Join the Lab

Graduate students

We welcome creative, motivated, and committed individuals to pursue Ph.D. degrees in Plant Pathology at the NC State Vegetable Pathology lab. While having a previous M.Sc. degree can better prepare students for a Ph.D., it is not required for Ph.D. program admittance.

Before contacting us, please check the University’s requirements to apply for graduate school as well as the departmental requirements. If you have questions you can contact the director of our graduate program, which you can find here. You will first need to be accepted into the University, and then into the department before you can join a particular lab. The department’s application deadline for fall semester is January 15th and for spring semester it is July 15.

If you are accepted for a graduate degree and decide to join our lab, projects will be collaborative, cross-disciplinary and translational, providing science-based management strategies for vegetable diseases.  Individuals interested in our lab should contact Lina Quesada in advance of this deadline to discuss expectations for graduate school and funding availability.  We also encourage you to contact lab members and alumni to have a good understanding of our lab environment and expectations. Please provide a description of your research interests and experience, a copy of your CV, GRE scores (if available/relevant), TOEFL scores (if available/relevant), and undergraduate GPA.

I strongly encourage prospective and current students to pursue fellowships to fund their graduate degree.  Fellowships are prestigious awards, helpful forms of support and great opportunities to get grant writing experience, plan your research projects and travel, since most fellowships provide funding for attendance to conferences and workshops.  Fellowships are especially helpful for hosting international students, since NC State has an out of state tuition policy.

Fellowships for graduate students

Southern SARE graduate student grants,   NSF GRFP,   EPA STAR Fellowship,   NSF DDIG,   Garden Club of America,   NIFA pre doctoral fellowships,   Ford Foundation pre doctoral fellowship,   Ford Foundation dissertation fellowship,   American Phytopatological Society fellowships,   Mycological Society of America fellowships,   American Society for Microbiology fellowships, Fulbright for international students

Also see a great list of fellowships compiled by Dr. Hannah Burrack at NCSU for her fellowship and grant writing class ENT 791.

Postdocs

Individuals interested in postdoctoral work in our lab should either apply to advertised positions in this website or contact Lina Quesada via email with a copy of their CV and a brief statement of research interests. We also encourage you to contact lab members and alumni to have a good understanding of our lab environment and expectations. I strongly encourage postdoctoral researchers to seek their own funding since it provides grant writing experience as well as your own funding to start your independent research program, which can make you more attractive for the job market. Contact us if you would like to discus the possibility of writing a grant proposal to fund postdoctoral work hosted in our lab.

Fellowships for postdocs

NIFA post doctoral fellowships,   Ford Foundation post doctoral fellowship,   NSF minority postdoctoral research fellowship,   NSF postdoctoral fellowships in biology,   American Phytopatological Society fellowships,   Mycological Society of America fellowships, American Society for Microbiology fellowships, Life Sciences Research Foundation

Undergraduate students

Undergraduates interested in gaining experience in plant pathology can contact Lina Quesada via email to discuss opportunities. There are several ways to become involved: 1) By becoming a research aide in the lab or 2) by conducting undergraduate research through a class or internship such as the Kelman Scholars, the GTI program, which is also available for international students, or Wolfpack Colombia, available to Colombian students. During the academic year, activities will include mostly laboratory and computational tasks. During summer months, work will also include assisting with field data collection at research sites in North Carolina. Please see descriptions of our projects and publications for more details.

Fellowships for undergraduate students

American Phytopatological Society fellowships,   Mycological Society of America fellowships,   American Society for Microbiology fellowships