Joining the Lab |
Seeking a new graduate student for Fall 2026. Please reach out if you are interested!
Postdoctoral Researchers
I do not have support for additional Postdoctoral Researchers at this point (we have three already!). However, if you have your own funding or are interested in putting a proposal together, please reach out.
Graduate Students
I will be recruiting graduate students for Fall 2026. All students admitted to the program will be supported by a combination of teaching and research assistantships. Please note that NMSU does not yet offer full tuition waivers to graduate students, though tuition will be provided if extramural funding allows. For more information on graduate school at NMSU, including tuition structure, please visit: https://gradschool.nmsu.edu/index.html.
Before you contact me about completing a degree in my lab, please ask yourself the following questions:
If you would like to reach out regarding interest, please send a cover letter, CV/resume, unofficial transcripts, and three references. Address the aforementioned questions in your cover letter. At this point, I am only accepting applicants who are authorized to work in the US.
Before you contact me about completing a degree in my lab, please ask yourself the following questions:
- Why are you interested in pursuing a graduate degree?
- What research questions do you want to address? Why?
- What are your long-term career objectives? How will a position in my lab help you meet those objectives?
- What fellowships have you applied for or will you apply for?
If you would like to reach out regarding interest, please send a cover letter, CV/resume, unofficial transcripts, and three references. Address the aforementioned questions in your cover letter. At this point, I am only accepting applicants who are authorized to work in the US.
Undergraduate Students
I am not currently recruiting undergraduate students to join my lab, but may have one or two opportunities in the summer of 2026, depending on fit. If you are interested in being considered, please send a letter of interest, your CV/resume, and transcripts for consideration.
Expectations
If you are considering joining my laboratory, please review this paragraph and reflect on your expectations of an advisor/mentor. If you are joining the lab as a PhD student, I expect that you: come up with your own research questions; design and lead your experiments; analyze data as experiments are conducted; and work on publications as you conduct research. If you are joining the lab as a MS student, we can develop questions and experimental plans collaboratively; you will still conduct research and analyses independently, but with more support and oversight than if you were a PhD student. I expect professionalism and a good work ethic of all students. Throughout your tenure in my lab, I will provide guidance, constructive criticism, and suggestions to help you develop professionally. I expect you are open to that mentoring. We will meet weekly for mandatory (1) one on one meetings and (2) team meetings. Prior to one on one meetings, you will provide updates via this template. This will help guide our discussion during the time we have each week. You will also provide updates, with supporting slides, to teams during team meetings. I will be available for additional conversations about publications, professional development, or to go through data, as needed.
More specific expectations are outlined in this agreement that we will sign upon your arrival. Please note that prior to work in the laboratory, you will proceed through a two-week onboarding process in which you complete institution and lab-specific safety training, as well as instrument training. You will not be able to work in the lab until you have been signed off on this onboarding. For both safety and science reasons, we work normal or close-to-normal business hours (i.e., within the hours of 8 am – 6 pm) in the lab and field. Work outside of these hours must be approved.
More specific expectations are outlined in this agreement that we will sign upon your arrival. Please note that prior to work in the laboratory, you will proceed through a two-week onboarding process in which you complete institution and lab-specific safety training, as well as instrument training. You will not be able to work in the lab until you have been signed off on this onboarding. For both safety and science reasons, we work normal or close-to-normal business hours (i.e., within the hours of 8 am – 6 pm) in the lab and field. Work outside of these hours must be approved.
Diversity
We recognize the value of diversity on project teams. Diversity fosters different kinds of inquiry and approaches to problem solving, generating innovations that have the power to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing our society today. The link between demographic diversity and innovation is well founded; yet, the novel contributions by individuals from diverse demographic groups are devalued and discounted, in part from the lack of underrepresented groups in certain career roles. Increasing diversity and inclusion is a complex, multifaceted aim that we believe needs to be addressed honestly and openly and as our team evolves. The Corcoran Lab commits to:
● making the lab a trusting place to have complex and sometimes difficult conversations about diversity and inclusion
● to implement education on unconscious bias
● take specific actions to promote diversity and equity on our teams, including multidimensional mentoring
We welcome all members regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, orientation, age, or belief -- and we work to provide opportunities to those from groups that have historically been excluded.
● making the lab a trusting place to have complex and sometimes difficult conversations about diversity and inclusion
● to implement education on unconscious bias
● take specific actions to promote diversity and equity on our teams, including multidimensional mentoring
We welcome all members regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, orientation, age, or belief -- and we work to provide opportunities to those from groups that have historically been excluded.