medicine, The Society for Music Perception and Cognition, the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music). The trans-disciplinarity of music cognition is also seen in the emergence of new workshops, conferences, journals, and professional organizations. Among the nearly 100 laboratory groups [ 3 ] that self-affiliate with the field of music cognition as a central laboratory focus, research groups are most frequently affiliated with graduate training programs in music, psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, communication sciences, engineering, and computer science.

It is no surprise to the readership of Music and Medicine that there is promising emerging evidence for health and wellness benefits from music [ 4 ][ 5 ]. These innovations have not gone unnoticed: in the U.S., the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Sound Health Initiative in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and in association with the National Endowment for the Arts [ 6 ] has specifically called for research that rigorously tests the outcomes of music-based interventions, in addition to basic and mechanistic research on music including biomarkers of musicality and neural pathways underlying music engagement [ 7 ]. The inquiry into broad-based questions about how music impacts the human brain and human behavior cuts across current NIH institutes and priorities with funding for music-related work through NIH steadily rising (see Figure 1 ). Funded research programs for music projects (see Figure 2 ) have relevance for communication disorders (NIDCD), neurological disorders and mental health and disease (NINDS and NIMH), nursing (NINR), childhood development (NICHD), music-based behavioral therapeutic applications (NCCIH, OBSSR, and NCI), and aging (NIA). To the joyful reception of long-time music cognition researchers, the first-ever RFAs from the NIH specifically targeting music research [ 8 ] were issued in Fall 2018.

Note that this search only explicitly includes term music* and not other related terms like “song” or “singing” or building block terms of more basic phenomena (“rhythm”, “pitch”, “timbre”) that might directly or indirectly link to music research. [ 9 ].

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Who will be prepared to do this research? Cheever et al. [ 7 ] cite two goals for infrastructure and capacity-building that are particularly relevant for the topic at hand: “to promote multidisciplinary research and capacity building through networks and collaborative studies involving neuroscientists, music therapists, musicians, and biomedical, behavioral, or social scientists” and “to support the training of neuroscientists and music therapists interested in basic or clinical research on music and the brain”. We argue here that this multi-disciplinary capacity can start at the undergraduate level and continue through post-baccalaureate and graduate training, and that music cognition research training can be an ideal model of training not only for neuroscientists and music therapists, but also for interested students from a broad range of majors and career paths. Interestingly, there are few degree programs explicitly focused on music science; rather, this training is usually folded into other educational paths and careers. Training opportunities for “musician-scientists” (students who have had extensive musical training and are now training in the sciences), and their peers who are appreciators of music, are needed to meet the desire to combine these seemingly disparate interests, apparent from the large number of inquiries music cognition laboratories receive from prospective students.

Part II. Skills training and interdisciplinarity in the music cognition environment

Training in the music cognition domain teaches student fundamental research skills such as problem-solving, attention to detail, short-term and long-term planning, organizational skills, teamwork, critical reading of the literature, critical thinking, and oral and written communication skills, within the motivating context of music, a topic about which musician-scientist trainees, broadly defined, tend to feel very passionate. Music cognition research requires trainees to work at the intersection of arts and science in a way that promotes and applies the rigor and creativity of the scientific process with students’ motivation for participating in arts-related activities.

In addition to these skills, which are of course common to nearly any biomedical research experience, we believe that music cognition training in this era affords an unprecedented opportunity for students to work across a wide range of disciplines, to confront challenges of integrating methods and techniques across fields, and to learn to communicate about research progress to colleagues (peers, staff, and faculty from a very wide range of backgrounds and disciplines). The backgrounds of students thriving in interdisciplinary music cognition research include (but are not limited to): Psychology (Cognitive Science, Child Development, Clinical Psychology), Neuroscience, Music (Performance, Music Education, Music Theory, Musicology), Biology, Education/Special Education, English, Communication Disorders/Hearing and Speech Sciences, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, and Nursing.

Music cognition research aligns with the goals of interprofessional training, in which team members focus on common goals utilizing diverse skillsets, knowledge bases and perspectives/approaches. Interprofessional collaboration and training has become increasingly important in a range of clinical fields such as nursing [ 10 ], medicine [ 11 ], speech-language pathology and audiology [ 12 ][ 13 ], and clinical psychology [ 14 ], serving complex and collaborative healthcare environments. Interprofessional training builds professional identity and increases positive attitudes toward interprofessional and interdisciplinary learning approaches [ 15 ] and teamwork [ 16 ].

We draw upon examples of interdisciplinarity from our own music cognition lab (see endnote 2 ), co-directed by the authors. Through our lab group formation and our network of collaborators, the interdisciplinarity of music cognition is modeled for students and trainees. We were trained as a cognitive neuroscientist and a clinical psychologist, respectively, but over time have morphed into integrative scientists collaborating with scientists and clinicians at the intersection of Psychology, Communication Disorders, Neuroscience, Behavioral Health, Human Genetics, Linguistics, and Music. The diverse background and expertise of lab leadership and collaborators allows for the lab to provide a wide array of training opportunities at the nexus of different fields. To meet the needs of ongoing research, the training of students in our lab ranges from developing interpersonal and clinical skills for working directly with participants (including both typically developing and clinical populations), to experimental design and theoretically-grounded hypothesis generation, to computer programming skills in order to work with high-dimensional data. By nature of the collaborations, each student does not need to become an expert in every skill, but rather gains exposure to and an appreciation of a variety of perspectives and methods. These skillsets are useful for those pursuing clinical careers (e.g., medicine, allied health professions), basic or applied research in a range of disciplines (e.g., psychology, neuroscience), or for students planning to work with “big data” (e.g., publicly available or widely shared across sites/consortia) [ 17 ][ 18 ][ 19 ][ 20 ].

