Made a free website to anonymously review research year positions
Hey I'm a derm resident who did a research year and I remember how difficult it was to not only find a paid position but one that would best set me up for matching. It was hard to judge which PI would best support me as the only insight into the position was from current fellows, who couldn't critique their PI for fear of retaliation. So I built ratemyresearchyear.com where you can anonymously rate and review research years on:
- mentorship quality
- research opportunities
- career support
- work life balance
- lab culture
- compensation fairness (can also filter by paid vs unpaid positions)
To somewhat verify reviews the site asks for a .edu email and name, your name must match the email. This information is not posted anywhere on the site, its encrypted within the server and the key is held offline so even if there is a security breach, no reviews are traceable. The reason for this is to prevent fake accounts (and PIs themselves) from fluffing reviews.
If you have suggestions on how to make this site better feel free to post them below! I started this just for Derm, Neurosurgery, and ENT to start. If you know anyone who did a research year please pass this along and have them drop a review. The more who post, the more helpful this becomes!