Graduate Students

I am always open to discussing graduate work with students whose interests fit with the focus of our lab group, and I enjoy bringing together a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and interests in our group. Start by emailing me (kdlugosch@arizona.edu) to introduce yourself, including what relevant background you have so far, your current interests that might fit with my lab, and your current thoughts on your career goals.

Graduate Mentoring Philosophy 

I accept both PhD students and MS students, depending on available funding.

I encourage PhD students in my group to be very independent in their research directions, and to not necessarily pursue work on the same study systems as I do. I expect them to be following their own big questions and research goals, preparing them to be independent scientists when they graduate. For those reasons, I look for applicants to have a pretty good idea of what their research and career goals are, and to welcome independence in my lab. At the same time, I look for our interests to overlap strongly enough that the lab is a stimulating and interactive environment for everyone.

I expect to give MS student more guidance with a pre-defined project that is ready to begin immediately at the start of graduate school. The project should advance the training and career goals of the student, as well as the research aims of my lab.

Graduate Admission 

I am in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) and our EEB graduate admission information is here. I am also a part of the Genetics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and the Ecosystem Genomics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program.

Sources of Funding 

PhD students in our EEB program are supported as teaching assistants at minimum, if making satisfactory progress. MS students should be primarily supported by grant (or fellowship) funds. It is always fantastic to secure your own fellowship funding, and I encourage all prospective students to submit applications to relevant fellowship competitions. Some possibilities for incoming students: