This 10-month program is designed for recent college graduates and offers students the opportunity for a full-time mentored research experience, rigorous training in programming using Python, regular workshops on oral and written scientific communication, and individualized career preparation within a supportive community – ideal preparation for graduate school in genomics or a related field.

Our 2023-2024 cohort is currently busy in their labs. The dates for the 2024-2025 official program are September 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025, however students may start as early as August 1st with approval of the program. Applications for the 2024-2025 program are are now open and will close April 1, 2025. Please use the link below to apply.

All students participating in the OGR Extensive Study program will take part in cutting-edge research as part of an independent research team in a lab at the Washington University School of Medicine. All students will give oral presentations on their research findings as part of a Closing Symposium at the end of their respective programs.

The OGR programs provides a competitive post-baccalaureate salary of $3,100 a month, with benefits.


Requirements

  • Residency: Must be a US citizen or permanent resident
  • Major/Degree: Science, technology, engineering or mathematics
  • A desire to pursue a PhD in biological science, especially genomics

Extensive Study scholars must have completed a BS within two years of the application.

OGR is supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Diversity Action Plan.


Apply

Applications are open for our 2024-2025 cohort. Please apply below. If you have any questions about your application, email outreach.mgi@wustl.edu

*If you do not see the OGR programs in the drop-down list, please make sure you have completed the citizenship question on the Personal Background tab. The OGR programs will only appear once the citizenship requirement has been met.*

Selected labs

Available projects for OGR participants come from essentially all fields of biology, with a common thread being that all projects leverage genomics-based approaches. Below are a small sampling of current OGR mentors and relevant research areas 

  • Luis Batista – stem cells, iPS cells, telomerase, DNA repair, DNA damage, tissue dysfunction, telomeres 
  • Barak Cohen – systems biology, enhancers and gene regulatory networks, non-coding genetic variation, computational biology, genomics 
  • Kerry Kornfeld – genetics, cell biology, and developmental biology
  • Christopher Maher – non-coding RNAs, lncRNAs, cancer genomics, transcriptome, bioinformatics
  • Rob Mitra – Deciphering the transcriptional regulatory networks that control development, single-molecule proteomics.
  • Matt Walter – cancer, functional genomics, gene expression profiling, hematopoiesis, stem cells, tumor biology
  • Ting Wang – Evolutionary characterization of gene regulatory networks, biological function, and regulation of transposable elements, computational epigenomics.

Learn more about our current and former OGR students, as well as the research being done in the program, here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email