At any given moment, our team is applying methods and knowledge from areas as diverse as auditory processing, childhood language development, music performance, sensory-motor systems, comparative ethology, genomics, developmental psychology, special education, computational models, and other areas. Here we provide examples of music cognition projects that provide interprofessional training opportunities and skill development that connect deeply with other health professions.

Biobank approaches to developmental language disorder.

One ongoing project in our lab aims to develop an automated method of identifying cases of developmental language disorder within large-scale electronic health systems data (this study is a key step in a larger line of research that examines individual differences in musical rhythm in children with speech-language disorders). A pre-Med undergraduate was paired with a Master’s student in Speech-Language Pathology (from a psychology background) and a PhD student in Neuroscience (from a molecular genetics background). Co-Advised by faculty collaborators with expertise in Communication Disorders, Genetics, and Electronic Health Records, the students developed a chart review rubric for records in a large health systems biobank, conducted manual coding in a discovery sample, automated the algorithm, conducted phenome-wide association studies [ 21 ], validated and replicated the automated algorithm, and are currently preparing to conduct genome-wide associate studies on linked genetic data. The students gained knowledge and skills both specific to the characteristics of this particular disorder and much more general knowledge/exposure (bioinformatics, computer programming, ICD codes and a large amount of other medical terminology encountered in the chart reviews).

Music and Social Engagement in ASD.

The SeRenade (Social and Rhythmic Engagement in Autism Spectrum Disorder) program investigates the impact of a community parent-child music program for families of preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as mechanisms underlying social musical engagement in ASD. A clinical psychologist and a developmental psychologist, who is also an accomplished songwriter, with input from a music therapist, behavior analyst, and caregivers of of young children with ASD, designed the music program. Master’s students in special education and speech-language pathology along with undergraduates in neuroscience and psychology completed didactics on ASD, child development, and behavior management strategies and were then immersed in the music class experience, where they received a hands-on education in supporting families of children with ASD under the supervision of a clinical psychologist and music therapist. Under the supervision of a clinical psychologist, one group of students worked together to create and refine a behavior coding schema to capture children’s engagement in the music classes, learned and applied methods of video-based and live coding, and conducted statistical analyses and data interpretation. Another group of students, supervised by both a clinical psychologist and cognitive scientist, developed a behavior coding scheme and video-derived markers of movement, to examine interpersonal movement synchrony during musical activities. The students learned how their unique perspectives provided by their discipline-specific training could be integrated to create meaningful metrics that best characterized children’s engagement and gained extensive knowledge of social behavior in young children.

Scientific Communication and Outreach.

Students also gain experience with scientific communication/dissemination and public outreach. By training as part of an interdisciplinary team, students learn to translate discipline-specific terminology and perspectives and develop a common language for disseminating their scientific results to a diverse multidisciplinary audience. Music cognition provides a novel entryway for non-scientists to learn about a ubiquitous and meaningful human experience - listening to and making music - providing a context in which to educate the public about the scientific process and elucidate principles of brain and behavioral functioning. The students have organized and hosted Scientific Salon events, during which students pair their musical and scientific works in order to illustrate their scientific focuses using musical examples to create an enjoyable and informative public event. Examples of these presentations included:

• A speech-language pathology student who conducts both mechanistic and intervention research creating a musical composition using a looping pedal and drawing parallels between the iterative processes inherent in writing music and conducting research.
• A cognitive science student and an audiology student who investigate rhythm in speech and music presenting study stimuli examples from children’s stories while also performing songs from the musical Seussical .
• Speech-language pathology students presenting their research into the impact of Suzuki violin lessons for children with language impairment, and bringing this research to life with a string quartet performance

This type of interdisciplinary scientific education embedded within public events such as the LIVELab Concert Series, Mainly Mozart series, SWSX and others, has been extremely popular, responding to the call to “galvanize public interest in the scientific investigation of the scientific investigation of music and the brain from both a fundamental knowledge and health standpoint” [ 6 ].

Taken together, these immersive music research experiences build an important capacity for teamwork needed for interdisciplinary biomedical research and clinical care, and may mirror benefits from interprofessional approaches documented in the health sciences education literature [ 22 ][ 23 ][ 24 ]. Students trained in an interdisciplinary music cognition research environment also develop skills and competencies in problem-solving, attention to detail, human subjects testing, data analysis, and cross-disciplinary communication that are directly relevant for their next career steps. Feedback from students trained in this milieu suggest long-lasting benefits:

