University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · Department of Microbiology
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## Advisor Style & Mentorship
Cari is awesome! She was extremely approachable, but also very hands-off. You got a lot of freedom to ask your own questions, devise your own experiments, and become an independent scientist but she was also rarely in the lab. She scheduled regular check-in meetings to make sure we were on track but would ask to meet more often if anyone was struggling. Cari was very supportive of different career goals and helped trainees find opportunities that advanced those goals.
## Expectations for PhD Students
Cari modeled healthy work-life balance and did not expect trainees to work long hours or weekends, but everyone invariably did just because of the nature of our research. Someone was always in the lab over the weekend and would be happy to take plates out of the incubator or start a culture for you if you couldn't come in, but I came in pretty much every weekend. You had the freedom to determine your own schedule as long as you were making progress. Some students came in early, some came in late and worked into the night - it just depended on your preferences and what experiments you were doing.
During my time, students were expected to publish at least two first-author papers, but Cari would also give us opportunities to write review articles and book chapters (especially if a student was interested in science writing). Graduation time for a PhD varied in our lab from 5 years to 9 years - that all depended on how much teaching you chose to do and how challenging your project was to move forward. Cari was not afraid to give graduate students challenging projects in uncharted territories, but she also selected highly motivated students and provided support to help them conduct the research. The microbiology department average graduation time was also long during my time - probably 7 years; I think now they only require students to publish one first author paper.
## Funding & Support
Funding was never an issue in that lab, so no one was forced to TA beyond the requirements of the program. We were only asked to TA when grant funding was pending and we were never asked to teach over the summer. Grad students could choose what sorts of TA appointments they wanted depending on their career goals: 25% vs 50%, working as a grader vs teaching your own class. If students were interested in teaching careers, Cari would offer us guest lecture opportunities in her course, let us teach more often, and support our professional development outside of lab/class.
Speaking of professional development, after passing the year 2 preliminary exam, students were able to attend at least one conference each year of their PhD to present their work. I got to travel to international conferences, present posters, and give talks. If Cari attended as well, she would introduce us to researchers in her network but also give us space to make connections on our own. Cari was also very supportive when it came to learning new experimental techniques; she sent students to workshops all over the country and even sent students to labs in Canada and Germany to train!
Cari was not just professionally supportive, but personally supportive. She welcomed students of every gender identity, sexual orientation, spectrum, race, country, and creed. If you needed to cry in her office because your experiment failed, she had tissues ready and would talk you down and help you find a solution. I always felt better after meeting with her.
## Research
The Vanderpool lab conducts high-quality research in microbial physiology and how microbes regulate stress responses with sRNA and small proteins. Cari was not afraid to explore new areas of microbiology and was not afraid to give students a chance to develop new techniques in the lab. If the research required expertise in other fields, Cari would happily collaborate but ensured her trainees received appropriate credit for their contributions. Project determination: students were given a few general projects to choose from, but it was really up to the student to decide what they wanted to do and where they took the project. Trainees had true ownership over their projects, which encouraged collaboration instead of competition in the lab. Trainees were also truly the primary authors of their papers and were responsible for writing and formatting the first draft and working with Cari on edits. Undergraduate researchers were also very welcome in the Vanderpool lab. Cari gave grad student and postdoc mentors complete freedom to determine the projects we assigned – whether that was to help us conduct our own work or to have an undergrad do a separate, independent project. Undergrads have even been authors on papers! The Vanderpool lab is a great place for someone to have their first research experience and Cari encouraged their participation.
## Lab Culture
The lab culture was probably the most valuable aspect of the Vanderpool lab. It was a rigorous, exciting, supportive, and joyful (sometimes silly) place. I still regularly keep in touch with Cari and my labmates and we still collaborate and support each other; they are some of my best friends in the world and I love them all like family.
Cari prioritized lab culture; she recruited motivated and talented students from all over the world but only accepted students that were kind and collaborative that could work well with the rest of the group. Inside the lab we would help each other troubleshoot, assist with culture maintenance on weekends, take time points for each other, and generally support each other. We would proofread each other’s papers, host practice talks, grill each other before committee meetings or interviews, and generally help each other find success. Outside of lab we would go to movies, host “flavors of the world” potlucks (since many students were international), carve pumpkins, attend each other’s gigs/shows/exhibits, and genuinely hang out as friends. One great Vanderpool lab tradition was our annual Secret Santa gift exchange. It was an entire week of daily gift exchanges with the goal of trying to identify *everyone’s* secret Santa – not just our own. Grad school was hard, but our lab was a fun place to go even when experiments weren’t working. We never had a student drop out of the lab, but we did take students that left toxic labs.
Cari was and is a great PI; she continues to help alumni advance their careers and find success. Everyone that left her lab is still in science doing great things. Grad school is hard enough; there is a lot of failure in science and it’s important to choose a PI and lab that challenges you but also supports you. Being an asshole does not make you rigorous or prestigious – it just makes you an asshole.
