Hi, thanks for your vlog! It amazing! I am planning to apply for this program this year and I have a few questions. Would you be kind to help me? 1) Do scholar really do their own research that they have designed or do they just get involved in projects of that lab and do some small part of someone’s project? 2) Were two month enough to finish a whole research project? 3) Did you did all your lab work alone or was your supervisor or lab members always there with you? I would really appreciate your answer! Thank you!
Hi, thankyou! I just published a video about this actually! but to answer your questions: 1 - normally yes your project will be a small subset of someone else's project, but that's just how science is, and it's the best way they can teach you. Your project will still be entirely self-contained, it will just also be part of something bigger, if that makes sense. normally your project will be a compromise between what you want to do and what your lab can offer. 2 - yes! because you are working full-time, it is plenty long enough to finish the research project (by means of answering your initial research question). But if you don't get all the way to the end that's also totally fine, some people don't, and it's just the virtue of their actual project. 3 - some parts i did by myself but most of the time i had a lab member there with me teaching me how to do things. because you are only there 2 months, the aim is to learn as many different techniques as possible rather than repeat the same thing. so i'd get taught how to do something, be supervised the next time i do it, do it by myself next, then I'd probably have reached the end of that experiment anyway
Hello bridget, I really liked your video, it's very helpful. I'm applying for 2023 amgen and my question was how do I write a research proposal 😅 I've never written one. Also I have wet lab experience in only molecular biology lab and say I wanted to work in iPS cell lab, how would I design a proposal on a topic fairly new to me? How do I write about experimental methods and anticipated results in that case? Thanks a lot and sorry for so many questions :)
Hi, that's awesome you're applying! Don't worry I had never written one either. Basically I followed the structure of background (to the overall problem/scenario), introduction (to what you want to achieve), methods and then expected results. The last two can be pretty brief, as they are likely to change based on what your supervisor can offer, and they don't expect you to know everything about the science/methods you'll be using. If you wanted to work in an iPS cell lab, I would suggest finding your specific lab group online and looking at their recent publications. Choose one you like, have a skim-read and then try to design a project which could be a follow-up to that study. That way you can use similar methods etc. and it shows you are interested in the group's work. For methods really just list the techniques you'll be using. Mutagenesis? What kind of imaging? You don't need to be too detailed. For results you would just say "we wanted to test if x was the case. If our results showed x, it means y. If we get other results, it means another thing". Hope this helps!
Hey Bridget, thank you so much for the video! Have been trying to search high and low for such a video. May I ask you how was your experience/satisfaction with the research group and jobs assigned? Cause I'm actually planning to apply this year, but after watching your video, I'm feeling a bit hesitant. It seems like the jobs they assign are pretty mundane and social interactions with other lab members are also quite minimal (or maybe that's because of Covid?) Like after the 2 months, do you feel like you've gained new skills/knowledge and built valuable connections with the researchers there? Is it worth it, spending 2 months there? And one last question, when you applied, were you in your first or second year? Omg, so sorry for the bombardment of questions.
Hey! I wouldn't say the jobs assigned were always mundane, it just depends what you're interested and what kind of project you do. There's a bit of leeway in regards to that - you get to design your project in the application and whilst that is probably going to change when you talk to your lab leader, you still get to influence the project to your interests - a good lab leader isn't just going to give you a random project that they have on hold in the lab. The point is for you to get something out of it as a researcher, and enjoy the process so that you may want to keep doing research in the future. Or, you may learn that research is not for you (as my friend did), or, like me, just realise you don't want to research that particular field in the future. And these are totally fine, and its definitely still a valuable experience! I would say the social interactions do depend on both your lab group and you as a person. Language was a little bit of a problem for some members of my lab (I do not speak Japanese) and that combined with general independence of most members did mean minimal interactions most of the time. But some other members of my group were lovely and chatty! I will say that you definitely do not need to speak Japanese for the program, and all researchers do speak english, it's just that many of the student researchers are still learning. Some of my friends in the program had really social lab groups - they had welcome and leaving parties for their student, and they'd always go out for dinners or little excursions around Kyoto. So it definitely depends who you are with. But despite that I definitely made some valuable connections with the other program members and various people from Kyoto university, some of which were unrelated to the program. I'd say its worth spending 2 months there as long as you make the most of your time there. For example I found time to fly to Okinawa, climb mt Fuji and do a bunch of various hikes and even travel with some students from the University (not from my lab - long story) to look for Japanese wildlife (wildlife photography is a hobby of mine in Aus). My friends and I also spent our evenings and weekends exploring Kyoto, of course. By the end of the program I was certainly ready to stop studying and come back, though this is partly because in Australia the program occurs in our winter break which is only 6 weeks, so I was missing out on the first few weeks of semester and I knew i had a lot of work to do when i got back to catch up. It ended up being fine btw. I actually applied at the start of my third year (program happens halfway through my third year) - but there were students from all years (certainly some from first year). So I wouldn't worry if you think you don't have enough experience or anything, just go for it! You don't need any research experience to apply, you just need to be interested. Hope this helps!
Yes for sure, I'm scripting a video answering questions about the internship / application process right now, so send through any questions you'd like me to cover :)
Hi Bridget...are you on insta...i had some questions related to the internship....currently I am a second year mechanical engineering student here at india and wanted to know how you got ur internship...It would be really helpful if you could guide me through like the skills required and the application process and all... Anyways awesome video btw...
Sure! If you follow the link in the description [ amgenscholars.com/ ] it takes you to the program page. Right now it's still got all the information from 2022 but in the coming months it should be updated with information for next year. Once they do that, you can choose which university you'd like to stay at, and there will be a list of labs who are willing to take on a student. In order to apply, you have to choose the lab you'd like to work with the most and write one page about why you chose them (ie talk about your interests or experience and try to connect this to the lab. I think the main thing they are looking for is enthusiasm, even if you've never studied what your host lab researches before, if you show them that you are keen to learn, you are probably more competitive than the people who know more about the topic, but aren't as enthusiastic) and you also have to write another page - a research proposal. Don't worry too much about this! It is most likely that your project will change once you arrive, because the lab might have other project ideas for you, or not have the necessary equipment. What they are looking for here is your ability to apply the scientific method to solve a problem, and to think for yourself. What a lot of people did was look through the previous publications of their host lab and try to design a project which builds on the work they have already done. You don't need any research experience, btw. Hope this helps!
@@bridgetl thank you very much... It's really helpful... Actually I am mechanical engineering graduate but at the same time i like physics too, so i was searching for something which intersects both the disciplines but when I searched the host labs for the year 2022 saw that most of them are working either in fields of chemistry or biology and environmental science...so that's the thing...Anyways thank u for ur help and keep uploading ur videos are really gud...it instills a sense of positivity in this dark world...
So AMGEN is actually a biotechnology company, so most of the projects are based around that. However there were definitely some places offered for engineering students. I mean I studied algae which has nothing to do with medicine either haha. When they publish the labs definitely have a look and see if there’s anything that might suit you! And even if the lab doesn’t exactly do what you’d like, you get to design the project and maybe they’ll be willing to offer you a good compromise :)
![Oasis - Oasis Live '25 [Official Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gol_JnuEtKM/mqdefault.jpg)
amazing video!
Thankyou!!
Hi, thanks for your vlog! It amazing!
I am planning to apply for this program this year and I have a few questions. Would you be kind to help me?
1) Do scholar really do their own research that they have designed or do they just get involved in projects of that lab and do some small part of someone’s project?
2) Were two month enough to finish a whole research project?
3) Did you did all your lab work alone or was your supervisor or lab members always there with you?
I would really appreciate your answer! Thank you!
Hi, thankyou! I just published a video about this actually! but to answer your questions:
1 - normally yes your project will be a small subset of someone else's project, but that's just how science is, and it's the best way they can teach you. Your project will still be entirely self-contained, it will just also be part of something bigger, if that makes sense. normally your project will be a compromise between what you want to do and what your lab can offer.
2 - yes! because you are working full-time, it is plenty long enough to finish the research project (by means of answering your initial research question). But if you don't get all the way to the end that's also totally fine, some people don't, and it's just the virtue of their actual project.
3 - some parts i did by myself but most of the time i had a lab member there with me teaching me how to do things. because you are only there 2 months, the aim is to learn as many different techniques as possible rather than repeat the same thing. so i'd get taught how to do something, be supervised the next time i do it, do it by myself next, then I'd probably have reached the end of that experiment anyway
@@bridgetlThank you!
Lets come again to Kyoto Dear Bridget hehe...
Yes! I must visit again some time :)
Hello bridget, I really liked your video, it's very helpful. I'm applying for 2023 amgen and my question was how do I write a research proposal 😅 I've never written one. Also I have wet lab experience in only molecular biology lab and say I wanted to work in iPS cell lab, how would I design a proposal on a topic fairly new to me? How do I write about experimental methods and anticipated results in that case? Thanks a lot and sorry for so many questions :)
Hi, that's awesome you're applying! Don't worry I had never written one either. Basically I followed the structure of background (to the overall problem/scenario), introduction (to what you want to achieve), methods and then expected results. The last two can be pretty brief, as they are likely to change based on what your supervisor can offer, and they don't expect you to know everything about the science/methods you'll be using. If you wanted to work in an iPS cell lab, I would suggest finding your specific lab group online and looking at their recent publications. Choose one you like, have a skim-read and then try to design a project which could be a follow-up to that study. That way you can use similar methods etc. and it shows you are interested in the group's work. For methods really just list the techniques you'll be using. Mutagenesis? What kind of imaging? You don't need to be too detailed. For results you would just say "we wanted to test if x was the case. If our results showed x, it means y. If we get other results, it means another thing". Hope this helps!
@@bridgetl thanks a lot :) this really helped me!
@@desacasley2445 no worries! Sorry for the late reply! Good luck with it!