“As someone with cross-disciplinary interests, it was initially difficult to find mentors with experience navigating interdisciplinary space in academia, and training in a music research lab oriented me to an interdisciplinary research conversation much broader than my home department of developmental psychology. There is much emphasis on specializing while in graduate school, and it can be difficult to do that while maintaining and actually growing the ability to communicate broadly about using research to solve problems. Working as part of an interdisciplinary research team gave me experience with exactly that, and it’s a skill that serves me well as an assistant professor of psychology at a liberal arts college. Undergraduate students’ interests are not constrained by academic disciplines any more than their musical tastes are constrained by genre, and having the ability to talk about how psychologists, neuroscientists and speech pathologists approach the same problem is an asset for me as an educator and scholar.” - See endnote 3 “Working in a music cognition lab was the highlight of my time in medical school— it allowed me to explore depths of my specialty (otolaryngology-head and neck surgery) in ways I had not thought possible. I once heard a well-known surgeon-scientist say, “music is the pinnacle of hearing”— I think about this often as I take care of patients affected by hearing loss and continue to pursue my research interests.” - See endnote 4 “As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I serve my clients’ communication needs through interdisciplinary teams because my clients’ ability to effectively communicate is dependent upon how their communication is shared and supported in all contexts. My experiences in an interprofessional research team provided me with the foundational skills needed to collaborate with colleagues with varying professional perspectives in order to synthesize creative solutions towards shared goals.” - See endnote 5

Acknowledgments

The authors were supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (Award #: 1844332-38-C-18) and the National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers 1R21DC016710, DP2HD098859, and K18DC017383. This work was additionally supported by the VUMC Faculty Research Scholars Program. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders.

The authors would like to thank Youjia Wang for assistance with formatting.

1. Natalie Wiens, M.S., CCC-SLP , alumna of a music cognition research lab.

2. The Vanderbilt Music Cognition lab is within the Department of Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

3. Sara Beck, PhD, alumna of a music cognition research lab

4. Alexander Chern, MD, alumnus of a music cognition research lab

5. Rita Pfeiffer, MS, CCC-SLP, alumna of a music cognition research lab

Music: Career Development

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Music Careers Research Paper and Poster Project

This set of worksheets will guide your students through the research process on music careers. The end product will be a research paper and poster project.

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This set of worksheets will guide your students through the research process on music careers. The end product will be a research paper and poster project. The poster project provides an authentic assessment opportunity by which students will act as a hiring manager and create a job advertisement poster for the career they researched. Includes a ready to print rubric as well as an editable PowerPoint rubric.

Included in this set:

Career suggestion list

Music careers exploration worksheet

Source suggestion list (with editable PowerPoint)

Music careers guided research questions worksheet

Worksheet to gather sources

Outline (2 options – one general and one guided)

Rough Draft

Final Draft

Sources used page

Bibliography page

Help Wanted Poster prompt with brainstorming activity

Help Wanted Poster prompt on half sheet without brainstorming activity

Rubric with option for Help Wanted Poster checklist (editable PowerPoint and ready to print options)

***Please note that fonts are not included in the editable PowerPoints but directions on how to download them for personal use are

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Project Career Research: how to set yourself up for success in choosing a new career

July 20, 2020

Launching a new career can be an exhilarating process, but also a complicated one. One of the most important steps is the first one—choosing which career to pursue. Whether you’re a college student getting ready to join the workforce for the first time, a mid-career professional looking to make a career switch, or someone returning to the workforce after time away, the challenge is the same—how do you know which career to pursue, and how do you get started?

This article is designed to help you explore potential careers in an analytical way. You’ll learn how to choose the career that’s right for you, and determine exactly what’s required to land your first job in your new chosen field. You’ll do this with a process called Project Career Research .

Project Career Research Overview

In Project Career Research you’ll speak with five professionals working in the career you’re exploring. This will help you develop a well-rounded overview of the field, and a plan for approaching different companies in your job search. 

The goal of Project Career Research is to answer three big questions.

Question #1: What is it really like to work as a [job title]?  

A particular career might sound exciting when you see it featured in a press article, or when you read the job description, or when you see the salaries highlighted on a hiring site. But if you’re going to actually work in the field, you need to understand the day-to-day realities of the role. Conversations with industry professionals can tell you what articles and career sites can’t—what it’s really like to have that job. 

What percentage of time do you spend in meetings, focusing on your own projects, writing emails, planning, etc? Who are the people you work with the most, and how do you interact with them? What skills and personality traits are required for success? What time of day do you usually eat lunch? What’s your stress level? Do you talk to lots of people every day, or are you on your own all the time? Do you collaborate often, or very rarely? How much freedom do you get to decide which projects you work on? How do promotions happen? 

These “real life” concerns can make the difference between loving a job, and just going through the motions. Talking with someone who is already in the field is a great way to understand the actual reality of life as a data scientist, a marketer, a social worker, or whatever role it is you choose to pursue.

Question #2: What skills do you actually need to succeed in this job?

Job descriptions can be very helpful, but they can also be very overwhelming. It’s unfortunately all too common for people to abandon pursuing a particular role, because they look at the long list of requirements in the description, and conclude they’re not qualified. The truth is, these sections are often just laundry lists of every single thing a hiring manager might wish to see in a candidate. They don’t necessarily reflect what’s actually required to succeed. Talking with people working in the field is an excellent way to learn what really does and doesn’t matter.

Questions #3: What do you need to land that job? 

