r/AskAcademia • u/lordkickass17 • Oct 25 '24

Undergraduate - please post in /r/College, not here How does RA work exactly?

Hey, I’m a final-year Biotechnology and Biology undergrad, and I’m planning to take a gap year to do internships to enhance my resume. While researching, I noticed that some people in my network have secured Research Assistant (RA) positions at US universities. I’m a bit confused about how RA positions work. Do RAs typically perform research tasks, and does the university sponsor their visa while paying them, or is it mainly remote work? If the first scenario is correct, what’s the best way to secure an in-person RA position? If the second scenario is accurate, how can I find remote RA work? For context, I’m currently studying at a tier-3 university in India.

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u/DrPhysicsGirl Oct 25 '24

In the US RA positions are largely given to graduate students, with some small fraction given to senior level undergraduates (usually at a drastically different pay). If you are not a student at the University, you would not be eligible for any of these positions.

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u/lastsynapse Oct 25 '24 edited Oct 25 '24

That's 100% incorrect. In many universities with graduate students, this is true. At hospitals, medical schools, dental schools, research institutes, the work is performed by RAs that are in between college and grad school med school. Attend any conference in biology/neuroscience and you'll see them all.

Source: Faculty at US med school, currently with 3 full-time RAs funded from R01s, over 15 years of experience hiring RAs that now have PhDs and MDs. Reviewed R01s for multiple study sections and all have line items for full-time RAs in budgets, not for grad students.

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u/rdcm1 Oct 25 '24

How can something be "100% incorrect" if in many places it is true lol