@@desacasley2445 did u get in???
Hey Bridget, thank you so much for the video! Have been trying to search high and low for such a video.
May I ask you how was your experience/satisfaction with the research group and jobs assigned? Cause I'm actually planning to apply this year, but after watching your video, I'm feeling a bit hesitant. It seems like the jobs they assign are pretty mundane and social interactions with other lab members are also quite minimal (or maybe that's because of Covid?)
Like after the 2 months, do you feel like you've gained new skills/knowledge and built valuable connections with the researchers there? Is it worth it, spending 2 months there?
And one last question, when you applied, were you in your first or second year?
Omg, so sorry for the bombardment of questions.
Hey!
I wouldn't say the jobs assigned were always mundane, it just depends what you're interested and what kind of project you do. There's a bit of leeway in regards to that - you get to design your project in the application and whilst that is probably going to change when you talk to your lab leader, you still get to influence the project to your interests - a good lab leader isn't just going to give you a random project that they have on hold in the lab. The point is for you to get something out of it as a researcher, and enjoy the process so that you may want to keep doing research in the future. Or, you may learn that research is not for you (as my friend did), or, like me, just realise you don't want to research that particular field in the future. And these are totally fine, and its definitely still a valuable experience!
I would say the social interactions do depend on both your lab group and you as a person. Language was a little bit of a problem for some members of my lab (I do not speak Japanese) and that combined with general independence of most members did mean minimal interactions most of the time. But some other members of my group were lovely and chatty! I will say that you definitely do not need to speak Japanese for the program, and all researchers do speak english, it's just that many of the student researchers are still learning. Some of my friends in the program had really social lab groups - they had welcome and leaving parties for their student, and they'd always go out for dinners or little excursions around Kyoto. So it definitely depends who you are with. But despite that I definitely made some valuable connections with the other program members and various people from Kyoto university, some of which were unrelated to the program.
I'd say its worth spending 2 months there as long as you make the most of your time there. For example I found time to fly to Okinawa, climb mt Fuji and do a bunch of various hikes and even travel with some students from the University (not from my lab - long story) to look for Japanese wildlife (wildlife photography is a hobby of mine in Aus). My friends and I also spent our evenings and weekends exploring Kyoto, of course. By the end of the program I was certainly ready to stop studying and come back, though this is partly because in Australia the program occurs in our winter break which is only 6 weeks, so I was missing out on the first few weeks of semester and I knew i had a lot of work to do when i got back to catch up. It ended up being fine btw.
I actually applied at the start of my third year (program happens halfway through my third year) - but there were students from all years (certainly some from first year). So I wouldn't worry if you think you don't have enough experience or anything, just go for it! You don't need any research experience to apply, you just need to be interested.
Hope this helps!
Hi Bridget! I'll be applying this year to Amgen, can you please help me out?
Yes for sure, I'm scripting a video answering questions about the internship / application process right now, so send through any questions you'd like me to cover :)
Hi Bridget...are you on insta...i had some questions related to the internship....currently I am a second year mechanical engineering student here at india and wanted to know how you got ur internship...It would be really helpful if you could guide me through like the skills required and the application process and all...
Anyways awesome video btw...
Sure! If you follow the link in the description [ amgenscholars.com/ ] it takes you to the program page. Right now it's still got all the information from 2022 but in the coming months it should be updated with information for next year. Once they do that, you can choose which university you'd like to stay at, and there will be a list of labs who are willing to take on a student. In order to apply, you have to choose the lab you'd like to work with the most and write one page about why you chose them (ie talk about your interests or experience and try to connect this to the lab. I think the main thing they are looking for is enthusiasm, even if you've never studied what your host lab researches before, if you show them that you are keen to learn, you are probably more competitive than the people who know more about the topic, but aren't as enthusiastic) and you also have to write another page - a research proposal. Don't worry too much about this! It is most likely that your project will change once you arrive, because the lab might have other project ideas for you, or not have the necessary equipment. What they are looking for here is your ability to apply the scientific method to solve a problem, and to think for yourself. What a lot of people did was look through the previous publications of their host lab and try to design a project which builds on the work they have already done. You don't need any research experience, btw. Hope this helps!
@@bridgetl thank you very much... It's really helpful... Actually I am mechanical engineering graduate but at the same time i like physics too, so i was searching for something which intersects both the disciplines but when I searched the host labs for the year 2022 saw that most of them are working either in fields of chemistry or biology and environmental science...so that's the thing...Anyways thank u for ur help and keep uploading ur videos are really gud...it instills a sense of positivity in this dark world...
So AMGEN is actually a biotechnology company, so most of the projects are based around that. However there were definitely some places offered for engineering students. I mean I studied algae which has nothing to do with medicine either haha. When they publish the labs definitely have a look and see if there’s anything that might suit you! And even if the lab doesn’t exactly do what you’d like, you get to design the project and maybe they’ll be willing to offer you a good compromise :)
Also, thankyou! :)