Cari is awesome! She was extremely approachable, but also very hands-off. You got a lot of freedom to ask your own questions, devise your own experiments, and become an independent scientist but she was also rarely in the lab. She scheduled regular check-in meetings to make sure we were on track but would ask to meet more often if anyone was struggling. Cari was very supportive of different career goals and helped trainees find opportunities that advanced those goals.
## Expectations for PhD Students
Cari modeled healthy work-life balance and did not expect trainees to work long hours or weekends, but everyone invariably did just because of the nature of our research. Someone was always in the lab over the weekend and would be happy to take plates out of the incubator or start a culture for you if you couldn't come in, but I came in pretty much every weekend. You had the freedom to determine your own schedule as long as you were making progress. Some students came in early, some came in late and worked into the night - it just depended on your preferences and what experiments you were doing.
During my time, students were expected to publish at least two first-author papers, but Cari would also give us opportunities to write review articles and book chapters (especially if a student was interested in science writing). Graduation time for a PhD varied in our lab from 5 years to 9 years - that all depended on how much teaching you chose to do and how challenging your project was to move forward. Cari was not afraid to give graduate students challenging projects in uncharted territories, but she also selected highly motivated students and provided support to help them conduct the research. The microbiology department average graduation time was also long during my time - probably 7 years; I think now they only require students to publish one first author paper.
## Funding & Support
Funding was never an issue in that lab, so no one was forced to TA beyond the requirements of the program. We were only asked to TA when grant funding was pending and we were never asked to teach over the summer. Grad students could choose what sorts of TA appointments they wanted depending on their career goals: 25% vs 50%, working as a grader vs teaching your own class. If students were interested in teaching careers, Cari would offer us guest lecture opportunities in her course, let us teach more often, and support our professional development outside of lab/class.
Speaking of professional development, after passing the year 2 preliminary exam, students were able to attend at least one conference each year of their PhD to present their work. I got to travel to international conferences, present posters, and give talks. If Cari attended as well, she would introduce us to researchers in her network but also give us space to make connections on our own. Cari was also very supportive when it came to learning new experimental techniques; she sent students to workshops all over the country and even sent students to labs in Canada and Germany to train!
Cari was not just professionally supportive, but personally supportive. She welcomed students of every gender identity, sexual orientation, spectrum, race, country, and creed. If you needed to cry in her office because your experiment failed, she had tissues ready and would talk you down and help you find a solution. I always felt better after meeting with her.
## Research
The Vanderpool lab conducts high-quality research in microbial physiology and how microbes regulate stress responses with sRNA and small proteins. Cari was not afraid to explore new areas of microbiology and was not afraid to give students a chance to develop new techniques in the lab. If the research required expertise in other fields, Cari would happily collaborate but ensured her trainees received appropriate credit for their contributions.
Project determination: students were given a few general projects to choose from, but it was really up to the student to decide what they wanted to do and where they took the project. Trainees had true ownership over their projects, which encouraged collaboration instead of competition in the lab. Trainees were also truly the primary authors of their papers and were responsible for writing and formatting the first draft and working with Cari on edits.
Undergraduate researchers were also very welcome in the Vanderpool lab. Cari gave grad student and postdoc mentors complete freedom to determine the projects we assigned – whether that was to help us conduct our own work or to have an undergrad do a separate, independent project. Undergrads have even been authors on papers! The Vanderpool lab is a great place for someone to have their first research experience and Cari encouraged their participation.
## Lab Culture
The lab culture was probably the most valuable aspect of the Vanderpool lab. It was a rigorous, exciting, supportive, and joyful (sometimes silly) place. I still regularly keep in touch with Cari and my labmates and we still collaborate and support each other; they are some of my best friends in the world and I love them all like family.
Cari prioritized lab culture; she recruited motivated and talented students from all over the world but only accepted students that were kind and collaborative that could work well with the rest of the group. Inside the lab we would help each other troubleshoot, assist with culture maintenance on weekends, take time points for each other, and generally support each other. We would proofread each other’s papers, host practice talks, grill each other before committee meetings or interviews, and generally help each other find success. Outside of lab we would go to movies, host “flavors of the world” potlucks (since many students were international), carve pumpkins, attend each other’s gigs/shows/exhibits, and genuinely hang out as friends. One great Vanderpool lab tradition was our annual Secret Santa gift exchange. It was an entire week of daily gift exchanges with the goal of trying to identify *everyone’s* secret Santa – not just our own. Grad school was hard, but our lab was a fun place to go even when experiments weren’t working. We never had a student drop out of the lab, but we did take students that left toxic labs.
Cari was and is a great PI; she continues to help alumni advance their careers and find success. Everyone that left her lab is still in science doing great things. Grad school is hard enough; there is a lot of failure in science and it’s important to choose a PI and lab that challenges you but also supports you. Being an asshole does not make you rigorous or prestigious – it just makes you an asshole.
Yes, I recommend this PI.