There is a difference between being able to do the job, and being able to get the job. As an applicant, it’s your responsibility to prove that you’re qualified. So, it’s important to know what hiring managers are looking for from a candidate. Being credentialed for a particular skill can be very beneficial for some jobs, but not matter at all for others. Some jobs require that you have a portfolio of pre-existing work to show, while other jobs will ask you to complete a new task during your interview, and prioritize this above your portfolio. Some roles require very specific technical skills, while for others the ability to learn quickly and soft skills are much more important. Before you fully commit your time and energy to your job search, make sure you know exactly what it will take to get the job, so you’re ready when the opportunities come.

At this point, you may be wondering why you have to speak to real people—can’t this all be researched online? While there are many great online resources available, there is no substitute for the real insights and opinions that emerge in direct conversation with industry professionals. Take this step, and you’ll enter your job search well-prepared, and with confidence. Avoid it, and you risk everything from resume missteps and inadequate interview preparation to spending money on the wrong classes or training programs. As an added bonus, when you make contact with industry professionals, you’re expanding your network in your future field, which will be especially helpful once you begin the actual job search process.

How to find people to speak with

Your existing connections . An important first step is to consider your own existing network. This could be your LinkedIn network, other professional circles, or people in your shared community spaces—parent groups, civic groups, volunteer organizations, sports teams, and more. Is there someone you know who’s already in the field? Before you became interested in, say, mobile development as a possible career, you might not have consciously registered the fact that you actually already know a mobile developer! Auditing your own network is a great way to quickly discover people with whom you might be able to schedule an informational interview.

Professional groups. Search LinkedIn, Facebook, and Meetup for groups connecting professionals in your target field and reach out to individuals within those groups. Generally, you’ll find that people who are proactive enough to join professional groups are also the kinds of people who enjoy talking about their careers, and are eager to share their knowledge and their experience.

Here’s a task for you. Search professionals on LinkedIn by your target job title, and your geographic location. Review 100 profiles, and from there, choose 20 who feel most relevant to your career objectives. Reach out to all using the template below. If they respond, follow up right away with a thank-you note, and reiterate your interest in a conversation.

LinkedIn outreach template:

Hi <name>, I discovered your profile while researching digital marketing. Your experience at <company> is very interesting and I’d appreciate an opportunity to ask you a few questions, as I am exploring a career change from office management. Thank you in advance for connecting with me!

Tip #1: Make scheduling easy for the other person by suggesting a specific time to speak, and offer to work around their calendar.

Tip #2 : If they don’t reply, don’t take it personally. Just move on with your list.

Tip #3 : On LinkedIn you can only access profiles of people who are in your network (i.e.,  your 1st-degree, 2nd-degree, and 3rd-degree connections), as well as fellow members of your LinkedIn groups. You can expand your network by adding more 1st-degree connections and joining groups.

Preparing for your conversations

To make the most out of each conversation while being respectful of everyone’s time, do your research in advance, so you can ask valuable questions that only they can answer for you (as opposed to those you can get answers to through an online search). Not only does this help ensure a productive conversation, it demonstrates your respect and appreciation for the other person’s experience, and their generosity in taking the time to meet with you

I know you transitioned from teaching high school to a role as an instructional designer, and I’m trying to do the same. But also noticed that most people in similar roles tend to have formal training in instructional design. How were you able to get recruiters to notice you?

There are many ways to do research but you should always include:

• LinkedIn – review profiles of the person you are speaking with (and potentially their colleagues) to understand their backgrounds and experiences.
• Website of the company the person works for, to get a sense of everything from product catalogues to company culture.
• Industry associations and organizations – staying current with industry trends demonstrates your active engagement with your chosen field and its community, and helps to ensure your career questions are specific and relevant.

Tailoring your questions to be specific to each individual is essential, but it’s also important to prepare a set of core questions you can ask in every interview, in order to gather baseline information. For example:

• Can you describe a day in the life of a [role]?
• What are the on-the-job skills required to be successful in this role?
• Are there similar roles I should look into as well?
• How does someone with my background land a first job in the field?

During and after each conversation

Set the context for the meeting. Begin with an overview of why you reached out and what you are hoping to learn from the conversation. This enables the other person to focus on what’s relevant and will make them feel comfortable, as they’ll understand the goals. Remember: as the one who initiated the conversation, it’s your responsibility to establish both the tone and agenda. 

Introduce yourself. To ensure a productive conversation, it’s important that they understand who you are—this helps to establish context for your questions. Spend a couple of minutes in the beginning explaining why you reached out and what your goals are. Remember that while you are there to learn, this person might be able to connect you to a professional opportunity at some point. Be prepared to speak about your skills, accomplishments, and personal qualities that can bring value to an organization. You might not know how your experience transfers onto this new role but you should demonstrate passion and confidence that you can learn and grow quickly. Keep it short and focused.

Let them speak. Since you are there to learn, the primary focus of the conversation should be on the other person. Some people might be more talkative, while others may need more input from you in order to engage. Ideally, they should be speaking for 50% to 80% of the conversation. Don’t be afraid of short pauses, and be respectful and patient if they need time to gather their thoughts. 

Send a thank-you email. You have created a valuable connection, so stay in touch! A thank-you email is a great way to strengthen the connection by reiterating your appreciation for their time and following up on any action items that came out of the discussion. Also, be sure to think through ways you might return the favor, and, as appropriate, share resources, connections, or thoughts they might find valuable.

