Prospective Group Members

Interested in Joining the Barber Group?

We're glad you're excited about our work! Prospective group members at all stages of their academic careers are encouraged to contact Dr. Barber by e-mail to discuss available opportunities.

In your e-mail, it is helpful if you introduce yourself, provide some details about your educational background, and attach a copy of your resume or CV. In particular, you should identify any particularly relevant skills or experiences that would help you contribute to the group. You should expect Dr. Barber to reply to your e-mail in approximately 1 week, and feel free to follow up if you haven't heard back in that timeframe. Please see below for additional details, which vary depending on career stage.

Nilya Moushiabad (UCLA Class of 2025) presents a poster on her work at a departmental poster session

Undergraduates

We have a very strong group of undergraduate researchers currently making valuable contributions to work in the group. At present, we are unable to accept additional undergraduate researchers, but we anticipate being able to accept 1-2 additional undergraduates in the Fall of 2025. Please reach out if you are interested.

For UCLA Undergraduates

UCLA undergraduates can contact Dr. Barber directly for information on available research opportunities. We can involve undergraduate students from any major at UCLA so long as they have a demonstrated interest in chemistry and/or atmospheric sciences. In general, we are most interested in mentoring students who are open to committing to multiple years as members of the research group, and preferentially take students in their second year of undergraduate study.

Typically, students who join the group perform research for course credit during the academic year. In the first year of research, this means that students enroll in SRP-99. SRP-99 can be taken for 1 credit (3-5 hours/week) or 2 credits (6-10 hours/week). Undergraduates are strongly encouraged to enroll in 2 credits when possible so that they can see meaningful research progress over the course of a single term. Upper-division eligible students who have completed at least 1 quarter of SRP-99 may enroll in Chem 196 for up to 4 credits. Students who are eligible for work study may be able to arrange for a work study job in the group after at least one quarter of research for course credit. Students may also be eligible for several university-wide programs that provide research-based scholarship funds.

In the summer, there are several mechanisms by which undergraduate students can get paid for their research, including the departmental Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program and the URC-Sciences Summer Program. Stipends associated with these fellowships are listed on the corresponding websites- note that these opportunities are only available to students who have already been conducting research during the academic year.

For Other Undergraduates

There are several university-wide programs that can support visiting undergraduates who are interested in doing summer research at UCLA, most notably the Amgen scholars program. Interested undergraduates are welcome to contact Dr. Barber to discuss potential opportunities outside of these programs- the group does not currently have funds to support non-UCLA undergraduates, but we are happy to think about creative ways to construct a meaningful research experience for interested students.

Graduate Students Cooper Crabtree and Shareen Ashby pose in the Barber Lab student office space to celebrate the installation of new carpet (Spring 2024)!

Prospective Graduate Students

Graduate students are the most critical part of our group's research enterprise. The group will usually take on 1-2 new graduate students each academic year. Graduate students in the group are guaranteed funding (in the form of tuition remissions and stipend) for the typical duration of their program, which is paid via a combination of teaching assistant and graduate student researcher positions- additional information on the compensation associated with these positions is available here. Graduate program deadlines are typically in early December, and students should begin composing their applications, gathering letters of recommendation, and reaching out to potential advisors well before these deadlines

The most common route by which students join the group is via the UCLA Chemistry Graduate Program. Information on specific admission requirements may be found via the UCLA graduate division. For general questions on the application process, the best resource is the chemistry graduate student office. While not required, students who are applying to the graduate program that are particularly interested in the Barber group are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Barber via e-mail to signal their interest and discuss opportunities. Notably, students are not admitted to a specific group, but to the program. Even students who have expressed interested in joining the lab will be encouraged to complete rotations in other groups in order to broaden their experience, allow them to engage with other faculty members, and ensure that they choose a group that is a good fit for their interests and work style. Graduate students already enrolled at UCLA who are interested in joining or completing rotations in the group should reach out to Dr. Barber directly.

There is also the possibility of admitting students through the UCLA Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Graduate Program. Students interested in matriculating via AOS should contact Dr. Barber to discuss this option.

Prospective Postdoctoral Scholars

At present, we do not have funding available to recruit additional postdoctoral scholars. However, we are happy to work with promising senior graduate students interested in securing external funding opportunities- please reach out to discuss possible options! For additional advice on how to reach out to potential postdoctoral advisors, see this article for the MIT communication lab (written by Dr. Barber in 2022).

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