General Lab Philosophy and Expectations
Our lab is focused on both fundamental and applied research in the area of biomaterials and regenerative medicine. Works spans from fundamental cell biology and chemistry of materials approaches to in vivo behavioral models. We have a number of collaborations in BME, engineering and across the university in other colleges and departments, and also at other institutions across the nation. Our group is very team oriented – students and postdocs will typically have one or two of their own lead projects, but many projects are collaborative within the group. And, even across different projects in the group, we promote helping one another and partnering where it makes sense! Students (graduate and undergraduate) and postdocs are also typically active in outreach to the community – check out our outreach activities under the “Photos/Outreach” link. Graduate students as well as postdocs will also be involved in their own manuscript writing as well as helping with grant proposal writing. All lab members, including undergraduate students, will be expected to present in lab meetings. Graduate students and postdocs, and sometimes undergraduate students, will also be expected to present at local, regional, and national conferences. These activities are intended to help develop all skills that will be essential in future independent careers in academia or industry.
Ph.D. Students
Our laboratory routinely accepts 1-2 new Ph.D. students every fall. We almost exclusively recruit through the UF Biomedical Engineering Department, but in some instances will recruit from other departments at UF. All candidates must first apply to the UF Graduate School and the UF Biomedical Engineering Department. For additional information about our research, you are encouraged to look through our website (publications and current funding, under the “Research” link). Please contact Dr. Schmidt directly for specific questions that you may still have about our lab.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Qualified postdoc applicants should send interest inquiries directly to Dr. Schmidt to first see if we are actively recruiting. If we are, then we will ask you to submit a cover letter, CV and a list of references. We typically will only have 1 or 2 postdocs in the group at any one time.
M.S. Students
Interested M.S. students should please contact Dr. Schmidt to see if we have any openings. We typically ask students to commit to research for multiple semesters (we discourage just a single summer or single semester, because there is so much training involved). Also, we ask that students take research for class credit. For students who have been with us multiple semesters, or depending on the nature of the work and project, we can consider paying them, but this depends on the research grant status.
Undergraduate Students
We continually accept UG student applications and review these periodically for openings on specific projects. UG students may work individually or in a team, but all are directed by graduate students and postdocs in our group. Students at all levels are considered (freshmen, sophomores and juniors usually). We typically ask students to commit to research for multiple semesters (we discourage just a single summer or single semester, because there is so much training involved). Also, we ask that students take research for class credit. For students who have been with us multiple semesters, we can consider paying them, but this depends on the research grant status.
To apply, please submit a cover letter, resume and unofficial UF transcript, if available, via email to Blanca Ostmark (bostmark@ufl.edu). We encourage you to look at our lab website and indicate specific interests in your cover letter.