Wrapping up your project

Now that you have completed five conversations with professionals working in your target career, it’s time to go back to your main three questions and provide answers based on what you’ve learned.

Upon completing that step, you should have a clear sense of whether your target career is actually the one that you want to pursue. You should know if there are opportunities in your area, and you should have a good sense of what skills are required for the role. 

If all that is in place, then you’re ready to proceed!

Your next steps will involve addressing gaps related to job requirements (skills, credentials, degrees, experience) and building an optimal resume. We’ll cover those topics in future posts. Until then, good luck choosing a great career path, and we’ll look forward to seeing you on Coursera when you need to learn new skills!

About the author: Vera Fishman

Vera Fishman a Career Services Program Manager at Coursera and a career coach. Over the past 5+ years she coached hundreds of professionals from major Silicon Valley companies and ran workshops on every step of the job search process at Lee Hecht Harrison (resume writing, career discovery, interviewing – you name it!) and created an innovative job search curriculum at Udacity. Prior to becoming a coach Vera had a whole different career in marketing, and a shorter one in non-profit community management – so she is no stranger to career-changing herself.  A native of Saint Petersburg, Russia, Vera has spent her adult life in Silicon Valley, where she feels most at home and comfortable – aside from not liking to have to drive everywhere.

Keep reading

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• Job interviews: How to confidently prepare

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Career Research Projects for High School Students

Immersive projects are a great teaching tool to get students excited about a potential career path.

As a teacher or homeschooler of high school students, you know the importance of in-depth, hands-on instruction. The more your students see how to apply their career planning and exploration skills, the better. Check out these career research projects for high school students that you can use in your classroom immediately! You can head to our careers curriculum center for lesson plans and more materials you can use as well.

Career Research Projects – Essays and Written Products

Sometimes, the best approach is the simplest. These projects require students to research and type up essays or written reports.

• Career Research and Readiness Project: In this project , students take a personality assessment to see what kinds of careers they may enjoy. They research the job application and interview process, narrow their search to a few career choices, and then set SMART goals to help them achieve their dreams. 
• Career Research Project Paper: Students will like this project’s   simple, straightforward instructions and layout. The components are broken into manageable chunks, letting your high schoolers tackle the project in parts. By the end, they will produce a well-researched essay highlighting their career. 
• 3-Career Research Report: In this project , students choose three careers to focus on and create a written report. They learn MLA documentation, write business letters to organizations, take notes, and go through the formal writing process. This project has everything your students need to develop their career research reports with a rubric, parent letter, works cited page instructions, and more.
• STEM Careers Research Poster and Brochure: Students conduct comprehensive research in this project , using what they learn to create several items showing their knowledge. They research and learn about a specific career and make a posterboard presentation. Then they can create a brochure, present their findings to the class, and answer any questions that classmates and others may ask.
• Job Research Project: In this project , students first do research on any career they want. They must look up the various requirements, necessary skills, salary, and other details about the profession. They end with a thorough essay about their career, hopefully armed with the knowledge to help them in the future. The project is customizable to adapt to multiple grades, so your high school students will all benefit from the project. 

Career Research Projects – Digital Presentations

Fusing technology and research, these projects allow kids to show their knowledge through technology. Students create digital presentations and share them with the class using PowerPoint, Google Slides, and other formats.

• Career Research Project: This project works with many grades, and teachers can customize it to fit their students’ levels. They use PowerPoint to make a comprehensive slide show to demonstrate their knowledge. It breaks down career research into ten slides (you can add more as needed), and students will have a solid understanding of their future career path by the end of the assignment. 
• Career Presentation Project: In this project , high schoolers need to research career clusters, narrow their choices down to only one profession, and find many details about it. They look up median salary, entry-level pay, education requirements, required skills, and any additional benefits or perks that would attract potential applicants. They put all this information into a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation.
• Career and College Exploration Project: This project is broken down into clear and detailed descriptions for each slide of the presentation. It differs from other projects on the list because it weaves college research into the assignment, showing students the connection between education and careers. With 22 slides to complete, students will have an in-depth understanding of their chosen careers and how to navigate school and plan for future success.
• Career Exploration Project: This project is unique as it takes a realistic approach to career exploration, requiring students to find the pros and cons of three potential careers. They see that every job has perks and drawbacks, and part of pursuing a specific one comes down to their personal preference. The project includes a detailed outline, so students know precisely what to research and have on each slide of their digital presentation. Presenting their findings is a significant part of their grade, which helps strengthen their accountability, quality of work, and public speaking skills.
• Life Skills Career Research Project: This project is an excellent blend of hands-on production and digital skill-building, letting students show their findings in multiple formats. They research a career, finding things like education/training requirements, job responsibilities, drawbacks, benefits, opportunities for advancement, specific places of employment, and salaries. Students need to create a functional resume and attach it to the project. They use Google Drive to design poster components and can submit the project digitally or on a poster board.

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Polygence's student projects span across STEM, humanities, and the arts. Final projects include research papers, websites, podcasts, and much more.

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Research projects will partner students with DOE national labs to help students develop hands-on research experience

WASHINGTON, D.C . - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)  announced $16 million in funding for four projects providing classroom training and research opportunities to train the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers needed to deliver scientific discoveries. 

