Education and Training

Many educational opportunities for students and postdoctoral fellows are available in the Magnetic Resonance Laboratory within the Center for Advanced Imaging Research (CAIR).

Graduate students

Generally enrolled in the Ph.D. Program's Biomedical Engineering and Physiology Track through Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, graduate students work under the direction of one or more MRI faculty members on a dissertation project leading to a Ph.D. degree. Trainees are given the opportunity to use the state-of-the-art MRI resources within the lab and also have access to the many clinical MRI scanners operated by Mayo Clinic's Department of Radiology. Projects often include not only technical development and evaluation of feasibility but also typically involve interactions with clinicians and the imaging of human subjects.

Since the creation of the Magnetic Resonance Laboratory in 1988, more than 50 students have received Ph.D. degrees while working in MRI research. These graduates have gone on to fill a variety of positions in industry, academia, government and clinical settings.

Postdocs

In addition to graduate students, the Center for Advanced Imaging Research offers educational opportunities to postdoctoral research fellows, who enjoy similar access to MRI facilities. Since 2007 when the Opus Imaging Research Building was opened, several dozen fellows have completed their postdoctoral training in the Center for Advanced Imaging Research.

Undergraduates

Options are also available for undergraduate students through programs such as Mayo Clinic's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). This program gives students the opportunity to spend 10 weeks working in a Mayo Clinic research laboratory during the summer. CAIR faculty actively participate in this program, and numerous SURF alumni have gone on to complete a Ph.D. degrees at Mayo Clinic or other institutions.