The off-campus research experience as a professional-development learning platform

Research experience is valued at all stages during a scientific career, from youngster through principal investigator. Intervention at the career stage between those first advanced graduate classes and that ramp-up of doctoral research toward a thesis can enhance mobility in the postdoc job-search market and topical breadth for future funding adaptability and student mentoring. In this talk, the off-campus research experience (OCRE) within the WVU Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPL) is described. In 1994, the WVU-PPL established OCRE as an integral part of each plasma-physics student’s graduate education to broaden and enrich one’s research spectrum. OCRE, typically consisting of a multi-month research visit investigating a topic unrelated to one’s thesis project, helps to develop early-professional independence and responsibility in an international setting. OCRE develops scientific careers, incorporating (1) an international dimension into training, mobility, and retention, through increased exchanges with other parts of the world, (2) a transdisciplinary dimension into the initial research portfolio, through problem-solving scope, and (3) a transnational dimension into collaboration and resource sharing, through affiliation with research centers, universities, and companies. OCRE impacts the student’s investigative capability and enthusiasm, results-interpretation skills and depth, and knowledge-dissemination competence and motivation. OCRE’s long-term goal is to develop a cadre of early-career scientists inspired to forge future collaborations having these three dimensions, consequently helping to recruit like-minded applicants. Specific OCRE examples, general statistics, and lessons learned in implementation/funding will be briefly described as will the relatively new, OCRE-relevant NSF-INES and DOE-SCGSR Fellowship programs.