U.S. global competitiveness in discovery science relies on increasingly complex charged particle accelerator systems that require world-leading expertise to develop and operate. These programs will train the next generation of scientists and engineers, providing the expertise needed to lead activities supported by the DOE Office of Science. These programs will develop new curricula and guide a diverse cadre of graduate students working towards a master’s or Ph.D. thesis in accelerator science and engineering.

“Particle accelerator technology enables us to tackle challenges at the frontiers of science and benefits our nation’s high-tech industries, modern medicine, and national security,” said Regina Rameika, DOE Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics. “The awards announced today will help to develop the workforce to advance the state-of-the-art in accelerator technology while helping deploy these technologies in commercial applications in the health, security, environmental, and industrial sectors. These programs at American universities will help ensure that our nation has a skilled and diverse workforce to develop the accelerator technology needed to meet the scientific challenges of the future.”

Research projects will partner students with DOE national labs to help students develop hands-on research experience. These projects include opportunities for graduate research across a broad range including beam physics at the systems level, technologies of large accelerators, high reliability design and failure analysis, and the fundamentals of project management. Students may also explore the material science, design methodology, fabrication techniques, and operations constraints needed to produce and operate superconducting radiofrequency accelerators. Additional research opportunities in the areas of high-reliability, high-power radiofrequency systems and large-scale cryogenic systems, particularly liquid helium systems, are available through these programs.

The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for DOE Traineeship in Accelerator Science & Engineering. 

Total funding is $16 million for projects lasting up to five years in duration, with $3 million in Fiscal Year 2024 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations. Funding is provided by the  High Energy Physics and the  Accelerator R&D and Production programs. The list of projects and more information can be found on the  High Energy Physics program homepage and the  Accelerator R&D and Production program homepage.

Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time. 

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Considering a career in music? The value of a music therapy degree

When deciding what career path to follow, there are a variety of things to consider. When it comes to music therapy, the number of options a degree provides can make it an easier choice.

If music therapy is something you’re interested in, it is definitely worth pursuing. Especially if you’re somebody who is interested in both psychology and music performance but you’re not quite sure yet what it is you’d like to do, a degree in music therapy would be perfect for you. In fact, many music therapists are also practicing musicians and teachers on the side!

Why pursue a degree in music therapy?

Getting a degree in music therapy opens up a world of professional opportunities and collaboration. It’s clear that music therapists are able to work in an incredibly varied range of settings, but they also get to work with a wide range of people going beyond their clientele. Music therapists are members of an interdisciplinary team of healthcare, education, and other professionals who work collaboratively to address the needs of clients. This may include counselors, doctors in hospitals, or even therapists working in another specialty. For example, music therapists might be able to work with art therapists, yoga therapists, recreation therapists, drama therapists etc. “It’s a really wonderful collaboration,” said Dr. Sharon Boyle, director of arts in health and associate professor of music therapy at OHIO.

Job opportunities for music therapists

There are also plenty of job opportunities for prospective music therapists. There are private music therapy clinics that look for therapists, but there is also a demand for music therapists in schools, hospice care settings, special education settings, veteran hospitals and standard hospitals. Music therapists can be useful in all of these settings, so the job market isn’t overly daunting.

Salaries for music therapists vary widely; a degree in music therapy can lead to a career with a good income. Music therapists make an average yearly salary of $47,360. Entry-level wages typically start in the mid-upper 30k range.  Generally, music therapy is one of those careers that the more you stick with it, the more you make. The salary is expected to increase with the more experience you have.  

Salary range for music therapists

Additionally, the salary range can vary depending on what setting a music therapist is working in. A music therapist working in a private setting may be able to control their own salary based on their caseload, making 60-70k for 50 hours of work a week. If a music therapist is working in a veteran hospital, they are in a government position with an estimated pay range of $77K–$114K per year.  

What this all boils down to is that you get out of music therapy what you put in. Ultimately, success in music therapy relies on passion, dedication, and a willingness to seize opportunities. By investing time and effort into the profession, aspiring music therapists can carve out rewarding careers that not only enrich their lives but also make a positive impact on others through the transformative power of music therapy. 

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Overview of the STAR Awards

The NIAMS STAR program provides supplemental funding for early-career stage investigators who have renewed their first NIAMS-funded R01 grant. The supplement enables these scientists to pursue innovative and high-risk research within the broader scope of a current NIAMS-funded, peer-reviewed research project. It also helps investigators to expand a single, structured research project into a broader multi-faceted research program. In FY 2023, one investigator received a NIAMS STAR supplement.

Douglas P. Millay, Ph.D. , is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Dr. Millay is the principal investigator of a NIAMS-supported  research project to decipher the mechanisms of myoblast fusion —the process in which muscle precursor cells fuse together to form muscle fibers. Previously, the team had discovered that two proteins called myomaker and myomerger are essential for this process and that they drive fusion through distinct cell membrane remodeling activities. The STAR award will enable the researchers to identify additional novel factors that regulate fusion in skeletal muscle tissue. The findings from this research will provide unique insight into the essential process for muscle formation and regeneration, in the context of both normal development and chronic muscle diseases. 

For more information about the NIAMS STAR program, including the funding opportunity announcement and profiles of past award recipients, visit the Supplements to Advance Research (STAR) page on the NIAMS website. Additional background information is provided in the  December 2014 letter from the NIAMS Director announcing the program .

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Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn’t changed much in two decades

The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 20 years or so. In 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. These results are similar to where the pay gap stood in 2002, when women earned 80% as much as men.

As has long been the case, the wage gap is smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. In 2022, women ages 25 to 34 earned an average of 92 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group – an 8-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 18 cents.

While the gender pay gap has not changed much in the last two decades, it has narrowed considerably when looking at the longer term, both among all workers ages 16 and older and among those ages 25 to 34. The estimated 18-cent gender pay gap among all workers in 2022 was down from 35 cents in 1982. And the 8-cent gap among workers ages 25 to 34 in 2022 was down from a 26-cent gap four decades earlier.

The gender pay gap measures the difference in median hourly earnings between men and women who work full or part time in the United States. Pew Research Center’s estimate of the pay gap is based on an analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) monthly outgoing rotation group files ( IPUMS ) from January 1982 to December 2022, combined to create annual files. To understand how we calculate the gender pay gap, read our 2013 post, “How Pew Research Center measured the gender pay gap.”

The COVID-19 outbreak affected data collection efforts by the U.S. government in its surveys, especially in 2020 and 2021, limiting in-person data collection and affecting response rates. It is possible that some measures of economic outcomes and how they vary across demographic groups are affected by these changes in data collection.

In addition to findings about the gender wage gap, this analysis includes information from a Pew Research Center survey about the perceived reasons for the pay gap, as well as the pressures and career goals of U.S. men and women. The survey was conducted among 5,098 adults and includes a subset of questions asked only for 2,048 adults who are employed part time or full time, from Oct. 10-16, 2022. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

The  U.S. Census Bureau has also analyzed the gender pay gap, though its analysis looks only at full-time workers (as opposed to full- and part-time workers). In 2021, full-time, year-round working women earned 84% of what their male counterparts earned, on average, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent analysis.

Much of the gender pay gap has been explained by measurable factors such as educational attainment, occupational segregation and work experience. The narrowing of the gap over the long term is attributable in large part to gains women have made in each of these dimensions.

Related: The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap

Even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations relative to their share of the workforce. This may contribute to gender differences in pay.

Other factors that are difficult to measure, including gender discrimination, may also contribute to the ongoing wage discrepancy.

Perceived reasons for the gender wage gap

When asked about the factors that may play a role in the gender wage gap, half of U.S. adults point to women being treated differently by employers as a major reason, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2022. Smaller shares point to women making different choices about how to balance work and family (42%) and working in jobs that pay less (34%).

There are some notable differences between men and women in views of what’s behind the gender wage gap. Women are much more likely than men (61% vs. 37%) to say a major reason for the gap is that employers treat women differently. And while 45% of women say a major factor is that women make different choices about how to balance work and family, men are slightly less likely to hold that view (40% say this).

Parents with children younger than 18 in the household are more likely than those who don’t have young kids at home (48% vs. 40%) to say a major reason for the pay gap is the choices that women make about how to balance family and work. On this question, differences by parental status are evident among both men and women.

Views about reasons for the gender wage gap also differ by party. About two-thirds of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (68%) say a major factor behind wage differences is that employers treat women differently, but far fewer Republicans and Republican leaners (30%) say the same. Conversely, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say women’s choices about how to balance family and work (50% vs. 36%) and their tendency to work in jobs that pay less (39% vs. 30%) are major reasons why women earn less than men.

Democratic and Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts in the same party to say a major reason for the gender wage gap is that employers treat women differently. About three-quarters of Democratic women (76%) say this, compared with 59% of Democratic men. And while 43% of Republican women say unequal treatment by employers is a major reason for the gender wage gap, just 18% of GOP men share that view.

Pressures facing working women and men

Family caregiving responsibilities bring different pressures for working women and men, and research has shown that being a mother can reduce women’s earnings , while fatherhood can increase men’s earnings .

Employed women and men are about equally likely to say they feel a great deal of pressure to support their family financially and to be successful in their jobs and careers, according to the Center’s October survey. But women, and particularly working mothers, are more likely than men to say they feel a great deal of pressure to focus on responsibilities at home.

About half of employed women (48%) report feeling a great deal of pressure to focus on their responsibilities at home, compared with 35% of employed men. Among working mothers with children younger than 18 in the household, two-thirds (67%) say the same, compared with 45% of working dads.

When it comes to supporting their family financially, similar shares of working moms and dads (57% vs. 62%) report they feel a great deal of pressure, but this is driven mainly by the large share of unmarried working mothers who say they feel a great deal of pressure in this regard (77%). Among those who are married, working dads are far more likely than working moms (60% vs. 43%) to say they feel a great deal of pressure to support their family financially. (There were not enough unmarried working fathers in the sample to analyze separately.)

About four-in-ten working parents say they feel a great deal of pressure to be successful at their job or career. These findings don’t differ by gender.

Gender differences in job roles, aspirations

Overall, a quarter of employed U.S. adults say they are currently the boss or one of the top managers where they work, according to the Center’s survey. Another 33% say they are not currently the boss but would like to be in the future, while 41% are not and do not aspire to be the boss or one of the top managers.

Men are more likely than women to be a boss or a top manager where they work (28% vs. 21%). This is especially the case among employed fathers, 35% of whom say they are the boss or one of the top managers where they work. (The varying attitudes between fathers and men without children at least partly reflect differences in marital status and educational attainment between the two groups.)

In addition to being less likely than men to say they are currently the boss or a top manager at work, women are also more likely to say they wouldn’t want to be in this type of position in the future. More than four-in-ten employed women (46%) say this, compared with 37% of men. Similar shares of men (35%) and women (31%) say they are not currently the boss but would like to be one day. These patterns are similar among parents.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on March 22, 2019. Anna Brown and former Pew Research Center writer/editor Amanda Barroso contributed to an earlier version of this analysis. Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

What is the gender wage gap in your metropolitan area? Find out with our pay gap calculator

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Team from Montana Tech Visits Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

This past weekend, Montana Technological University and the Montana Tech Foundation visited Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman, WA. The team from Montana Tech included Bryce Hill, electrical engineering associate professor and department head; Jaime Heppler, Montana Tech Foundation CEO; Brian Smyth, Montana Tech adjunct faculty member and SEL senior engineer; and eight Montana Tech IEEE club members.

The team met with senior leaders from SEL to discuss job and internship opportunities and future partnerships with senior design projects. The trip showcased SEL's impact on the energy industry. It was an opportunity to visit with alumni who work at SEL in the Pullman, WA headquarters and Moscow, Idaho manufacturing facilities. The students visited the PCB Factory, Innovation Lab, and attended an alumni lunch and dinner hosted by newly appointed Lance Endowed Energy Chair Bob Morris and his wife, Karen.

“Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories has a long-standing and successful relationship with Montana Tech and our electrical engineering department,” said Jaime Heppler, CEO of the Montana Tech Foundation. "I am looking forward to broadening our partnership with our computer science department in the near future. The visit highlighted the tremendous global impact SEL has on grid stability and beyond!”

Bryan Smyth added, “This past week, Schweitzer Engineering Labs (SEL) had the pleasure of hosting students and faculty from the electrical engineering department of Montana Tech. During the visit, the students could see the attention to detail, dignity of work, and sense of pride that SEL employees embody in their careers and facilities. SEL employees encompass these values because we serve a critical part of the industry, and they understand the need to produce high-quality products. The history of the partnership between SEL and Montana Tech is deeply rooted, as many alumni are currently employed at SEL. Additionally, SEL has taught courses on Montana Tech’s campus since 2014 and helped construct two new power labs in 2018. SEL has also supported senior design projects and internships and assisted Montana Tech by participating on their Industry Advisory Board (IAB) to help guide the program based on industry needs. This level of involvement has allowed SEL to engage students early on in their careers and start building those relationships. SEL has partnered with Montana Tech because they share many of the same values as SEL, such as the quality of products they produce, which is students. SEL is continuously looking for hard-working, talented individuals who share our values and mission of Making Electric Power Safer, More Reliable, and More Economical, and there is no better place to look than Montana Tech.”

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Postdoctoral Fellow - bone metastasis, immunology

Job description.

A postdoctoral position is open for an exciting project focused on the role of androgen signaling in neutrophil function and bone metastatic prostate cancer.

The Cook Lab research is investigating cellular interactions within the tumor bone microenvironment that contribute to tumor progression, with a specific focus on neutrophil-tumor interactions.  Within bone, metastatic cancer cells highjack the normal couple process of bone remodeling, resulting in excess bone degradation and subsequent release of growth factors that promote tumor growth. Additionally, cancer cells progress and mediate bone turnover through molecular and cellular interactions with the surrounding bone stroma. The Cook lab is using a combination of transcriptome and proteomic profiling of patient samples and mouse in vivo models of bone metastasis along with sophisticated bone and live-cell imaging tools.

The Cook Lab is adjacent to other CIL groups studying immune metabolism and metastasis, such as the McVicar and Wink labs, and novel 3D models (Wolf Lab).  The CIL is an exciting community studying cutting edge research in many focus areas.

Qualifications and Job Details

Required and preferred skills.

• Cancer and/or immunology research experience required
• Experience with mice preferred but not required
• Bone experience ideal but not required

About the NCI Center for Cancer Research

The Center for Cancer Research (CCR) is home to nearly 250 basic and clinical research groups located on two campuses just outside of Washington, D.C. CCR is part of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and makes up the largest component of the research effort at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Centrally supported by long-term funding and a culture of complete intellectual freedom, CCR scientists are able to pursue the most important and challenging problems in cancer research. We collaborate with academic and commercial partners and advocacy groups across the world in efforts to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer and HIV/AIDS. The CCR research portfolio covers the full spectrum of biological and biomedical research. Our work ranges from basic to translational and clinical, and our clinical trials are conducted in the NIH Clinical Center, the world’s largest hospital dedicated to clinical research that offers a robust infrastructure to support CCR’s patients on an estimated 250 open studies. The success of CCR is grounded in an exceptionally strong discovery research program that provides the foundation for the seamless translation of insights from bench to bedside. Read more  about CCR , the  benefits  of working at CCR and hear from  our staff  on their CCR experiences.

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• Statement of Research Goals
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